Holocaust Memorial Day
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK and many other European countries. The official marking of it was yesterday, and events around the country are happening now and over the weekend.
Yet again, I disagree with the Muslim Council of Britain. Earlier this year, they set out their settled, considered position that homosexuality is "not acceptable", and that same-sex marriage is "harmful". Today they are boycotting Holocaust Memorial Day, on the grounds that it should include explicit recognition of other genocides. I heard a debate on the radio about this the other night, and the consensus position seemed to be that yes, it was worth remembering other genocides, but boycotting Holocaust Memorial Day was a terrible idea. I think that's close to my own position. I note that there are speakers on other genocides at many Holocaust Memorial Day events.
I'll certainly be there at the ceremony in my village at the weekend.
In what I've heard and read, it's sometimes acknowledged that the victims of the Holocaust were "Jews and others". IMO, it's entirely right that the awful, terrible toll on Jewish people - around six million exterminated - takes the main focus most of the time. And I certainly don't want to get in to silly "group A's suffering from atrocity X was worse than group B's from atrocity Y" arguments of the sort that often arise about the MCB's boycott of the event. But we don't often hear who the "Others" in the Holocaust were, and I think we should.
The Others who were systematically murdered by the Nazis included Slavs, Roma and other 'gypsies', people with disabilities, communists and trade unionists, Jehovah's Witnesses and adherents of other minority religions, Black and Asian people and ... gay men queer people.
Holocaust Memorial Day is about remembering what happened and working to try to make a better, more tolerant world. The MCB are really not helping by calling one of the groups targetted for extermination by the Nazis "not acceptable". Since I'm on a Peter Tatchell roll at the moment, I think I'll quote him approvingly yet again: "Both the Muslim and gay communities suffer prejudice and discrimination. We should stand together to fight Islamophobia and homophobia." And - in my view - to fight anti-Semitism too.
Yet again, I disagree with the Muslim Council of Britain. Earlier this year, they set out their settled, considered position that homosexuality is "not acceptable", and that same-sex marriage is "harmful". Today they are boycotting Holocaust Memorial Day, on the grounds that it should include explicit recognition of other genocides. I heard a debate on the radio about this the other night, and the consensus position seemed to be that yes, it was worth remembering other genocides, but boycotting Holocaust Memorial Day was a terrible idea. I think that's close to my own position. I note that there are speakers on other genocides at many Holocaust Memorial Day events.
I'll certainly be there at the ceremony in my village at the weekend.
In what I've heard and read, it's sometimes acknowledged that the victims of the Holocaust were "Jews and others". IMO, it's entirely right that the awful, terrible toll on Jewish people - around six million exterminated - takes the main focus most of the time. And I certainly don't want to get in to silly "group A's suffering from atrocity X was worse than group B's from atrocity Y" arguments of the sort that often arise about the MCB's boycott of the event. But we don't often hear who the "Others" in the Holocaust were, and I think we should.
The Others who were systematically murdered by the Nazis included Slavs, Roma and other 'gypsies', people with disabilities, communists and trade unionists, Jehovah's Witnesses and adherents of other minority religions, Black and Asian people and ... gay men queer people.
Holocaust Memorial Day is about remembering what happened and working to try to make a better, more tolerant world. The MCB are really not helping by calling one of the groups targetted for extermination by the Nazis "not acceptable". Since I'm on a Peter Tatchell roll at the moment, I think I'll quote him approvingly yet again: "Both the Muslim and gay communities suffer prejudice and discrimination. We should stand together to fight Islamophobia and homophobia." And - in my view - to fight anti-Semitism too.