Holocaust survivor [Elie Wiesel] urges speaking out against intolerance

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12/06/2006
Holocaust survivor urges speaking out against intolerance
Randall Beach , Register Staff

-NEW HAVEN — Human rights activist and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel Tuesday told a Yale audience that civilized people must speak out against intolerance, especially the anti-Israel attitude of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Wiesel, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 and has written extensively about the Holocaust, drew a standing ovation from a capacity crowd at Yale Law School’s Levinson Auditorium. More than 100 people were turned away and had to watch the event via a video feed in a nearby classroom.

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Wiesel is astonished and outraged that the leader of any country could now try to deny the Holocaust occurred, that six million Jews were systematically exterminated by the Nazis. But Ahmadinejad has described the Holocaust as "a myth" and suggested Israel be moved to Europe, the U.S. or Canada.

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"I am waiting to hear the outcry," Wiesel said. "You cannot be silent when this man is threatening the existence of a nation. ... Civilized people, people with conscience cannot accept this man."

Wiesel said Iran should be expelled from the United Nations, a remark which drew applause from the audience.

But when asked by a Yale student during the question-and-answer session what action the U.S. should take against Iran, Wiesel replied, "I’m not for military intervention." Instead he suggested the rest of the world "create an ambience that this will simply not be tolerated."

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Wiesel said he is "sounding an alarm" because "I do not think the world has ever been in such danger since 1945."

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On another hopeful note, Wiesel said, "Never before have the relations between Jews and Christians been better. But we forgot to invite the third partner: Islam."

"We can’t give up on Islam," he said. "We can’t condemn a religion. I am against collective condemnation."

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Crickets chirping.