Charles Nailen/The Hoya Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiezel addresses a packed Gaston Hall on Monday afternoon.

Receiving a standing ovation before even uttering a word, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel addressed a standing-room-only crowd in Gaston Hall yesterday. Wiesel contended that despite the inherent ugliness and unjustness of war, it is sometimes necessary.

His speech followed the Thomas J. Ernst family’s recent donation to establish the Elie and Marion Wiesel Chair in Jewish Civilization, planned to exist within the Walsh School of Foreign Service. Both Wiesel and the university anticipate that the chair will eventually lay the groundwork for an academic center on the same topic.

“There’s a saying that when God wants to push someone away he covers him with honors . I imagine that’s not the situation envisioned for the chair,” Wiesel said jokingly after thanking the university administration and faculty as well as the Ernst family for the tribute.

Referring to Adam and Eve as common ancestors between Jews and Christians, he said that the newly created chair should serve as a bridge between cultures. And just as Adam and Eve should not have listened to the serpent, “we should not listen to slander,” he said.

Wiesel’s slander reference was based on what he describes as remaining anti-Semitism throughout the world. “There is so much slander in the world that people must not listen to and certainly not spread,” he said. “[The world] shouldn’t believe what is said about Jewish people.”

Reflecting upon the plight of Jews in history, he expressed concern over the rampant anti-Semitism still existing. “There are people who still hate Jews and blame Jews for their problems in areas where there are no more Jewish people.”

Wiesel said that anti-Semitism and its roots would definitely be studied at the center. “How does one explain how the Jews have endured so much hatred in so many lands under so many disguises?”

Wiesel used Biblical stories to impart his message of peace and constantly referenced the Old Testament for justification. He noted that the Book of Joshua was the only book without any linguistic poetry because of its widespread description of violence. “In the war of conquest, there is so much pain and anguish that there can be no poetry,” Wiesel said.

After saying that very few wars meet the standards of a “just” war, he concluded that the war against Hitler was in fact just. With regard to the current war on Iraq, however, he questioned if the war could be distinguished as either just and moral or merely necessary. Recalling his speech before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee over a decade ago focused on designating Saddam as a killer, he noted that nothing was done by the U.S. government because of its ties to Iraq during its conflict with Iran. “Saddam is a criminal against humanity,” he said.

Wiesel said that America’s first priority should be getting rid of Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction. Expressing trust in Secretary of State Colin Powell and belief in the government’s proof against Saddam, Wiesel said that the secretary of state would have resigned before ever lying to the American people.

He also reflected on his tragic past, relating it to the current situation. “I’ve seen war. I’ve lived through war. War is ugly . leaving cemeteries, orphans and dead children,” Wiesel said. “I am for intervention, whenever there is massive violation of human rights . whether the intervention is cultural, political, or even military.”

Wiesel also referenced capital cases found in the Talmud, the Jewish canon of law, as examples of ethical questions that could be analyzed at the future center.

Similarly, he said that the center should study Hasidism, a religious culture “so beautiful that it lifts our hearts – and we need that now more than ever.” In addition, he recommends the study of the Yiddish language, “a language that, together with the people who spoke it, almost disappeared,” noting that his most famous work Night was originally written in Yiddish.

In regard to Catholicism, Wiesel praised Pope John XXIII who conceptualized ecumenicalism, the bringing together of Christians and Jews. “Today rabbis and priests work together, with respect for each other,” he said. “But don’t forget the third partner of Islam,” he said, further noting how things would have been different today if such an inclusive effort had been made initially. “Time is still here, we can still do something.” He warned, however, against the dangers of religious fanaticism.

Although doubtful about the nation’s tenuous state of current affairs abroad, Wiesel feels the center is an extremely auspicious opportunity. “Ultimately, we will study how to create a world in which we can live and watch our children grow up with hope rather than fear.”

The Georgetown University Lecture Fund sponsored this event.