Tom Lantos

New Episode of The Keeper Podcast: Rule of Law Season – Freedom's Counsel

On the first episode of this Rule of Law season, we talked about the rule of law as a “a government of laws and not men”. Our guest on this episode, Professor Irwin Cotler, has his own shorthand for the rule of law: “the pursuit of justice”. If anyone in this world is intimately familiar with the tireless, unrelenting, undaunted pursuit of justice, it is Irwin Cotler – an accomplished academic, renowned international human rights lawyer, former Member of Parliament in Canada, as well as former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Founder and Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, and currently Canada’s first ever Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Anti-Semitism. In this episode, we discuss his four decades of serving as counsel for some of the world’s most prominent dissidents and political prisoners of conscience, as well as what he sees as worrying signs of a global resurgence in authoritarianism. 

Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights

For Irwin Cotler, neither a pandemic nor retirement from politics can slow his fight for human rights (The Globe and Mail)

Irwin Cotler named special envoy for Holocaust remembrance and the fight against anti-Semitism (CBC)

Irwin Cotler speaks at the 2012 Oslo Freedom Forum

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International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation Commends Returning of Knight's Cross

Letter sent to The Guardian by Mr. Eduardo Eurnekian and Mr. Baruch Tenembaum, Chairman and Founder of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.

 

Sir,

Ref.: "Daughter of US Congressman among those returning Hungarian award" - The Guardian - Sept., 4, 2016

The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation strongly repudiates the decision to award the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit to Mr. Zsolt Bayer, a so-called journalist and author who advanced heinous racist remarks against Roma, Jewish and Muslims.

One of the co-founders of our NGO was the late US Congressman and Holocaust survivor, Mr. Tom Lantos. We were not surprised by his daughter's decision to return the aforementioned Hungary award following the ill-judged decision to offer the same distinction to a racist. We applaud her and all the other laureates who decided to take the same step in protest.

We call upon President Janos Ader and Prime Minister Viktor Orban to recall the award to Mr. Bayer.

Hungary was a country plagued with antisemitism during WWII. The infamous Arrow Cross Militia were Hitler's henchmen and oftentimes, they were more vicious than the Nazis themselves.

It was precisely in Hungary, where Raoul Wallenberg, the young Swede,  embarked in an unprecedented life-saving operation which actually spared the lives of scores of Jews and other innocent victims of the Nazis and their Hungarian partners.

Any form of racism and discrimination should not be rewarded but strongly condemned. Instead, it seems that seven decades later, the present Hungarian government has learned very little from Raoul Wallenberg's legacy. This should be immediately rectified and addressed.

Our current flagship programme, named "Houses of Life", identifies and marks physical sites in Europe that served as shelters during the Holocaust for the benefit of the victims of the Nazi persecution. Hundreds of Houses of Life have been located across Europe, including in Hungary.  The underlying idea is to spread around the brave exploits of the rescuers, instilling their values of solidarity in the hearts and minds of the young generations.

This could serve as an example for the Hungarian government to stress the legacy of the Hungarian rescuers rather than granting awards to those who propagate hatred and divide.
 

Eduardo Eurnekian – Chairman

Baruch Tenembaum – Founder

 

The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation

34 East 67th Street

New York, NY 10065

USA

Tel: +1-212-7373275

The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City announced this week the creation of the 2009 Rep. Tom Lantos International Studies Scholarship

The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City announced this week the creation of the 2009 Representative Tom Lantos International Studies Scholarship. The $10,000 scholarship, which will be administered through FIT's Department of International Trade and Marketing, is being funded by Computer Generated Solutions, Inc. (CGS). Phil Friedman, President & CEO of CGS, was a close personal friend of Congressman Lantos and has decided to give an annual scholarship honoring him and promoting his humanitarian values and global views among future generations. Paul Magel, Senior Vice President of CGS, who also serves in the ITM Advisory Board, invited ITM to establish this scholarship.

The scholarship will be awarded to a full-time ITM student with a strong academic record and excellent written and oral skills, as well as a desire to participate in global issues during their career. The recipient is expected to speak at CGS' annual conference in Las Vegas on Monday, 27 October, 2008 with travel expenses paid by the company. In addition, the recipient will be eligible for a summer internship with the company with possible permanent career opportunities there. 

Interested students can learn more here

The Honorable Tom Lantos, 1928 - 2008. Recipient of the "One from the Heart Award"

To be presented by The Honorable Tom Campbell, Friend and Colleague of Congressman Lantos, 101st - 106st Congresses

Received on behalf of The Lantos Family and the Lantos Foundation by Foundation Trustee Evelyn Szelenyi

Distinguished Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Co-Founder of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, Tom Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor ever to be elected to the US Congress. Alongside human rights, health care was also a significant concern for Congressman Lantos. He understood the importance of hospice care and knew how critical the Medicare hospice benefit was to all Americans. Whenever approached about preserving this benefit, he provided his solid support.

Congressman Lantos worked tirelessly to strengthen the role of human rights in American foreign policy. Before his death in 2008, he requested that The Lantos Foundation be established in his name to advance the important work of standing up for our nation’s most important values of decency, dignity, freedom and justice in every corner of the world.

Quote from Congresswoman Jackie Speier, 12th Congressional District:

“It is more than fitting for Congressman Lantos to receive the John W. Gardner Visionary Award. Tom Lantos was truly a visionary when it came to health care, always fighting for those unable to fight for themselves and doing all he could to make sure that hospice care and other services directed toward the most frail in society were funded at adequate levels.

I thank Pathways for recognizing Congressman Lantos with this award.”