President Iván Duque highlighted the contributions of the Jewish community and reiterated that his country has a firm position against any type of discrimination
OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro and President Iván Duque
The President < b>Iván Duque carries out a diplomatic agenda in Washington, including the adoption, by Colombia, of the declaration rejecting anti-Semitism, which the president announced this Thursday morning at a press conference alongside the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro.
“Today Colombia joins the signing of a declaration that has been promoted by the Organization of American States to reject anti-Semitism, anti-Semitic language and any practice of discrimination against the Jewish people”declared the Colombian president in his speech from the OAS headquarters in Washington, where he is carrying out a tight schedule prior to the Summit of the Americas.
“We are not only signing today that important declaration , but rather Colombia reaffirms its values of rejecting any form of discrimination”, highlighted President Duque at the end of a private meeting with Almagro
The president took the opportunity to thank the OAS secretary for the support provided by an OAS mission in the first presidential round and announced that he will also be present for the second round to be held on June 19, to define the new president of Colombia. “It was a peaceful, transparent democratic exercise that strengthens one of the oldest democracies in the hemisphere,” said Duque.
Colombian President Iván Duque and OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro
The secretary general assured that Colombia is one of the most important voices in the hemisphere in defense of democracy and the OAS charter and praised President Duque’s advances. “This acceptance of the era definition of anti-Semitism, which for us is fundamental, It is one more step against discrimination, anti-Semitism and against those who in a discriminatory manner attack the Jewish people and the State of Israel”, added Almagro.
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)
The IHRA brings together governments and experts to “strengthen, advance and promote Holocaust education, memory and research around the world.” According to their official website, this is the definition they have worked on and which is not legally binding:
“Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews that can be expressed as hatred of the Jews. Physical and rhetorical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed at Jewish or non-Jewish persons and/or their property, at the institutions of Jewish communities and at their places of worship.”
It is important to remember that on June 7, 2019, Almagro adopted this definition taking into account the principles of the OAS and the work they have done to promote respect and acceptance throughout the region. This in order to “strengthen the OAS’s efforts to counteract anti-Semitism and xenophobia,” Almagro said in a press release at the time.
In fact, in October 2020 Almagro proposed at the 50th OAS General Assembly to carry out a joint campaign so that all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean follow the path of Canada, the United States, Argentina and Uruguay and adopt the definition IHRA practice of anti-Semitism.
For the OAS, the above definition is the “first and only international standard to identify when an act is anti-Semitic”. With this, the organization can act in prevention, education, memory and eventually punishment of these events, “avoiding legislative loopholes and thus providing greater legal protection to the Jewish citizens of the Americas,” added Almagro.