Statement

2011

IHRA Chair’s Statement on the Importance of Holocaust Education in UNRWA Schools

The IHRA fully supports the important work of UNRWA and highly commends their efforts in the field of Holocaust education in Gaza.

The ITF (now IHRA) Chair has become aware that United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) representatives have come under criticism for teaching the Holocaust in UNRWA schools.

The 28 member countries of the ITF are committed to the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust and to encouraging Holocaust education in all schools, universities, institutions, and communities. The General Assembly of the United Nations also adopted a resolution in 2005 affirming the importance of Holocaust remembrance and rejecting any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event. Echoing its 2009 statement on this issue, the ITF fully supports the important work of UNRWA and highly commends their efforts in the field of Holocaust education in Gaza.