Holocaust Memorial Ceremony – MCB Regrets Exclusion of Palestinian Tragedy
Muslim Council of Britain | 27.01.2002 07:21
The Muslim Council of Britain has expressed its unwillingness to attend Sunday’s Holocaust Memorial National Day ceremony. In its present form the ceremony excludes and ignores ongoing genocide and human rights abuses around the world and in the Occupied Territories of Palestine.
Holocaust Memorial Ceremony – MCB Regrets Exclusion of Palestinian Tragedy
25-01-2002
London, Muslim Council of Britain
The Muslim Council of Britain has expressed its unwillingness to attend Sunday’s Holocaust Memorial National Day ceremony. In its present form the ceremony excludes and ignores ongoing genocide and human rights abuses around the world and in the Occupied Territories of Palestine.
"The living memorial for the victims of the Nazi Holocaust is ensuring we make the cry ‘Never Again’ real for all people who suffer, everywhere. We honour the dead most sincerely by working to end suffering and bring peace with justice to those who live without hope today," said Yousuf Bhailok, MCB Secretary General.
"We are with the British Jewish community in their pain and anguish. None of us must ever forget how the Holocaust began. We must remember it began with hatred that dehumanised an entire people, that fostered state brutality, made second class citizens of honest, innocent people because of their religion and ethnic identity. Those who were vilified and seen as a threat could be subjected to group punishment; dispossession and impoverishment while the rest of the world stood idly by, washing its hands of despair and suffering that kept getting worse. We must do more than remember and reflect on the past – we must be able to see when the same abuses occur in our time," said Mr Bhailok.
"The Nazi Holocaust is singular in its horror. But inhumanity, brutality, hatred and such evils keep on recurring. We only learn from history when we see all victims are equal. Our common humanity and moral vision must be stirred equally by all victims or we diminish ourselves and are diminished as societies and nations. The purpose of remembrance should be to expand our compassion. ‘Ethnic cleansing’ is not a thing of the past; it is a present terror. Remembrance must refocus our moral vision, rededicate our commitment to prevent current and future inhumanity, state brutality and crimes against humanity. It is our sincere regret that this purpose is not being fulfilled."
The MCB believes the suffering of one group of people must not blind us to the suffering of others, nor should it be cause or justification for one group to oppress others. The MCB urges the Home Secretary to reconsider Memorial Day; to make it inclusive of the sufferings of all people. "Genocide is the most abhorrent and outrageous crime against humanity and we are not going to prevent it by selectively remembering only some of its victims", Mr Bhailok stated.
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=1721
25-01-2002
London, Muslim Council of Britain
The Muslim Council of Britain has expressed its unwillingness to attend Sunday’s Holocaust Memorial National Day ceremony. In its present form the ceremony excludes and ignores ongoing genocide and human rights abuses around the world and in the Occupied Territories of Palestine.
"The living memorial for the victims of the Nazi Holocaust is ensuring we make the cry ‘Never Again’ real for all people who suffer, everywhere. We honour the dead most sincerely by working to end suffering and bring peace with justice to those who live without hope today," said Yousuf Bhailok, MCB Secretary General.
"We are with the British Jewish community in their pain and anguish. None of us must ever forget how the Holocaust began. We must remember it began with hatred that dehumanised an entire people, that fostered state brutality, made second class citizens of honest, innocent people because of their religion and ethnic identity. Those who were vilified and seen as a threat could be subjected to group punishment; dispossession and impoverishment while the rest of the world stood idly by, washing its hands of despair and suffering that kept getting worse. We must do more than remember and reflect on the past – we must be able to see when the same abuses occur in our time," said Mr Bhailok.
"The Nazi Holocaust is singular in its horror. But inhumanity, brutality, hatred and such evils keep on recurring. We only learn from history when we see all victims are equal. Our common humanity and moral vision must be stirred equally by all victims or we diminish ourselves and are diminished as societies and nations. The purpose of remembrance should be to expand our compassion. ‘Ethnic cleansing’ is not a thing of the past; it is a present terror. Remembrance must refocus our moral vision, rededicate our commitment to prevent current and future inhumanity, state brutality and crimes against humanity. It is our sincere regret that this purpose is not being fulfilled."
The MCB believes the suffering of one group of people must not blind us to the suffering of others, nor should it be cause or justification for one group to oppress others. The MCB urges the Home Secretary to reconsider Memorial Day; to make it inclusive of the sufferings of all people. "Genocide is the most abhorrent and outrageous crime against humanity and we are not going to prevent it by selectively remembering only some of its victims", Mr Bhailok stated.
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=1721
Muslim Council of Britain
Comments
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Death as a political weapon
27.01.2002 09:52
Nobody gives a toss about the victims of the genocides in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which killed up to four million people in the 1990s (those are the conservative estimates of the UN!).
Nobody lined up at the seaports and airports to stop British arms exports to Angola, Uganda and Zimbabwe (the main combatants in the DRC war) - although the fanatical and asasine animal rights groups marched in their tens of thousands against live animal exports.
Nobody gives a shit about human rights and the fact that the UK is involved in widespread terrorism. Death is a political weapon - on the one side to subdue, terrorise and anihilate a people and on the other side to advance victimhood for the sake of a separate cause. The Muslim Council is only obsessed with Palestine and to gain some moral authority, which was battered by the events of 11 September.
So, I'll remember all the holocausts every day and work to bring down the system that perpetuates genocide.
Nobody's friend
Confusion...
27.01.2002 20:09
But, having said that the ceremony in Birmingham, which I attended, did actually make a point of commemorating the atrocities which have occurred, and are still occurring, since the Holocaust.
Julie Burchill