Israel Freezes For Holocaust Remembrance Day

As every year, life was frozen in all Israel for two minutes Thursday at 10:00 am (0700 GMT) to the sound of sirens, to mark the Holocaust Remembrance Day of the six million Jewish victims of Nazism during the Second World War.

Motorists got off their cars, buses stopped, and pedestrians took to the streets.

Outside the shops and offices, the Israelis gathered, often with their heads down, as did students in schools.

The day before, during a ceremony at the Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the rise of anti-Semitism in the world.

Motorists got off their cars on a highway in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to observe two minutes of silence on May 2, 2019, marking Holocaust Remembrance Day for the six million Jewish victims of Nazism during the Second World War

“We live in a paradox, admiration around the world for the state of the Jews is accompanied in some circles by an increase in anti-Semitism,” Netanyahu said.

In particular, he referred to the recent suicide bombing in a California synagogue and a drawing in the New York Times of the guide dog representative leading US President Donald Trump blind and wearing a kippah.

The American newspaper Saturday apologized after the publication of the cartoon, acknowledging that it “included anti-Semitic clichés”.

Anti-Semitism is growing in Europe and North America, according to an annual report from the Kantor Center released Wednesday by the European Jewish Congress.

The increase in anti-Semitic violence, threats and harassment has also been highlighted by numerous studies, including the European Fundamental Rights Agency and the American Anti-Defamation League (ADL).