René Cassin strongly condemns the unjust acts of state violence over the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the countless others, and violence against protestors in the USA, especially at a time when COVID-19 with its merciless impact on BAME communities has exposed a level of inequality that existed and was tolerated long before the pandemic. There is no place for racism in our society and the right to safety and protection is a basic right of all human beings regardless of the race, ethnicity or religion.
We continue to witness and experience the tragic and preventable human consequences of hatred and inequalities: the structural inequalities that allow the murders of George and Breonna to go unpunished are intrinsically linked to those which enabled the tragedy of Grenfell and betrayal of the Windrush Generation.
Now more than ever, we must stand up to racism and white supremacy and for ending discrimination – in narratives, policies and actions. That is true for the USA as it is for the UK.
We remember the immortal words of pastor Martin Niemöller:
“Then they came for the Jews,
And I did not speak out,
Because I was not a Jew.”
We choose to speak out and stand up in solidarity with black people. Black lives matter.
#BLM #blacklivesmatter #CutItOut
Today, 10th December, is International Human Rights Day – the 76th anniversary of the signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
The Declaration was a reaction to the horrors of the Holocaust. So, for Jews, today has a particuar significance.
Although rooted in response to atrocity, the Declaration was forward-looking and optimistic. It spoke for the majority of people who knew a better world was possible. The fact that it’s co-author , the French-Jewish lawyer Monsieur Rene Cassin, could draft such a hopeful document so soon after 26 members of his family were murdered by the Nazis is a testament to his humanity and the power of human rights in general.
Today, as the organisation that works in Cassin’s name, we are determined to ensure his Declaration’s vision of human rights for all is fully realised. Central to that work is a focus on so called ‘socio-economic rights’ – rights to everyday essentials like food, housing and health. This vision was best articulated in Article 25 of the Declaration:
‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control’.
Bolstering these rights would ensure everybody has access to the foundations on which to build a dignified, prosperous and meaningful life. They have been neglected for too long.
