Members Of Congress, Government Officials Attend Capitol Hill Ceremony Marking Fourth Annual Report Of The Tom Lantos Archives On Anti-Semitism And Holocaust Denial

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On July 18, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice held the fourth annual commemoration of the establishment of the Tom Lantos Archives on Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial (http://www.memri.org/subject/en/51.htm), presenting the third report of its findings. The event took place in the Speaker's Dining Room of the U.S. Capitol.

At the event, MEMRI screened a video compilation of translated clips of anti-Semitic content from Arab and Iranian TV channels from the past year (view the video here).

Speakers at the event included: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV); Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union and member of the MEMRI Board of Advisors; Dr. Samuel Pisar, UNESCO Honorary Ambassador, Special Envoy for Holocaust Education and Polish-born Holocaust survivor; Prof. Mehnaz Afridi, Pakistan-born Director of Manhattan College's Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Education Center; Katrina Lantos Swett, Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, President of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, and daughter of the late Congressman Lantos; and MEMRI president Yigal Carmon. In addition, letters from Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton marking the occasion were read.

The following are excerpts of statements on the occasion:

• "I am honored to welcome you to the Middle East Media Research Institute's (MEMRI) fourth annual Capitol Hill event of the Tom Lantos Archives on Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial." - Speaker of the House John Boehner
• "I am pleased that the Lantos Foundation joined forces with the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) to establish the Tom Lantos Archives on Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial." - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
• "It's important that people are – even [if] sometimes they don't want to be – reminded of what took place in the Holocaust, and people who deny it should be reminded that what they're talking about is absolutely false, misleading, and untrue." - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (to view the clip of the speech, click here)
• "There is yet another reason why the work of MEMRI and the Archives is so important. Virulent, open anti-Semitism ... [is] an invasive, choking weed, that if allowed to grow with impunity will spread as it has in the past, even to countries where we thought this scourge had been eradicated." - Katrina Lantos Swett (to view the clip of the speech, click here)

SOURCE MEMRI