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Report of the Joint Working Group Sub-Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial to the Chair of the Education Working

Group of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research 14 December 2010 Haifa, Israel
On Tuesday, 14 December 2010, the Joint Working Group Sub-Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial was informed by the Standing Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial to re-examine the working definition of Holocaust denial consensually agreed upon by members of the Joint Working Group Sub-Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial in Jerusalem in June of 2010. Various individuals, as well as some heads of delegations, felt that the definition consensually agreed upon in Jerusalem did not define Holocaust denial with sufficient clarity nor did it convincingly connect Holocaust denial to antisemitism. After a fruitful and frank discussion, the following new definition was agreed upon:

Working Definition of Holocaust Denial for the Joint Working Group on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial Recognizing that Holocaust Denial is not limited to ITF member countries, but is in fact an international phenomenon, we urge that any examination of the topic be global in scope. Holocaust Denial is a form of antisemitism in that it attempts to deny the genocide of the Jews, or attempts to blame the Jews for causing their own genocide. In both cases the underlying rationale is to exonerate National Socialism and antisemitism from guilt, and to put the blame on the Jews for either exaggerating or creating the Shoah for political or financial gain.. The goal is to make the Jews culpable and antisemitism once again legitimate. Holocaust Denial may include publicly denying the use of principal mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers, mass shooting, starvation and torture) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people (the Holocaust). Justification and trivialization of the Holocaust include intentional excusing or minimizing the impact of the Holocaust or its principal elements, including inappropriate equating of the Holocaust to other historical or contemporary events aimed at diminishment of its importance. The diminishment of the Holocaust includes minimizing the scope of the Holocaust, i.e. the number of the victims. Furthermore, the Standing Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial sent the Joint Working Group Sub-Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial the following eight specific recommendations for eventual implementation: 1) Develop, in cooperation with the Working Groups, guidelines for "best practices" for governments to counter Holocaust Denial spread over the Internet,
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2) Supplement the Stephen Roth Institute's existing list of legislation addressing Holocaust denial and trivialization (including those that address cyber-crime) and provide information on implementation. 3) Identify the most striking cases of Holocaust denial and trivialization and diminishment. 4) Identify root causes of Holocaust denial, trivialization and diminishment. 5) Provide existing case studies, comparisons and best practices on approaches to address Holocuast denial, diminishment and trivialization. 6) Encourage members of the Working Groups to develop comprehensive and concrete research plans that would expand the body of research on the prevalence of Holocaust denial, trivialization and diminishment depending on the applicable laws of Member States and their international commitments. 7) Encourage members of Working Groups to implement and discuss best practices in approaches to combating and confronting Holocaust denial, trivialization and diminishment including Internet-based social and virtual media. 8) Develop a proposal for a presentation to examine Holocaust denial and its impact on policy making.

The Joint Working Group Sub-Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial has approached the representatives of the incoming Chair (Netherlands) about implementing recommendation 8 by making a two hour presentation on Holocaust denial at the meeting in Amsterdam in June 2011. The other recommendations will be examined at the June 2011 meeting in Amsterdam.

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