Resisting pressure from both Israeli hard-liners and those antagonistic to the Israeli state, the visiting Pope Benedict XVI has come out in support of a genuine Palestinian homeland and has equally condemned anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.

Concerns are being expressed about a significant rise in anti-semitic attacks and harassment in Britain. Some 270 cases have been reported in 2009, according to information from the Community Security Trust.

Twenty-two prominent British Muslims have signed a joint letter denouncing anti-semitic attacks and calling for continued vigilance against anti-Jewish attacks, and have circulated it to mosques across the country.

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks joined representatives from different religious communities at the Holocaust Educational Trust’s ‘Lessons from Auschwitz Project’ this week.