In 2021, Elisha Wiesel became engrossed in the life story of a Uyghur woman named Gulbahar Haitiwaji, told in the book “How I Survived a Chinese ‘Reeducation’ Camp.”
Uyghurs (sometimes spelled as “Uighurs”) are a primarily Muslim ethnic group that for more than a thousand years has lived in a region of what is now China.
The story of Haitiwaji’s experience struck Wiesel with its familiarity. He is the son of the Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and champion of human rights who died in 2016.
“Reading about the Chinese government’s determination to stamp out a people, it had very powerful echoes of ‘Night,’” Wiesel said, referring to his father’s memoir, in which he recounted his days imprisoned during the Holocaust in the Nazi death camps Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
An estimated one million (or more) Uyghurs live in state-run internment camps and are subjected to forced labor and sterilizations — a situation that was labeled “genocide” by the State Department in 2021.
This unsettling reminiscence propelled Elisha Wiesel, the chairman of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, to deeper inquiry.
This has culminated in “Disrupting Uyghur Genocide,” a two-day conference at the 92nd Street Y in New York, which begins today.
Sponsored by the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, the World Uyghur Congress and the Uyghur Uyghur Human Rights Project, the conference will include multifaith panels on how teachings from the Holocaust can be applied to addressing the crisis for the Uyghurs, the impact of China’s media censorship and propaganda, the companies capitalizing from forced Uyghur labor and the role of forced assimilation and China’s colonial boarding schools.
Panelists include Uyghur human rights activists and Uyghur camp survivors.
I spoke to Elisha Wiesel about the conference and the impetus to bring attention to the Uyghur cause.
Can you give a snapshot of conditions for the Uyghurs?
You have lack of sleep and forced detention. There are some reports of torture that come from survivors and witnesses. It’s become quite clear that industries such as the fashion industry, which consumes cotton, the auto parts industry and beverage bottling are benefiting from this forced labor.
Are the Uyghurs free to observe Islam and embrace their culture?
Actually, there’s a cultural repression taking place. There’s intense pressure, for example, to push Muslims to eat pork or to drink alcohol. You have many reported instances of Han Chinese being embedded into Uyghur families, particularly to do things like preventing them from going to mosques and observing their customs. You have clear evidence that mosques are being either rebuilt or redesigned to replace the architecture that defined the Uyghur motif.
I think most people associate the Wiesel name with Jewish and Israeli causes. Why is this an important issue for the Wiesel Foundation?
My father lived Jewish values on the world stage and believed that to be Jewish is to engage with the world. My father had no problem going to the biggest bully on the planet and picking a fight, because that’s who he was. And that’s what we’re doing, frankly, because the Chinese Communist Party really is guilty of some significant atrocities against a minority population that poses no threat to them.
Might the foundation address human rights issues in Gaza?
I, like so many others, mourn the tragic death and violence in Israel and Gaza brought on by the terrible attacks of Oct. 7. My parents hosted a conference in Petra, Jordan, with King Abdullah in 2006 to bring together Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian National Authority. Sadly Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza brought only terror rather than peace, but we are not giving up.
I am very proud that we are bringing together Jewish and Muslim voices to stand against the oppression of the Uyghur people and to know that these communities can work together to find common cause.
Why is the conference taking place now?
We had plans for a conference in November 2023. Needless to say, the events of Oct. 7 were a significant derailment for us. That’s why the conference is now, just before Passover, which actually carries a lot of significance.
The fight for freedom and liberation is a Jewish story that dates back thousands of years. That is what this is about, a fight for freedom and liberation for the Uyghurs.
Weather
Expect showers, with a high temperature around 60. For the evening, showers linger, with temperatures in the high 40s.
ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING
In effect until Tuesday (Passover).
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