DATE=04/14/2002

TYPE=EDITORIAL

NUMBER=0-09822

TITLE=EDITORIAL: THE LESSONS OF THE HOLOCAUST

INTERNET=Yes

CONTENT=THIS EDITORIAL IS BEING RELEASED FOR USE BY ALL SERVICES.

Anncr: Next, an editorial reflecting American ideals and institutions:

Voice: "We gather today to remember that evil is real and present in our world," said Condoleezza Rice, national security adviser to President George W. Bush. Ms. Rice joined with members of Congress, government officials, diplomats, and honored guests in memorial services April 9th at the U.S. Capitol for the more than six-million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. That war is long over. But the kind of hatred and bigotry that caused the death of millions still lives.

"From the Holy Land, we see daily images of carnage, and from Europe, come images of synagogues and Torah scrolls burned," said White House national security adviser Rice. "Our own land has seen the mass destruction of innocents, guilty of nothing more than going to work in a country called America on a beautiful, but terrible autumn morning [September 11th]. And the world was sent obscene videotapes where evil leaders [al-Qaida terrorist Osama bin Laden and others] celebrate the slaughter, and yet another tape where [Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl] is killed after being made to say the words, 'I am a Jew.' "

"None of our current travails approach those of the Holocaust," said Ms. Rice. "The evil of the Holocaust is singular. Yet its lessons are universal. . .we remember that ignorance and cruelty are never far away, and that their atrocities demand action and justice. We remember that every life has value and all lives are ennobled by opposing hate and bigotry. We remember that not even mankind's worst depravities can be allowed to dissuade us from our search for worldly and spiritual peace."

Holocaust survivor and Nobel prize-winning author Elie Wiesel spoke of the real motivation of those responsible for the horrific September 11th suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. "Their passion is death, their theology is death," he said. The terrorists and their leaders confirm this in their own words. Following the September 11th attacks, al-Qaida terrorist chief Osama bin Laden told a Pakistani interviewer: "We love death. The U.S. loves life. That is the big difference between us."

When the showdown came, however, bin Laden made it clear that he loves death only when it comes to others. Neither he nor any of his top henchmen have been eager to become so-called "martyrs." This year, said Ms. Rice "evil has spoken to all of us." We "need no reminder to answer back, quietly but firmly: 'never again'."

Anncr: That was an editorial reflecting American ideals and institutions. If you have a comment, please write to Editorials, V-O-A, Washington, D-C, 20237, U-S-A. You may also comment at www-dot-ibb-dot-gov-slash-editorials, or fax us at (202) 619-1043.