Holocaust Memorial Day (UK)
Encyclopedia
Holocaust Memorial Day is a national event in the United Kingdom
dedicated to the remembrance of the victims of The Holocaust
. It was first held in January 2001 and has been on the same date every year since. The chosen date is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp
by the Soviet Union
in 1945, the date also chosen for the International Holocaust Remembrance Day
and some other national Holocaust Memorial Day
s.
In addition to the national event, there are numerous smaller memorial events around the country organised by many different organisations, groups and individuals.
The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2012 will be Speak Up, Speak Out.
In 2010, for the sixty-fifth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Annual National Commemoration returned to London with the theme of The Legacy of Hope. The commemoration, at London's Guildhall
, included survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp, other survivors of genocide and politicians. In a statement, The Archbishop of Canterbury urged people to hear their stories and remember their legacy.
) in Germany. Italy
and Poland
have adopted similar memorial days.
On 10 June 1999, Andrew Dismore
MP
asked Prime Minister Tony Blair
about the creation of memorial day for the Holocaust. In reply, Tony Blair also referred to the ethnic cleansing
that was being witnessed in the Kosovo War
at that time and said:
A consultation took place during October of that year. On 27 January 2000, representatives from forty-four governments around the world met in Stockholm
to discuss Holocaust education, remembrance and research. At the conclusion of the forum, the delegates unanimously signed a declaration. This declaration forms the basis of the Statement of Commitment (see below) adopted for Holocaust Memorial Day.
In 2004 The United Nations voted, by 149 votes out of 191, to formally commemorate the Holocaust atrocity,
(MCB) expressed its unwillingness to attend the ceremony. The MCB instead called for a more inclusive day proposing the commemoration of deaths in Palestine, Rwanda
and the former Yugoslavia, along with the Holocaust. In a press release dated 26th January 2001 the Muslim Council of Britain listed two points of contention that prevented them from attending the event, which were that it "totally excludes and ignores the ongoing genocide and violation of Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere" and that "It includes the controversial question of alleged Armenian genocide as well as the so-called gay genocide." The MCB did not send official representatives to any of the official events associated with Holocaust Memorial Day. The latter policy has been generally referred to as a boycott, although the MCB leadership has objected to the use of that term. In 2005, Iqbal Sacranie suggested that the deaths of Palestianians should also be remembered.
The MCB policy of withholding participation was condemned variously by Labour
MP
Louise Ellman
, Peter Tatchell
representing the lesbian
and gay
human rights group OutRage!
, and Terry Sanderson of the British National Secular Society
.
In a public and controversial interview on the BBC
programme Panorama
, Iqbal Sacranie
, the then General Secretary of the MCB, denied that the policy constituted a boycott. The MCB subsequently made an official complaint to the BBC that their position had been misrepresented by selective editing of the interview. This complaint was rejected by the BBC.
On 3 December 2007, the MCB voted to end the boycott. Assistant general secretary Inayat Bunglawala
argued it was 'inadvertently causing hurt to some in the Jewish community'.
The MCB renewed their boycott for the 2009 commemoration, in reaction the 2008–2009 conflict in Gaza. Despite initially refusing to confirm whether or not they would take part in the 2010 commemoration, they eventually voted to send a junior representative, Dr Shuja Shafi, to attend the event in London.
. Neil Frater, an official from Tony Blair's Race Equality Unit, a branch of the Home Office
, replied that it had consulted the Holocaust Memorial Day Steering Group on the issue and had agreed that while it understood that the Armenian Genocide was an "appalling tragedy", it wanted to "avoid the risk of the message becoming too diluted if we try to include too much history." Frater went on to say that it had gone on with the Steering Group's advice to reject the Genocide, along with the Crusades
, colonialism
and the Boer War
. His comments were received with even more criticism. Zaven Messerlian, the principal of the Armenian Evangelical College in Beirut
, Lebanon
, stated that "any serious commemoration must include the aetiology of genocide, particularly those of the twentieth century, especially if one encouraged the next." The UK-based Refugee Council
also supported this position, since the event was supposed to include "all victims of genocide."
The British government faced a flurry of public criticism for its decision not to include the Armenian Genocide, most notably in the daily newspaper The Independent
from its chief Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk
. After months of pressure, the government allowed twenty Armenian survivors to attend the event in its first annual commemoration. Armenians contended that the British government held out for so long because it wished to preserve its relationship with the successor state of the Ottoman Empire and NATO ally, Turkey
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
dedicated to the remembrance of the victims of The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
. It was first held in January 2001 and has been on the same date every year since. The chosen date is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1945, the date also chosen for the International Holocaust Remembrance Day
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, is an international memorial day for the victims of the Holocaust, the genocide that resulted in the annihilation of 6 million European Jews and millions of others by the Nazi regime.. It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly...
and some other national Holocaust Memorial Day
Holocaust Memorial Day
Holocaust Memorial Day or Holocaust Remembrance Day may refer to one of several commemorations of the Holocaust.-See also:* United Nations Holocaust Memorial* List of Holocaust memorials and museums...
s.
In addition to the national event, there are numerous smaller memorial events around the country organised by many different organisations, groups and individuals.
Commemoration of the Holocaust in the United Kingdom and other countries
Commemorations
Every year since 2001, there has been an annual national memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The main national memorial was hosted in:- LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(2001) — Theme: Remembering GenocideGenocideGenocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
s: Lessons for the Future - ManchesterManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
(2002) — Theme: Britain and the Holocaust - EdinburghEdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
(2003) — Theme: Children and the Holocaust - BelfastBelfastBelfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
(2004) — Theme: From the Holocaust to RwandaRwandaRwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
: lessons learned, lessons still to learn - LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(2005) — Theme: Survivors, Liberation and Rebuilding Lives, for the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz - CardiffCardiffCardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
(2006) — Theme: One Person CAN Make a Difference - NewcastleNewcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
(2007) — Theme: The Dignity Of Difference - LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
(2008) — Theme: Imagine...Remember, Reflect, React - CoventryCoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
(2009) — Theme: Stand up to Hatred - LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(2010) - Theme: The Legacy of Hope - LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(2011) - Theme: Untold Stories
The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2012 will be Speak Up, Speak Out.
In 2010, for the sixty-fifth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Annual National Commemoration returned to London with the theme of The Legacy of Hope. The commemoration, at London's Guildhall
Guildhall, London
The Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation...
, included survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp, other survivors of genocide and politicians. In a statement, The Archbishop of Canterbury urged people to hear their stories and remember their legacy.
History
Since 1996, 27 January has officially been Gedenktag für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus (Anniversary for the Victims of National SocialismNazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
) in Germany. Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
have adopted similar memorial days.
On 10 June 1999, Andrew Dismore
Andrew Dismore
Andrew Hartley Dismore is a British Labour Party politician and a Vice-Chair of the Labour Friends of Israel group who was the Member of Parliament for Hendon from 1997 until 2010 when he was beaten by Conservative Party candidate Matthew Offord.-Early life:Dismore was born in Bridlington,...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
asked Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
about the creation of memorial day for the Holocaust. In reply, Tony Blair also referred to the ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
that was being witnessed in the Kosovo War
Kosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
at that time and said:
"I am determined to ensure that the horrendous crimes against humanity committed during the Holocaust are never forgotten. The ethnic cleansing and killing that has taken place in Europe in recent weeks are a stark example of the need for vigilance."
A consultation took place during October of that year. On 27 January 2000, representatives from forty-four governments around the world met in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
to discuss Holocaust education, remembrance and research. At the conclusion of the forum, the delegates unanimously signed a declaration. This declaration forms the basis of the Statement of Commitment (see below) adopted for Holocaust Memorial Day.
In 2004 The United Nations voted, by 149 votes out of 191, to formally commemorate the Holocaust atrocity,
United Nations statement of commitment
- We recognise that the Holocaust shook the foundations of modern civilisation. Its unprecedented character and horror will always hold universal meaning.
- We believe the Holocaust must have a permanent place in our nation's collective memoryCollective memoryCollective memory refers to the shared pool of information held in the memories of two or more members of a group, and was coined by the philosopher and sociologist Maurice Halbwachs. Collective memory can be shared, passed on and constructed by groups both small and large...
. We honour the survivors still with us, and reaffirm our shared goals of mutual understanding and justice. - We must make sure that future generations understand the causes of the Holocaust and reflect upon its consequences. We vow to remember the victims of NaziNazismNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
persecutionPersecutionPersecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation,...
and of all genocideGenocideGenocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
. - We value the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives to protect or rescue victims, as a touchstone of the human capacity for good in the face of evilEvilEvil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
. - We recognise that humanity is still scarred by the belief that race, religionReligionReligion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, disabilityDisabilityA disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
or sexualityHuman sexualityHuman sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
make some people's lives worth less than others'. Genocide, antisemitism, racismRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, xenophobiaXenophobiaXenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
and discriminationDiscriminationDiscrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
still continue. We have a shared responsibility to fight these evils. - We pledge to strengthen our efforts to promote education and research about the Holocaust and other genocide. We will do our utmost to make sure that the lessons of such events are fully learnt.
- We will continue to encourage Holocaust remembrance by holding an annual Holocaust Memorial Day. We condemn the evils of prejudice, discrimination and racism. We value a free, tolerant, and democratic society.
Muslim Council of Britain
Between 2001 and 2007, the Muslim Council of BritainMuslim Council of Britain
The Muslim Council of Britain is a self-appointed umbrella body for national, regional, local and specialist organisations and institutions from different ethnic and sectarian backgrounds within British Islamic society. It was established in 1997 to help Muslims, to increase education about the...
(MCB) expressed its unwillingness to attend the ceremony. The MCB instead called for a more inclusive day proposing the commemoration of deaths in Palestine, Rwanda
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
and the former Yugoslavia, along with the Holocaust. In a press release dated 26th January 2001 the Muslim Council of Britain listed two points of contention that prevented them from attending the event, which were that it "totally excludes and ignores the ongoing genocide and violation of Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere" and that "It includes the controversial question of alleged Armenian genocide as well as the so-called gay genocide." The MCB did not send official representatives to any of the official events associated with Holocaust Memorial Day. The latter policy has been generally referred to as a boycott, although the MCB leadership has objected to the use of that term. In 2005, Iqbal Sacranie suggested that the deaths of Palestianians should also be remembered.
The MCB policy of withholding participation was condemned variously by Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Louise Ellman
Louise Ellman
Louise Joyce Ellman is a British Labour Co-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Liverpool Riverside since 1997. In parliament she is Chair of the Transport Select Committee and a member of the Liaison Committee.-Early life:Ellman was born in Manchester to a British...
, Peter Tatchell
Peter Tatchell
Peter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British political campaigner best known for his work with LGBT social movements...
representing the lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
and gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
human rights group OutRage!
OutRage!
OutRage! is a British LGBT rights group that was formed to fight for equal rights of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in comparison to heterosexual people. It is a group which has at times been criticised for outing individuals who wanted to keep their homosexuality secret and for being...
, and Terry Sanderson of the British National Secular Society
National Secular Society
The National Secular Society is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no-one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of religion. It was founded by Charles Bradlaugh in 1866...
.
In a public and controversial interview on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
programme Panorama
Panorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
, Iqbal Sacranie
Iqbal Sacranie
Sir Iqbal Abdul Karim Mussain Sacranie, OBE served as General Secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain until June 2006. He arrived in UK in 1969. He was founding Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain , and served four further years as Secretary General from 2002 to 2004 and 2004 to...
, the then General Secretary of the MCB, denied that the policy constituted a boycott. The MCB subsequently made an official complaint to the BBC that their position had been misrepresented by selective editing of the interview. This complaint was rejected by the BBC.
On 3 December 2007, the MCB voted to end the boycott. Assistant general secretary Inayat Bunglawala
Inayat Bunglawala
Inayat Bunglawala is media secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain.He has written articles for The Times, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Daily Express, The Observer and The Sun focusing on Islam and current affairs. He is an activist for Islamist concerns and joined The Young Muslims UK in 1987...
argued it was 'inadvertently causing hurt to some in the Jewish community'.
The MCB renewed their boycott for the 2009 commemoration, in reaction the 2008–2009 conflict in Gaza. Despite initially refusing to confirm whether or not they would take part in the 2010 commemoration, they eventually voted to send a junior representative, Dr Shuja Shafi, to attend the event in London.
Armenians
The event also drew similar criticism in 2000 from the United Kingdom's Armenian community, which complained that the event remained exclusively for commemorating those who perished in the Holocaust, and not the Armenian GenocideArmenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
. Neil Frater, an official from Tony Blair's Race Equality Unit, a branch of the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
, replied that it had consulted the Holocaust Memorial Day Steering Group on the issue and had agreed that while it understood that the Armenian Genocide was an "appalling tragedy", it wanted to "avoid the risk of the message becoming too diluted if we try to include too much history." Frater went on to say that it had gone on with the Steering Group's advice to reject the Genocide, along with the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
and the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
. His comments were received with even more criticism. Zaven Messerlian, the principal of the Armenian Evangelical College in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, stated that "any serious commemoration must include the aetiology of genocide, particularly those of the twentieth century, especially if one encouraged the next." The UK-based Refugee Council
Refugee Council
The Refugee Council is the United Kingdom's leading organisation working with refugees and asylum seekers. The organisation provides support and advice to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as support for other refugee and asylum seeker organisations...
also supported this position, since the event was supposed to include "all victims of genocide."
The British government faced a flurry of public criticism for its decision not to include the Armenian Genocide, most notably in the daily newspaper The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
from its chief Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk is an English writer and journalist from Maidstone, Kent. As Middle East correspondent of The Independent, he has primarily been based in Beirut for more than 30 years. He has published a number of books and has reported on the United States's war in Afghanistan and the same country's...
. After months of pressure, the government allowed twenty Armenian survivors to attend the event in its first annual commemoration. Armenians contended that the British government held out for so long because it wished to preserve its relationship with the successor state of the Ottoman Empire and NATO ally, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
See also
- USHMM
- International Holocaust Remembrance DayInternational Holocaust Remembrance DayInternational Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, is an international memorial day for the victims of the Holocaust, the genocide that resulted in the annihilation of 6 million European Jews and millions of others by the Nazi regime.. It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly...
- National Day of Commemorating the HolocaustNational Day of Commemorating the HolocaustThe National Day of Commemorating the Holocaust The National Day of Commemorating the Holocaust The National Day of Commemorating the Holocaust (Ziua Naţională de Comemorare a Holocaustului in Romanian, is a national event held on October 9 in Romania. It is dedicated to the remembrance of the...
(Romania) - Yom HaShoahYom HaShoahYom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah , known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews and five million others who perished in the...
(Israel)