How can our politicians commemorate past Holocausts while denying what’s happening now?
Remembrance: A woman and a man at the memorial plaque at Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany. Would they approve of the widespread decision to ignore what’s happening in Gaza right now?
Holocaust Remembrance Day happened on Saturday, by the way. Did you miss it?
For the last few years, this event has been a big deal because it was a chance for right-wing nutjobs to lay into Jeremy Corbyn (yes, even after he stopped being Labour leader) – but now it should have gathered added significance because of the situation in Gaza that the International Court of Justice has said may be a genocide.
However…
Today is #HolocaustRemembranceDay
The event has been treated contemptuously by Western politicians and journalists who have deliberately misrepresented the clear words of the ICJ in respect of a GENOCIDE ongoing in Gaza and the need for urgent measures
SHAME on them all
— Tom London (@TomLondon6) January 27, 2024
There have been messages. Here’s Rishi Sunak’s:
We have a duty to remember the horrific crimes of the Holocaust.
That’s why meeting survivors like Lily Ebert is so important.
Lily recently celebrated her 100th birthday. Please take the time to hear her story, in her words.#HolocaustMemorialDayhttps://t.co/2DkN2jGoJP pic.twitter.com/PQjow3dwqV
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) January 27, 2024
And this is from Keir Starmer:
Today we remember the six million Jewish people murdered in the Holocaust, and those in genocides since.
Hearing the powerful stories of Holocaust and Srebrenica survivors is as humbling as it is heartbreaking.
They serve as an important reminder of the fragility of freedom. pic.twitter.com/IEjcGmo9cO
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) January 27, 2024
Neither of them mentioned Gaza at all.
In fact, rather than raise awareness that Israel’s military action in Gaza may be a genocide, Sunak has ordered airstrikes on the Houthis in Yemen who have been blockading the Red Sea in order to hinder Israel’s economic ability to continue – and Starmer has supported him (because they both value money over lives).
So…
Commemorating the Holocaust while cheerleading for the current holocaust is next-level dystopia.
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) January 27, 2024
Some of our politicians have been challenged on their attitudes:
.@davidlammy it is an abomination not to talk about the GENOCIDE in Gaza, the day after the ICJ ruling
Of course, we must remember the victims of the Holocaust & other genocides but PRIMARY PURPOSE of #HolocaustMemorialDay is to prevent further such unspeakably awful events https://t.co/tDVVuohy7h
— Tom London (@TomLondon6) January 28, 2024
Starmer was also challenged:
You need to respond to the ICJ determination about Israel.
Israel is now on trial for genocide, and you have nothing whatsoever to say about that.
It's shocking and shameful and chilling and sinister and appalling.
You have turned @UKLabour into a genocide-defending cult.— simon maginn (@simonmaginn) January 27, 2024
Sadly, when Kate Osamor did mention Gaza in her Holocaust Remembrance Day post, Starmer and Labour suspended her membership of the Parliamentary party.
Still, we can get something useful out of it.
If you feel like it, get on the social media and look up your own political representatives – MPs, AMs, councillors, whoever – and see what they’ve said (if anything) to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Then, if you supported them in the past, tell us if you’ll support them in the future.
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Good to see the hypocritical and callous fascist MPs namely Sunak, Starmer, Lammy and others all ignoring the ongoing fascist Israeli regime’s mass murder of Palestinians. Remember the holocaust is only about remember one particular event not remembering or recognising that genocide continues to happen and it is happening because cruel and callous politicians are in thrall to money and profits!