US President Donald Trump has signed a genocide law after Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.

The Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act received bipartisan support and requires the State Department to establish a mass atrocities task force to respond to atrocities.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder welcomed the decision in honouring Romanian-born Wiesel who survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald.

A professor and renowned author, Ellie won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 with his global campaigning for victims of persecution.

Lauder said the US government had taken a leading step in speaking out against genocides and atrocities to eradicate them from society.
He added, it was a critical issue that must be addressed head on everyone.
Lauder noted that there was “no more appropriate person” to name the law after as Elie throughout his life served as a moral compass for humanity.

“Elie taught the world that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference,” he explained. “It is imperative that this message continues to live on.”
He added, “We cannot sit by in silence amid the growing threats of terror, racism, xenophobia, and antisemitism. We must actively pursue the tolerance and security that we wish to see, to make this world a better place for our children and their children.”

WJC, together with hundreds of thousands worldwide, will hold #WeRemember signs for a social media campaign ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27.
“This may seem like a small and insignificant act. But it is an act of great importance, of global solidarity and resolve to raise awareness about the horrors of the Holocaust, and to fight hatred everywhere and anywhere it may raise its head.”

By Adam Moses