Episode 14: Solidarity Sabbath Season – A Humanitarian with a Bucket and Scraper

Source: tagesspiegel.de

The final episode of this special Solidarity Sabbath season on anti-Semitism is being released on World Humanitarian Day. The United Nations calls this day a global celebration of people helping people. There are numerous examples of humanitarians throughout history who have given so much of themselves to fight anti-Semitism or to protect the Jewish people. But not every humanitarian’s contribution to the world is grand or dramatic. Sometimes, humanitarians accomplish great and lasting service to humanity through small and simple acts. This episode offers the story of one such humanitarian – a German woman, Irmela Mensah-Schramm, who has quietly taken it upon herself to remove, erase or cover up every pro-Nazi, anti-Semitic sticker, poster or graffiti that she comes across. There is no organization backing her, no funding from any government agency – just a decent, good humored, brave woman with a bucket, a scraper and an inner moral compass that we should all seek to emulate. Irmela, who is a grantee of the Lantos Foundation’s Front Line Fund, exemplifies the words of Stephen Grellet, a Quaker missionary from the late 1700s, who wrote, “I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.”

Front Line Fund: https://www.lantosfoundation.org/frontlinefundgrants

Meet the 71-year-old “Graffiti Grandma” Scrubbing Away Hate (Great Big Story): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSdqtEWEshc&feature=emb_title

Anti-Nazi ‘Graffiti Grandma’ Fined After Painting Over Nazi Tag (DW): https://www.dw.com/en/anti-nazi-graffiti-grandma-fined-after-painting-over-nazi-tag/a-50803853

World Humanitarian Day (United Nations): https://www.un.org/en/observances/humanitarian-day

Irmela holds up an image from her archives to the camera during the Skype interview.

The Keeper Podcast : Solidarity Sabbath Season – Highways of Hate

Mr. Yigal Carmon, MEMRI

This episode, the fourth in the special Solidarity Sabbath season, takes a deeper look at an area where anti-Semitism, and hate of all forms, is spreading in alarming ways – the internet. Katrina Lantos Swett speaks with Yigal Carmon, President and co-founder of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). For more than two decades, MEMRI has done ground-breaking work, researching the most disturbing examples of extreme anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in the Arabic-, Farsi- and Urdu-speaking world. While much of MEMRI’s work in the past focused on analysis of media outlets, textbooks, religious sermons and similar kinds of communication, MEMRI is increasingly seeing the internet as the major vector of hate speech against Jews and many other minority groups. This raises vexing questions about who should be held responsible for allowing such hate to spread online unchecked.

Links and Reference

Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)

The Hater Next Door: Online Incitement Against Minorities in America

Department of Justice’s Review of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

Hard Questions:  Who Should Decide What is Hate Speech in an Online Global Community? (Facebook)

Trump and Biden both want to revoke Section 230, but for different reasons (Business Insider)

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Dr. Lantos Swett Joins Letter in Support of North Korean Human Rights Movement

This week, Lantos Foundation President Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett joined a list of distinguished signatories in calling upon the administration of President Moon of the Republic of Korea to stop practices that undermine the North Korea human rights movement and instead adopt policies to support it. See the letter below.

August 12, 2020

His Excellency Moon Jae-in

President of the Republic of Korea

The Blue House

Seoul, Republic of Korea

RE: Oppression of the North Korea Human Rights Movement by your administration

We the undersigned are writing you today as individuals who greatly value the friendship and the strong alliance between the people of South Korea and the United States of America, but we are deeply troubled by the actions of your administration aimed at undermining the North Korea human rights movement by targeting all the major organizations that work to help rescue, educate, protect and/or improve the lives of North Koreans.   We represent individuals who have worked in the administrations of both Democratic and Republican Presidencies including former Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, and represent nongovernmental organizations that span the political spectrum in the USA, but we are all united with this concern: it is the responsibility of the international community, especially the Republic of Korea, to uphold the human rights of the people of North Korea.  As stated by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the People’s Republic of Korea (February 2014): “The international community must accept its responsibility to protect the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea from crimes against humanity, because the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has manifestly failed to do so.”

In particular the UN COI recommended that China and all states: “Respect the principle of non-refoulement and, accordingly, abstain from forcibly repatriating any persons to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” and “that States, foundations and engaged business enterprises provide more support for the work of civil society organizations to improve the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including efforts to document human rights violations and to broadcast accessible information into each country.

Unlike prior administrations in South Korea, your administration took the unusual step to forcibly repatriate two North Koreans to conditions of danger and has not only ended all support but discouraged support for the civil society organizations that work to improve human rights in the DPRK and advocate for defectors in South Korea.  The announcement in July by the Ministry of Unification that it would conduct office inspections of 25 North Korean human rights and resettlement civil society organizations and demand an additional 64 accredited non-governmental organizations submit documentation is a chilling form of intimidation as they were all clearly targeted simply for their North Korea human rights work.

We respectfully request, as Americans who have a great respect for the people of Korea, that you reconsider your policies and do not again forcibly repatriate North Koreans to conditions of danger and that you review your policy of intimidating and harassing North Korean human rights organizations and instead help support their efforts to promote human rights for North Koreans.

Respectfully,

Richard V. Allen, National Security Advisor for President Ronald Reagan and Deputy National Security Advisor for President Richard Nixon (helped rescue future ROK president Kim Dae Jung)

Roberta Cohen, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights in the Department of State’s first human rights bureau for President Jimmy Carter

Ambassador Robert G. Joseph, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security for George W. Bush

Ambassador Robert R. King, Special Envoy for North Korea Human Rights for President Barack Obama

Ambassador Winston Lord, Director of Policy Planning Staff at the State Department for President Gerald Ford and Special Assistant to the National Security Advisor for President Richard Nixon and Ambassador to China for President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W.Bush and Assistant Secretary of State for President William Clinton

Barton W. Marcois, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for Policy and International Affairs for George W. Bush Administration

Honorable Tidal W. McCoy, Acting Secretary and Senior Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for President Ronald Reagan

Thomas C. Montgomery, Senior Vice President of Congressional Affairs at the Export-Import Bank of the United States for President George W. Bush

Andrew Natsios, Administrator, US Agency for International Development for President George W. Bush

Daniel Pipes, Policy Planning Staff for President Ronald Reagan

Gare Smith, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor for President William Clinton

Katrina Lantos Swett, Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom during President Barack Obama’s Administration

Christian Whiton, Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications for State Department for President Donald Trump and Deputy Special Envoy for North Korea Human Rights for President George W. Bush

Nongovernmental organizations and private citizens joining in solidarity with the above signatories from the USA and Around the World:

Suzanne Scholte, President, Defense Forum Foundation

Tara O, President, East Asia Research Center

Dr. Jianli Yang, Founder and President, Citizen Power Initiatives for China

Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair at the American Enterprise Institute

(title for identification purpose only)

Greg Scarlatoiu, Executive Director, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK)

Benedict Rogers, East Asia Team Leader, CSW-UK

Ann Buwalda, Executive Director, Jubilee Campaign USA Inc

Deanna List of Virginia, North Korean Freedom Coalition (NKFC) Member

Wendy Wright, President, Christian Freedom International

Patrick Cheh of California, President, Waking Up Media

Producer of Crossing 

Atabongwoung Gallous of South Africa. Chairperson, NPO: Tibet Rescue Initiative in Africa; NKFC member

Don W. Joe of Florida, NKFC member

Teresa Ost of Florida, NKFC Secretary

Professor Ok Cha Soh, Chair, Korea-U.S. National Prayer Breakfast

Washington, D.C.

Sarah Farver of Texas, NKFC member

Gloria Chaves of New York

Lisa Reeder of Hawaii, NKFC Member

Roxann Moss, Director of Administration, Christians In Crisis

Dr. Sung Wook Chung, Professor of Christian Theology, Denver Seminary, Littleton, Colorado

Pavel Klein of Maryland, NKFC Member

Haruhisa Ogawa of Japan, Chair, NO FENCE

Sharon Whiteleather of Maryland

Casey Lartigue, Co-founder, Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center (TNKR)

Nikki Perry, NKFC Member from North Carolina

Insop Han of Virginia, Former Director of Korean Service, Voice of America

Clare Kwon of California

Maria Cartwright of California, NKFC member

Faith J. H. McDonnell, Director, International Religious Liberty Program

Institute on Religion and Democracy

Sally Jo Messersmith of Michigan, NKFC member and author of Hana- One Free Korea

Barbara Montgomery of Virginia, NKFC member

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center

Helen Yeon of Virginia, Member of Open Doors Presbyterian Church, NKFC Member

Nancy Purcell of Florida,  NKFC member 

Kim, Suk-woo, President, National Development Institute (Korea)

Professor Park Sun-young, Chairperson, Moolmangcho group

(Dream Makers for North Korea)

Tea Hyun Kim, President, North Korean Human Rights Advancement Association in Australia (NKHRAAA)

Hyo Jin Choi, General Secretary, North Korean Human Rights Advancement Association in Australia (NKHRAAA)

Jeffrey and Rebecca Huizenga of Michigan, NKFC members

Machiko Sato of Japan, NKFC member 

Aaron Peterson of Oregon, NKFC member

Nguyen Dinh Thang, PhD, CEO & President of Boat People SOS

2011 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award Laureate

Human Rights Foundation (New York, New York)

Peter Kang, Chairman, Korea Freedom Alliance

Connie Chang of Illinois, NKFC Member

Johnny Park, Intern, Defense Forum Foundation

The Keeper Podcast : Solidarity Sabbath Season – Survivors

Holocaust survivor, Kati Preston.

The Holocaust, or Shoah in Hebrew, refers to the World War II genocide of 6 million European Jews. This was unequivocally the most extreme and horrific example of anti-Semitism the world has ever seen. Yet, somehow Jewish survivors of this atrocity, including the Lantos Foundation’s namesake Tom Lantos, were able to emerge from this dark time with their spirits unbroken and with a deep sense of their responsibility to ensure that such horrors never happen again. In this episode, podcast host and Lantos Foundation President Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett speaks with two Holocaust survivors about their experiences during WWII and how they shaped the rest of their lives.

Links and reference:

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Yad Vashem – The World Holocaust Remembrance Center

USC Shoah Foundation

New Hampshire Governor Sununu signs genocide education bill

Maloney’s Never Again Education Act Signed into Law

Don’t miss our upcoming episodes! Subscribe to The Keeper.

Lantos Foundation and 21 Wilberforce Statement: No Place for Religious Discrimination in the Fight for Internet Freedom

July 20 marks 21 years since the Chinese government began its campaign of persecution against Falun Gong. On this day, the Lantos Foundation and 21 Wilberforce released the following statement:

In a recent New York Times article covering events at the U.S. Global Agency for Media (USAGM), we were shocked and dismayed by what can only be described as an open display of religious bigotry. We would never have imagined such a lapse in journalistic ethics from America’s self-proclaimed “newspaper of record”, but the printed words do not lie.

In describing tools used to circumvent the internet firewall in closed countries, the reporters made no fewer than 9 references to the personal beliefs and religious practices of two developers.  Though several other technology companies, NGOs and other individuals were written about, none of their religious affiliations were mentioned. The developers who were identified by their religion happen to be followers of Falun Gong, which the article’s sub-headline terms “the secretive, anti-Beijing spiritual movement with pro-Trump elements”. This description sounds eerily like something that could have been written by the Chinese Communist Party, which has spent decades persecuting, oppressing and torturing followers of the Falun Gong movement. Furthermore, the article implies that the personal religious beliefs and practices of the developers have direct bearing on the legitimacy of the tools that they have developed and whether they deserve to be among those that receive funds from the U.S. Government.

Let us be perfectly clear: we welcome and encourage open discussion and debate about the merits or drawbacks of any given technology that aims to open the internet in closed societies. Likewise, rigorous monitoring and analysis can and should determine which tools are most effective in the fight for Internet Freedom, and therefore most deserving of U.S. Government funding. But it remains entirely unacceptable, and frankly un-American, to dismiss or disqualify or even describe an individual or product largely on the basis of religious affiliation or belief.

Imagine if the New York Times article had mentioned numerous times that the developers in question were practicing Catholics and implied, with disparaging undertones, that their technology was backed by the Vatican; or had referred to “software developed by Muslims” or “the Jewish developers”. There would have been an outcry, and rightly so. Yet the Times’ denigrating coverage of Falun Gong is no different and should be condemned in equal terms.  Choosing a small, persecuted religion to single out does not make the bigotry any more palatable.

Sadly, this one article is not an isolated incident of religious bigotry against the Falun Gong. In recent interviews with several reporters regarding the future of the Open Technology Fund, the same inappropriate questions about the developers’ religious beliefs have been raised time and again – though occasionally strong pushback against such bigotry has encouraged journalists not to include this angle in their reporting. This has clearly become part of the narrative being pushed, and bought in to, across the journalistic world. But journalists are not the only ones that have fallen into this trap.  Even more alarming, over the last ten years of our work advocating for greater Internet Freedom, we have personally witnessed disparaging remarks about certain developers’ religious affiliation during several different U.S. Government meetings by the very people who control funding for Internet Freedom – a sign that religious discrimination may well have had an impact in determining which tools to fund.

The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice and 21 Wilberforce, as leaders of the Voices for Internet Freedom coalition, denounce in the strongest terms any discrimination on the basis of religion and urge especially those in positions of power – from editors in newsrooms to decision-makers in the halls of government – to take an unwavering stand against this form of intolerance. To allow such prejudice to persist against a small and persecuted spiritual movement will erode this nation’s longstanding commitment to ensuring that a person’s religious beliefs cannot be used as a justification to delegitimize them or deny them opportunities. We must not allow efforts to open the internet across the globe to be marred by religious discrimination at home.

The Keeper Podcast : Solidarity Sabbath Season – Special Envoy Elan Carr

Episode 11:
Solidarity Sabbath Season
– Special Envoy Elan Carr

Episode 11 of The Keeper, and the second episode of our Solidarity Sabbath season, will bring you into the 21st century of anti-Semitism with a conversation with the United States’ top diplomat tasked with combating anti-Semitism. Elan Carr, the U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, joins Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett to speak about his work in the fight against anti-Semitism – what keeps him up at night, and what encourages him and gives him hope for the future.

Links and reference:

Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism

Defining Anti-Semitism

Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism

The Hater Next Door report

“Commit to Fighting the Hater Next Door”, The Hill Op-ed by Yigal Carmon and Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett

German Parliament Deems B.D.S. Movement Anti-Semitic

Don’t miss our upcoming episodes! Subscribe to The Keeper.

Annette Lantos’ Tribute to His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his 85th Birthday

I am honored and humbled to join so many others in wishing my dear friend, the Dalai Lama, a joyful 85th birthday. Like millions around the world, my life has been both deepened and elevated through my association with this extraordinary individual. I will always consider it to be a blessed day when I first met His Holiness. I’d like to share with you my recollection of our very first encounter.

My husband Congressman Tom Lantos was the Founder and co-chair of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. It was the Caucus that, in the early 1980’s, issued the first formal Congressional invitation to His Holiness to come to address the US Congress. At the time, there was considerable push back from the State Department and others, but we were determined to give the Dalai Lama a Congressional platform to educate the American people about the plight of Tibet.

On the appointed day, I was given the assignment to meet His Holiness in front of the Longworth Office Building and escort him to the Hearing Room. I was both excited and a little nervous to meet him and wasn’t quite sure who I was looking for. I recall however that I was expecting a sizeable entourage to be accompanying such a distinguished and famous guest. After a few anxious moments I saw a handsome young man in scarlet robes walking across the street towards the building. He was all alone. Somewhat hesitantly I approached him and asked, “Excuse me sir, do you happen to be the Dalai Lama?” With a warm and amused smile, he responded, “Yes, I happen to be the Dalai Lama!”

I can’t help but chuckle every time I remember this meeting. So many things about it embody the qualities that make His Holiness so beloved and revered. His simple humility, his charming wit and humor, his spirit of forgiveness (in this case, forgiving my somewhat silly question) and of course, the way he made me instantly feel loved and at ease.

I know my life has been immeasurably enriched by the friendship I have shared with this great spiritual leader. On this special day, I send him my love and best wishes and I want him to know how blessed we all are that he, of all people, “happened to be the Dalai Lama”.

The Keeper Podcast : Solidarity Sabbath Season – An Ancient Hatred

Episode 10: Solidarity Sabbath Season – An Ancient Hatred

In the first episode of the Lantos Foundation’s special Solidarity Sabbath podcast season, we take a deeper look at the origins and history of Anti-Semitism. It is often called “an ancient hatred” or “the oldest hatred”. We ask David Nirenberg, Dean of the University of Chicago Divinity School, just how far back does it really go? Why has it been so enduring across time, geography, religion, culture, politics – even in places where no actual Jews live? This episode provides context for what will be a special season devoted exclusively to the subject of anti-Semitism and how we can combat it.

Links and reference:

Plot Against America trailer

Viral trailer

Defining Anti-Semitism

David Nirenberg

How Anti-Semitism rise on the left and right (New Yorker)

Seventy-five years after Auschwitz, anti-Semitism is on the rise (The Atlantic)

A Brief History of Anti-Semitism (Anti-Defamation League)

Don’t miss our upcoming episodes! Subscribe to The Keeper.

The Fight for Human Rights and Justice Must Begin at Home

Tom Lantos, the Foundation’s namesake, often called himself “an American by choice”. He was an ardent patriot, but he was neither blind nor indifferent to America’s many flaws and failures – above all, its original sin of slavery and the centuries of persecution, discrimination and institutionalized racism that have followed. In the wake of terrible and revelatory events that have now shaken our nation and, perhaps, awoken us from complacency, the Lantos Foundation has thought often and deeply about how Tom would respond to this critical moment in history.

The Foundation’s President, and Tom’s daughter, Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett has written a very personal essay imagining what advice he would give us.

As Dr. Lantos Swett writes, “I believe the sight of Americans of every color and background standing together to demand that our country live up to the full measure of our founding creed would stir my father deep in his soul. I have no doubt that he would remind us that the fight for human rights must begin at home. He would add his eloquent voice to the call for profound reform and renewal in the country he so loved. He would urge us to use this historic moment to wrestle with the hard truths and make long overdue changes that will allow us to claim the phrase ‘all men [and women] are created equal’ without hypocrisy.”

While the Lantos Foundation will never stray from its broad mission to carry the noble banner of human rights to every corner of the world, we will also use this moment to reflect carefully on how we can best support and encourage the important movement for racial justice that is currently sweeping the nation. We look forward to incorporating new ideas and forging new partnerships as we work to further Tom’s legacy of fighting for human rights and justice for all people, both at home and abroad.

Open letter to Zoom in response to its deactivation of activist accounts

In response to reports of Zoom’s recent deactivation of the accounts of two U.S.-based, pro-democracy Chinese activists, as well as a Hong Kong activist, the Lantos Foundation has written an open letter to the CEO of Zoom calling on the company to uphold democratic values and help further the cause of internet freedom throughout the world. Zoom’s actions offer ample cause for concern, and the Foundation’s letter urges the company to commit more fully to protecting and promoting its users’ right to free speech, regardless of where they may live.

Click the image below to read the letter.