Churches remember Holocaust victims
-26/01/05
Churches and synagogues throughout Britain and Ireland will be among those who tomorrow remember the 60th anniversary of the Holocaust and the Nazi death camps that wiped out more six million Jews and millions of Poles, Soviet prisoners, homosexuals, gypsies and others during the Second World War. Countless others were imprisoned and enslaved.
Memorial day ìpresents one of the greatest opportunities to show our respect for the survivors of Nazi persecution and mass murder, and to listen to what they can tell us about the best and the worst of human behaviourî, say its organisers.
The Queen will take part in mourning and remembrance by holding a reception for Holocaust survivors and British veterans. Her grandson, Prince Harry, caused outrage earlier this month when he was photographed at a costume party wearing a swastika armband ëas a jokeí.
In a Statement of Commitment which members of the public have been signing in support of the Memorial Day, the Holocaust is described as being of ìunprecedented characterî and as a horror that ìwill always hold universal meaning.î
The statement goes on to say: ìWe recognise that humanity is still scarred by the belief that race, religion, disability or sexuality make some people’s lives worth less than others’. Genocide, anti-semitism, racism, xenophobia and discrimination still continue. We have a shared responsibility to fight these evils.î
However British Muslim leaders are not planning to attend the commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz, arguing that Holocaust Memorial Day should explicitly honour victims of genocide everywhere.
They say it should be called Genocide Memorial Day and commemorate all mass killings, including Bosnia, Rwanda and in Palestinian territories where up to 3.6 million Palestinians live under Israeli occupation.
“Israel has also committed mass killings,” said Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain. He went on: “We are not belittling the Holocaust. We share the immense pain and anguish felt in the Jewish community about the Holocaust, but feel Britain is a multi-faith country and everyone should be involve.”
The Council, speaking for 1.6 million Muslims in Britain, has written to Home Secretary Charles Clarke spelling out its reasons for declining their invitation to attend.
Jewish leaders have said they regard the MCB view, first expressed in 2001, as insensitive and wrong.
Christians and others, including those who forthrightly condemn Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, have also suggested that the term ëgenocideí is not an appropriate one to be used in this context.
Backers stress that Holocaust Memorial Day recognises the singularity in the modern era of what happened in the Nazi daeth camps. But, as in the Statement of Commitment, they argue that the link to other acts of genocide and mass murder has been appropriately made without confusion or separation.
Churches remember Holocaust victims
-26/01/05
Churches and synagogues throughout Britain and Ireland will be among those who tomorrow remember the 60th anniversary of the Holocaust and the Nazi death camps that wiped out more six million Jews and millions of Poles, Soviet prisoners, homosexuals, gypsies and others during the Second World War. Countless others were imprisoned and enslaved.
Memorial day ìpresents one of the greatest opportunities to show our respect for the survivors of Nazi persecution and mass murder, and to listen to what they can tell us about the best and the worst of human behaviourî, say its organisers.
The Queen will take part in mourning and remembrance by holding a reception for Holocaust survivors and British veterans. Her grandson, Prince Harry, caused outrage earlier this month when he was photographed at a costume party wearing a swastika armband ëas a jokeí.
In a Statement of Commitment which members of the public have been signing in support of the Memorial Day, the Holocaust is described as being of ìunprecedented characterî and as a horror that ìwill always hold universal meaning.î
The statement goes on to say: ìWe recognise that humanity is still scarred by the belief that race, religion, disability or sexuality make some people’s lives worth less than others’. Genocide, anti-semitism, racism, xenophobia and discrimination still continue. We have a shared responsibility to fight these evils.î
However British Muslim leaders are not planning to attend the commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz, arguing that Holocaust Memorial Day should explicitly honour victims of genocide everywhere.
They say it should be called Genocide Memorial Day and commemorate all mass killings, including Bosnia, Rwanda and in Palestinian territories where up to 3.6 million Palestinians live under Israeli occupation.
“Israel has also committed mass killings,” said Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain. He went on: “We are not belittling the Holocaust. We share the immense pain and anguish felt in the Jewish community about the Holocaust, but feel Britain is a multi-faith country and everyone should be involve.”
The Council, speaking for 1.6 million Muslims in Britain, has written to Home Secretary Charles Clarke spelling out its reasons for declining their invitation to attend.
Jewish leaders have said they regard the MCB view, first expressed in 2001, as insensitive and wrong.
Christians and others, including those who forthrightly condemn Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, have also suggested that the term ëgenocideí is not an appropriate one to be used in this context.
Backers stress that Holocaust Memorial Day recognises the singularity in the modern era of what happened in the Nazi daeth camps. But, as in the Statement of Commitment, they argue that the link to other acts of genocide and mass murder has been appropriately made without confusion or separation.