Israel’s UN Envoy Gilad Erdan on Monday wore a yellow star of David with the slogan “Never again” emblazoned on it when he spoke at the UN Security Council’s emergency discussion of the war and the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, convened at the request of the United Arab Emirates.
Yad Vashem Chairman Danny Dayan on Tuesday morning slammed Erdan, tweeting: “We were sorry to see the members of the Israeli delegation to the UN wearing a yellow patch. This act dishonors both the victims of the Holocaust and the State of Israel. The yellow patch symbolizes the helplessness of the Jewish people and their being at the mercy of others. Today we have an independent country and a strong army. We are masters of our destiny. Today we put a blue & white flag on our lapel, not a yellow patch.”
Erdan later tweeted Monday night: “Today at the Security Council, I wore the yellow patch and rebuked the members of the council: When my family members were sent to the gas chambers – the world was silent. Today, after Jewish babies have once again been burned alive – the Security Council is silent. You have learned nothing in the past eighty years! The UN has forgotten why it was founded! But we will make sure to remind them: from now on, my team and I will wear a yellow patch to remind you of the shame of your silence. And we will carry it with pride until we eliminate the Nazi Hamas. NEVER AGAIN is now!”
היום במועצת הבטחון,ענדתי את הטלאי הצהוב והטחתי בחברות המועצה: כשבני משפחתי נשלחו לתאי הגזים- העולם שתק. היום אחרי שתינוקות יהודיים שוב נשרפו בחיים- מועצת הביטחון שותקת. לא למדתם דבר בשמונים השנים האחרונות! האו״ם שכח למה הוא נוסד! אבל אנחנו נדאג להזכיר לו: מעתה ואילך, הצוות שלי… pic.twitter.com/hn2WShYX6C
— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) October 31, 2023
It was difficult to avoid seeing the Dayan attack on Erdan as purely a turf war. After all, since when is Yad Vashem the arbiter of what symbols are appropriate and inappropriate for Israelis, including Israeli officials, to wear on their lapels?
Israelis who have been advocating for the replacement of Chairman Dayan, who was appointed by the Lapid-Bennett government, reminded the left-leaning chairman of his organization’s refusal to display the picture of the Mufti of Jerusalem with Adolf Hitler because they argued that the meeting between the Mufti and Hitler had no practical influence on Nazi policy.
But by evading the question of the Mufti’s connection to the Nazis, Yad Vashem also avoided a front-and-center discussion of SS units comprised of dedicated Muslims, most notably the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian), a mountain infantry division of the Waffen-SS with Muslim recruits from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The term United Nations was first coined by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to describe the Allied forces that fought against Germany, Japan, and Italy. The first official use of this term was on January 1, 1942, when 26 governments signed the Atlantic Treaty, in which they pledged to continue the war effort.
Incidentally, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) began in 1943 in the White House, as an international relief agency to take care of war refugees in Europe and the Far East.
