UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres pledged on Thursday to increase his organization's efforts to fight anti-Semitism.
"Since nobody is born to hate, intolerance can be prevented and unlearned," he told a gathering at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City, marking the 81st anniversary of the Kristallnacht – the violent attack in Germany and Austria against Jews and their homes, synagogues, and businesses in 1938.
Scores of Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues were destroyed during "the Night of Broken Glass" on Nov. 9-10, 1938.
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Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon and dozens of ambassadors and foreign dignitaries attended the event.
In a speech underlining his continued fight to stamp out anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of hatred, Guterres recognized the need for continued vigilance.
"Decades after the Holocaust, the world's oldest hatred is still with us," he remarked, before listing recent incidents across the world targeting Jews, ranging from the vandalizing of Jewish graves and Holocaust memorial, to the mass shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh last year - the worst anti-Semitic attack in United States history.
"At the same time, other forms of intolerance are also taking a deadly toll," he noted, citing examples such as church bombings, massacres at mosques, and assaults on migrants and refugees.
"Hatred kills. But hatred also works in insidious ways to undermine relations between people and the foundations of society," he said.
The secretary general called for urgent action by parents, teachers and political leaders "before underground hatred becomes an overt and alarming new normal."
He further highlighted efforts by the global community to counter these threats, such as UN action plans to address hate speech and to ensure the safety of houses of worship.
"Education must be a key part of this preventive approach, and I am announcing today that I intend to convene a conference on the role of education in addressing and building resilience against hate speech," he revealed.
"We are also focusing on the protection of religious sites in the wake of deadly attacks on mosques in New Zealand, the Easter church bombings in Sri Lanka and other assaults. Just last month in Germany, a gunman killed two people while trying to storm a synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar."
Next year, the UN marks its 75th anniversary and Guterres said the focus will be on equality and human dignity.
