Editing Elie Wiesel (section)

==Political activism==
Wiesel and his wife, Marion, started the [[Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity]] in 1986. He served as chairman of the President's Commission on the Holocaust (later renamed the US Holocaust Memorial Council) from 1978 to 1986, spearheading the building of the [[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]] in Washington, D.C.<ref>video: [https://vimeo.com/182905116 2016 Presidential Tribute to Elie Wiesel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920013229/https://vimeo.com/182905116 |date=September 20, 2016 }}, 6 minutes</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ushmm.org/educators/lesson-plans/holocaust-unit/resources/handout-1 |title=President Clinton's and Elie Wiesel's Remarks on Bosnia Troops |website=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |date=December 13, 1995 |access-date=July 2, 2016 |archive-date=June 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609210417/https://www.ushmm.org/educators/lesson-plans/holocaust-unit/resources/handout-1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Sigmund Strochlitz]] was his close friend and confidant during these years.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lerman|first=Miles|date=October 17, 2006|title=In Memorium: Sigmund Strochlitz|url=https://amgathering.org/2006/10/1858/in-memorium-sigmund-strochlitz/|access-date=January 12, 2021|website=Together|language=en-US|archive-date=January 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113212914/https://amgathering.org/2006/10/1858/in-memorium-sigmund-strochlitz/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Holocaust Memorial Museum gives the Elie Wiesel Award to "internationally prominent individuals whose actions have advanced the Museum's vision of a world where people confront [[hatred]], prevent [[genocide]], and promote human [[dignity]]".<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Elie Wiesel Award — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|url=https://www.ushmm.org/information/about-the-museum/the-elie-wiesel-award|access-date=August 8, 2023|website=ushmm.org|archive-date=March 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308055111/https://www.ushmm.org/information/about-the-museum/the-elie-wiesel-award|url-status=live}}</ref> The Foundation had invested its endowment in money manager [[Bernard L. Madoff]]'s investment [[Ponzi scheme]], costing the Foundation $15&nbsp;million and Wiesel and his wife much of their own personal savings.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/world/europe/elie-wiesel-auschwitz-survivor-and-nobel-peace-prize-winner-dies-at-87.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/world/europe/elie-wiesel-auschwitz-survivor-and-nobel-peace-prize-winner-dies-at-87.html |archive-date=January 2, 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Elie Wiesel, Auschwitz Survivor and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Dies at 87|last=Berger|first=Joseph|date=July 2, 2016|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 2, 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/business/27madoff.html|title=Out Millions, Elie Wiesel Vents About Madoff|first=Stephanie|last=Strom|date=February 26, 2009|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=February 21, 2017|archive-date=March 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310191131/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/business/27madoff.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Support for the Israeli government===
In 1982, at the request of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Wiesel agreed to resign from his position as chairman of a [[International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide|planned international conference]] on the Holocaust and the [[Armenian genocide]]. Wiesel then worked with the Foreign Ministry in its attempts to get the conference either canceled or to remove all discussion of the Armenian genocide from it, and to those ends he provided the Foreign Ministry with internal documents on the conference's planning and lobbied fellow academics to not attend the conference.<ref>Ofer Aderet (May 2, 2021) [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-how-israel-quashed-efforts-to-acknowledge-the-armenian-genocide-1.9766390 "How Israel Quashed Efforts to Acknowledge the Armenian Genocide"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502212642/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-how-israel-quashed-efforts-to-acknowledge-the-armenian-genocide-1.9766390 |date=May 2, 2021 }}, ''[[Haaretz]]''</ref>

==== On the Arab–Israeli conflict ====
Wiesel was critical of [[Hamas]]; he condemned them for the "use of children [[Use of human shields by Hamas|as human shields]]" during the [[2014 Gaza War]], and ran an ad in several large newspapers to express this message.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Almasy |first1=Steve |last2=Levs |first2=Josh |date=August 3, 2014 |title=Nobel laureate Wiesel: Hamas must stop using children as human shields |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/03/world/meast/elie-wiesel-hamas-ad/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813055528/http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/03/world/meast/elie-wiesel-hamas-ad/ |archive-date=August 13, 2014 |access-date=August 13, 2014 |publisher=CNN}}</ref> ''[[The Times]]'' refused to run the advertisement, saying, "The opinion being expressed is too strong, and too forcefully made, and will cause concern amongst a significant number of ''Times'' readers."<ref>{{cite news |date=August 6, 2014 |title=London Times refuses to run Elie Wiesel ad denouncing Hamas' human shields |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/1.609096 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813195428/http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/1.609096 |archive-date=August 13, 2014 |access-date=August 13, 2014 |newspaper=Haaretz |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Greenslade |first1=Roy |date=August 8, 2014 |title=The Times refuses to carry ad accusing Hamas of 'child sacrifice' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/aug/08/hamas-thetimes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812183434/http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/aug/08/hamas-thetimes |archive-date=August 12, 2014 |access-date=August 13, 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>

During his lifetime, Wiesel had deflected questions on the topic of the [[Israeli settlement|Israeli settlements]], claiming to abstain from commenting on Israel's internal debates.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/24/opinion/jerusalem-in-my-heart.html|title=Jerusalem in My Heart|first=Elie|last=Wiesel|work=The New York Times|date=January 24, 2001|access-date=December 6, 2022|archive-date=December 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206181838/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/24/opinion/jerusalem-in-my-heart.html|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Lebanese-American columnist [[Hussein Ibish]], despite this position, Wiesel had gone on record as supporting the idea of expanding Jewish settlements into the [[Palestinian territories]] conquered by Israel during the [[Six-Day War]]; such settlements are [[Legality of Israeli settlements|considered illegal by the international community]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/07/04/elie-wiesels-moral-imagination-never-reached-palestine/|title=Elie Wiesel's Moral Imagination Never Reached Palestine|date=July 4, 2016|access-date=December 6, 2022|archive-date=December 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206181840/https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/07/04/elie-wiesels-moral-imagination-never-reached-palestine/|url-status=live}}</ref> Wiesel often emphasized the [[History of the Jews and Judaism in the Land of Israel|Jewish connection to Jerusalem]], and criticized the [[Presidency of Barack Obama|Obama administration]] for pressuring Israeli prime minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] to halt the construction of settlements in [[East Jerusalem]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Cooper |first=Helene |date=May 4, 2010 |title=Obama Tries to Mend Fences With American Jews |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/world/05prexy.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/world/05prexy.html |archive-date=January 2, 2022 |newspaper=The New York Times}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=April 17, 2010 |title=Elie Wiesel: Jerusalem is Above Politics (ad also placed in 3 newspapers on April 16) |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137057 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826185139/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137057 |archive-date=August 26, 2011 |access-date=May 17, 2011 |publisher=[[Arutz Sheva]]}}</ref> stating that "[[Jerusalem]] is above politics. It is [[Jerusalem in Judaism|mentioned more than six hundred times in Scripture]]—and not a single time in the [[Quran|Koran]]&nbsp;... It belongs to the Jewish people and is much more than a city".<ref>{{cite web |title=For Jerusalem |url=http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/statementsandappeals.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815025625/http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/statementsandappeals.aspx |archive-date=August 15, 2015 |access-date=May 17, 2011 |publisher=The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title='Tension, I Think, is Gone', Elie Wiesel Says of U.S. and Israel |date=May 4, 2010 |work=Political Punch |url=http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2010/05/tension-i-think-is-gone-elie-wiesel-says-of-us-and-israel/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216003036/http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2010/05/tension-i-think-is-gone-elie-wiesel-says-of-us-and-israel/ |archive-date=December 16, 2014 |url-status=unfit |publisher=ABC News}}</ref>

=== Awards and other activism===
Wiesel was awarded the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1986 for speaking out against violence, repression, and racism. The [[Norwegian Nobel Committee]] described Wiesel as "one of the most important spiritual leaders and guides in an age when violence, repression, and racism continue to characterize the world" and called him a "messenger to mankind". It also stressed that Wiesel's commitment originated in the sufferings of the Jewish people but that he expanded it to embrace all repressed peoples and races.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="PBS" /><ref name=":1" />

In his acceptance speech he delivered a message "of peace, atonement, and human dignity". He explained his feelings: "Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant."<ref>{{cite web |title=Elie Wiesel – Acceptance Speech |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1986/wiesel/26054-elie-wiesel-acceptance-speech-1986/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190205164126/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1986/wiesel/26054-elie-wiesel-acceptance-speech-1986/ |archive-date=February 5, 2019 |access-date=February 5, 2019 |publisher=The [[Nobel Foundation]]}}</ref>

He received many other prizes and honors for his work, including the [[Congressional Gold Medal]] in 1985, the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], and The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.<ref name=Wharton>[http://www.whartondc.com/article.html?aid=1309 "Elie Weisel {sic}: Nobel Laureate, Author, Professor"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814231659/http://www.whartondc.com/article.html?aid=1309 |date=August 14, 2016 }}, Wharton Club of DC</ref> 
He was also elected to the [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]] in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artsandletters.org/academicians2_current.php |title=American Academy of Arts and Letters - Current Members |access-date=July 3, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624004136/http://www.artsandletters.org/academicians2_current.php |archive-date=June 24, 2016 }}</ref>

Wiesel co-founded ''[[Moment (magazine)|Moment]]'' magazine with [[Leonard Fein]] in 1975. They founded the magazine to provide a voice for American Jews.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.momentmag.com/about/|title=About – Moment Magazine|website=[[Moment (magazine)|Moment]]|access-date=June 22, 2016|archive-date=June 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605122349/http://www.momentmag.com/about/|url-status=live}}</ref> He was also a member of the International Advisory Board of [[NGO Monitor]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article.php?viewall=yes&id=2029 |title=International Advisory Board Profiles: Elie Wiesel |publisher=NGO Monitor |access-date=May 17, 2011 |year=2011 |archive-date=August 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807093434/http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article.php?viewall=yes&id=2029 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A staunch opponent of the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]], Wiesel stated that he thought that even [[Adolf Eichmann]] should not have been executed.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kieval |first1=Daniel |title=Is Society the Angel of Death? Elie Wiesel's Take |url=https://momentmag.com/is-society-the-angel-of-death-elie-wiesels-take/ |website=Moment Magazine |date=November 3, 2010 |access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref> Wiesel advocated clemency in the [[Cheshire murders|Cheshire murder case]], instead supporting a life sentence of [[hard labor]] for the perpetrators.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Italiano |first1=Laura |title=Elie Wiesel opposes death penalty in Connecticut home-invasion murders |url=https://nypost.com/2010/10/30/elie-wiesel-opposes-death-penalty-in-connecticut-home-invasion-murders/ |website=The New York Post |access-date=25 March 2025}}</ref>

Wiesel, a supporter of immigrant's rights, popularized the slogan "No human being is illegal". stating "you who are so-called illegal aliens should know that no human being is illegal. That is a contradiction in terms Human beings can be beautiful or more beautiful, they can be fat or skinny, they can be right or wrong, but illegal? How can a human being be illegal?"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Haque |first1=Shahid |title=Elie Wiesel: "No Human Being is Illegal" |url=https://bordercrossinglaw.com/elie-wiesel-no-human-being-is-illegal/ |website=Border Crossing Law Firm |date=February 27, 2009 |access-date=1 February 2025}}</ref>

In April 1999, Wiesel delivered the speech "The Perils of Indifference" in Washington D.C., criticizing the people and countries who chose to be indifferent while the Holocaust was happening.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Commons Librarian |date=2024-07-08 |title=Watch Inspiring Activist and Protest Speeches: Elie Wiesel, The Perils of Indifference, 1999 [Holocaust survivor] |url=https://commonslibrary.org/watch-inspiring-activist-and-protest-speeches/ |access-date=2024-08-10 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}</ref> He defined indifference as being neutral between two sides, which, in this case, amounts to overlooking the victims of the Holocaust. Throughout the speech, he expressed the view that a little bit of attention, either positive or negative, is better than no attention at all.

In 2003, he discovered and publicized the fact that at least 280,000 [[History of the Jews in Romania|Romanian]] and [[History of the Jews in Ukraine|Ukrainian Jews]], along with other groups, were massacred in Romanian-run [[Extermination camp|death camps]].<ref>[https://www.yahoo.com/news/hundreds-pay-tribute-elie-wiesels-native-romania-173059615.html "Hundreds pay tribute in Elie Wiesel's native Romania"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204123150/https://www.yahoo.com/news/hundreds-pay-tribute-elie-wiesels-native-romania-173059615.html |date=December 4, 2020 }}, Agence France-Presse, July 7, 2016</ref>

In 2005, he gave a speech at the opening ceremony of the new building of [[Yad Vashem]], the Israeli Holocaust History Museum:
<blockquote>I know what people say – it is so easy. Those that were there won't agree with that statement. The statement is: it was man's inhumanity to man. NO! It was man's inhumanity to Jews! Jews were not killed because they were human beings. In the eyes of the killers they were not human beings! They were Jews!<ref>{{Cite web| title = Echoes & Reflections: Speech by Elie Wiesel - Education & E-Learning - Yad Vashem| access-date = April 17, 2018| url = http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/educational_materials/adl/lesson5_speech.asp| archive-date = April 18, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180418032000/http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/educational_materials/adl/lesson5_speech.asp| url-status = dead}}</ref></blockquote>

In early 2006, Wiesel accompanied Oprah Winfrey as she visited [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]], a visit which was broadcast as part of ''[[The Oprah Winfrey Show]]''. The trip was organized by [[March of the Living|International March of the Living]]'s Vice Chair, ''David Machlis.''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/Oprah-and-Elie-Wiesel-Travel-to-Auschwitz |title=Oprah and Elie Wiesel Travel to Auschwitz |date=January 1, 2006 |access-date=May 17, 2011 |publisher=oprah.com |archive-date=March 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307215711/http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/Oprah-and-Elie-Wiesel-Travel-to-Auschwitz |url-status=live }}</ref> On November 30, 2006, Wiesel received a [[British honours system#Knighthood|knighthood]] in London in recognition of his work toward raising Holocaust education in the United Kingdom.<ref name="Cohen">{{cite web |url=http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/?content_id=4994 |title=Wiesel Receives Honorary Knighthood |last=Cohen |first=Justin |publisher=TotallyJewish.com |date=November 30, 2006 |access-date=May 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606065918/http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/?content_id=4994 |archive-date=June 6, 2011 }}</ref>

In September 2006, he appeared before the [[UN Security Council]] with actor [[George Clooney]] to call attention to the humanitarian crisis in [[Darfur]]. When Wiesel died, Clooney wrote, "We had a champion who carried our pain, our guilt, and our responsibility on his shoulders for generations."<ref name=AP2>[http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c4e0c64c09434f30bb41e114a66f7f9e/reaction-death-holocaust-survivor-author-elie-wiesel "Reaction to death of Holocaust survivor, author Elie Wiesel"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216191629/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c4e0c64c09434f30bb41e114a66f7f9e/reaction-death-holocaust-survivor-author-elie-wiesel |date=February 16, 2017 }}, Associated Press, July 2, 2016</ref>

In 2007, Wiesel was awarded the [[Dayton Literary Peace Prize]]'s Lifetime Achievement Award.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/10/14/ddn101507peace.html |title=Dayton awards 2007 peace prizes |first=Kristin |last=McAllister |date=October 15, 2007 |access-date=May 17, 2011 |work=Dayton Daily News |archive-date=June 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622064440/http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/10/14/ddn101507peace.html |url-status=live }}</ref> That same year, the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity issued a letter condemning [[Armenian genocide denial]], a letter that was signed by 53 Nobel laureates including Wiesel. Wiesel repeatedly called Turkey's 90-year-old campaign to downplay its actions during the [[Armenian genocide]] a double killing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=935 |title=State of Denial: Turkey Spends Millions to Cover Up Armenian Genocide |first=David |last=Holthouse |publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |date=Summer 2008 |access-date=May 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120144925/http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=935 |archive-date=January 20, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Dalai Lama and Bush welcome Elie Wiesel (2007).jpg|thumb|President [[George W. Bush]], joined by the [[14th Dalai Lama|Dalai Lama]] and Wiesel, October 17, 2007, to the ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., for the presentation of the [[Congressional Gold Medal]] to the Dalai Lama]]

In 2009, Wiesel criticized the [[Holy See|Vatican]] for lifting the [[excommunication]] of controversial bishop [[Richard Williamson (bishop)|Richard Williamson]], a member of the [[Society of Saint Pius X]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-37701220090128 |title=Elie Wiesel attacks pope over Holocaust bishop |first=Philip |last=Pullella |date=January 28, 2009 |access-date=May 17, 2011 |work=Reuters |archive-date=March 12, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312093309/http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-37701220090128 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The excommunication was later reimposed.

In June 2009, Wiesel accompanied US President [[Barack Obama]] and German Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]] as they toured the [[Buchenwald concentration camp]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/05/obama.germany/index.html |title=Visiting Buchenwald, Obama speaks of the lessons of evil |date=June 5, 2009 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=May 17, 2011 |archive-date=July 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722094016/http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/05/obama.germany/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Wiesel was an adviser at the [[Gatestone Institute]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05EFDC113AF936A35754C0A9609D8B63|title=Paid Notice: Deaths Wiesel, Elie|website=The New York Times|access-date=March 18, 2019|archive-date=December 5, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205013624/https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9E05EFDC113AF936A35754C0A9609D8B63.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2010, Wiesel accepted a five-year appointment as a Distinguished Presidential Fellow at [[Chapman University]] in [[Orange County, California]]. In that role, he made a one-week visit to Chapman annually to meet with students and offer his perspective on subjects ranging from Holocaust history to religion, languages, literature, law and music.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sahagun|first=Louis|title=Wiesel offers students first-hand account of Holocaust|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-xpm-2011-apr-02-la-me-beliefs-wiesel-20110402-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=January 28, 2014|date=April 2, 2011|archive-date=February 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222180225/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/02/local/la-me-beliefs-wiesel-20110402|url-status=live}}</ref>

In July 2009, Wiesel announced his support to the minority [[Tamils]] in Sri Lanka. He said that, "Wherever minorities are being persecuted, we must raise our voices to protest&nbsp;... The Tamil people are being disenfranchised and victimized by the&nbsp;Sri Lanka authorities. This injustice must stop. The Tamil people must be allowed to live in peace and flourish in their homeland."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/inthenews.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704192819/http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/inthenews.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 4, 2009|title=The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity|website=eliewieselfoundation.org|access-date=July 3, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=2385|title=Sri Lanka's victimization of Tamil people must stop - Elie Wiesel|access-date=July 3, 2016|archive-date=July 24, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724204019/http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=2385|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=2385|title=Sri Lanka's victimization of Tamil people must stop - Elie Wiesel|website=tamilguardian.com|access-date=July 3, 2016|archive-date=July 24, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724204019/http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=2385|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2009, Wiesel returned to Hungary for his first visit since the Holocaust. During this visit, Wiesel participated in a conference at the Upper House Chamber of the [[Hungarian Parliament]], met Prime Minister [[Gordon Bajnai]] and President [[László Sólyom]], and made a speech to the approximately 10,000 participants of an anti-racist gathering held in [[Faith Church, Hungary|Faith Hall]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Quatra.Net Kft. |url=http://stop.hu/articles/article.php?id=564533 |language=hu |title=Elie Wiesel Magyarországon |publisher=Stop.hu |date=November 10, 2009 |access-date=September 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721112828/http://stop.hu/articles/article.php?id=564533 |archive-date=July 21, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hetek.hu/kulfold/200911/magyarorszagra_jon_elie_wiesel |title=Magyarországra jön Elie Wiesel |language=hu |publisher=Hetek.hu |date=November 13, 2009 |access-date=September 13, 2010 |archive-date=November 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091126195342/http://www.hetek.hu/kulfold/200911/magyarorszagra_jon_elie_wiesel |url-status=live }}</ref> However, in 2012, he protested against "the whitewashing" of [[History of the Jews in Hungary#The Holocaust|Hungary's involvement in the Holocaust]], and he gave up the Great Cross award he had received from the Hungarian government.<ref>Reuters. [http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=274446 Wiesel raps Hungary's Nazi past 'whitewash'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011102051/http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=274446 |date=October 11, 2012 }}. ''The Jerusalem Post''. June 19, 2012.</ref>

Wiesel was active in trying to prevent Iran from making nuclear weapons, stating that, "The words and actions of the leadership of Iran leave no doubt as to their intentions".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/12/18/elie-wiesel-says-iran-must-not-be-allowed-to-remain-nuclear-in-full-page-ads-in-nyt-wsj/ |title=Elie Wiesel Says 'Iran Must Not Be Allowed to Remain Nuclear' in Full-Page Ads in NYT, WSJ |newspaper=Algemeiner Journal |date=December 18, 2013 |access-date=June 30, 2015 |archive-date=September 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919170348/http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/12/18/elie-wiesel-says-iran-must-not-be-allowed-to-remain-nuclear-in-full-page-ads-in-nyt-wsj/ |url-status=live }}</ref>