* Yad Vashem: “This proposal, however, demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of the Holocaust, and represents an attempt by committee members to politicize Holocaust Remembrance Day in Britain.”
* UK government advisor on Muslim affairs Ahmed Thomson: the claim that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust is “a big lie.”
CONTENTS
1. Blair urged to ditch Holocaust Day
2. No outcry at the BBC
3. Ahmed Thomson
4. “Ditch Holocaust day, advisers urge Blair” (London Sunday Times, Sept. 11, 2005)
5. “Jews and Freemasons controlled war on Iraq, says No 10 adviser” (Daily Telegraph, Sept. 12, 2005)
BLAIR URGED TO DITCH HOLOCAUST DAY
According to a front-page story in the Sunday Times of London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been urged by his senior advisors to scrap Holocaust Memorial Day and replace it with “a Genocide Day that [among other things] would recognize the mass murder of Muslims in Palestine.”
Holocaust Day was established in the UK by Blair in 2001 and is marked every year on January 27, the day the Soviet army liberated Auschwitz in 1945. Many other European countries hold Holocaust commemorations on the same date.
This news story comes less than a week after a new Holocaust Memorial Day Trust was launched with the full backing of the British Home Office.
DISTURBING TRENDS IN SUNDAY TIMES ARTICLE
It is a particularly problematic that The Sunday Times article (attached below) suggests that there has ever been any sort of genocide in Palestine. It may lead readers to believe that Israeli “crimes” are in some way equivalent to Nazi ones. Lies such as this have been internalized among parts of the general public in the UK and elsewhere in recent years as a result of a pattern of grossly misleading media coverage.
The Sunday Times also argues “Holocaust Day was established by Blair in 2001 after a sustained campaign by Jewish leaders to create a lasting memorial to the 6m victims of Hitler.” It was in fact established as a result of thinking by many governments around the globe.
YAD VASHEM RESPONDS
In response, the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum issued a statement saying, “The pain and suffering of innocent people, regardless of their race, religion, ethnic origin or nation, deserves to be remembered. This proposal, however, demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of the Holocaust, and represents an attempt by committee members to politicize Holocaust Remembrance Day in Britain.”
ABUL TAHER
Abul Taher, the Sunday Times journalist, who wrote the story about Holocaust memorial day with so many inaccuracies, was previously the editor of a Muslim-read newspaper called “Asian Eye.” He studied journalism at Sheffield University in northern England.
DID SOMEONE SAY TASMANIA?
If a Genocide Day is established, will it include a memorial for the Jews killed in 1948, 1967 and 1973 in wars self-proclaimed by Arab states as aimed at wiping Israel off the map? Will it include Tasmanians who were deliberately and totally exterminated by British “settlers” in Australia in the 19th century?
NO OUTCRY AT THE BBC
The Sunday Times article, despite being on page 1, provoked almost no outcry on the BBC or elsewhere in the UK media.
Three weeks ago, a Panorama program on BBC 1 (British television) on August 21, 2005 did look at the leadership of British Muslims.
In the program Sir Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, was asked why the MCB did not attend Holocaust Memorial Day in London this year. The argument brought by the Muslim Council of Britain was that it did not include Palestinian territories, Chechnya and Bosnia. The Panorama program correctly asked why they only chose conflicts involving Muslims and did not include Kashmir in their list for “Genocide Day”.
Whilst the Muslim Council of Britain is demanding the government changes Holocaust Memorial day, they seem to have done nothing to combat radical Islamic preachers in Britain inciting young Muslims. Preachers at Leeds Grand mosque are believed to have encouraged one of the July 7 London suicide bombers, Germaine Lindsay.
“PRESSURE ON BLAIR PART OF ZIONIST PLAN”
Ahmed Thomson, an attorney at the Association of Muslim Lawyers has claimed that Tony Blair decided to invade Iraq under the influence of a “sinister” group of Jews and Freemasons.
Mr Thomson said: “Pressure was put on Tony Blair before the invasion. The way it works is that pressure is put on people to arrive at certain decisions. It is part of the Zionist plan and it is shaping events.”
AHMED THOMSON
Ahmed Thomson is a white Christian convert to Islam. Born Martin Thomson in 1950 in what is now Zimbabwe, he was called to the bar in 1979. He is one of several Muslims that Tony Blair’s government brought in to advise him as a result of the London bombings.
He also claims the Holocaust is “a big lie” and that the international media is controlled by Jews whose aim is to suppress Muslims. He was adopted by the British home office (the UK equivalent of an interior ministry); by putting him on such an important committee they gave him credibility.
It was also reported yesterday that Al Qaeda terrorists planned to assassinate Tony and Cherie Blair at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations in June 2002.
I attach two articles with summaries first.
-- Tom Gross
SUMMARIES
HOLOCAUST DAY REGARDED AS OFFENSIVE TO MUSLIMS
“Ditch Holocaust day, advisers urge Blair” (By Abul Taher, London Sunday Times, September 11, 2005)
Advisers appointed by Tony Blair after the London bombings are proposing to scrap the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day because it is regarded as offensive to Muslims. They want to replace it with a Genocide Day that would recognise the mass murder of Muslims in Palestine, Chechnya and Bosnia as well as people of other faiths.
The draft proposals have been prepared by committees appointed by Blair to tackle extremism. He has promised to respond to the plans, but the threat to the Holocaust Day has provoked a fierce backlash from the Jewish community.
Holocaust Day was established by Blair in 2001 after a sustained campaign by Jewish leaders to create a lasting memorial to the 6m victims of Hitler. It is marked each year on January 27…
A member of one of the committees, made up of Muslims, said it gave the impression that “western lives have more value than non-western lives”. That perception needed to be changed. “One way of doing that is if the government were to sponsor a national Genocide Memorial Day…
BLAIR ADVISOR: BLAIR UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A “SINISTER” GROUP OF JEWS AND FREEMASONS
“Jews and Freemasons controlled war on Iraq, says No 10 adviser” (By Toby Helm, London Daily Telegraph, September 12, 2005)
Tony Blair decided to wage war on Iraq after coming under the influence of a “sinister” group of Jews and Freemasons, a Muslim barrister who advises the Prime Minister has claimed.
Ahmad Thomson, from the Association of Muslim Lawyers, said Mr Blair was the latest in a long line of politicians to have been influenced by the group which saw the attack on Saddam Hussein as a way to control the Middle East…
Mr Thomson said: “Pressure was put on Tony Blair before the invasion. The way it works is that pressure is put on people to arrive at certain decisions. It is part of the Zionist plan and it is shaping events.”
Mr Thomson wrote a book in 1994 in which he said Freemasons and Jews controlled the governments of Europe and America and described the claim that six million Jews died in the Holocaust as a “big lie”. In The Next World Order, Mr Thomson, a Muslim convert who was born Martin Thomson in Rhodesia, wrote: “When the majority of people in a predominantly Christian society cease to worship God, the result is fascism.
“When the people in a predominantly Jewish society cease to worship God, the result is either communism or capitalism. A predominantly Christian society is concerned primarily with establishing a political ideology, whilst a predominantly Jewish society is concerned primarily with establishing an economic system.”
This, he suggested, led to the rise of Adolf Hitler. Mr Thomson, who was called to the bar in 1979, wrote: “The fascism of Hitler was the Christian element in the increasingly “Jewish” environment in which he and his followers found themselves.”
He also wrote that the Jews have no right to live in “the Holy Land” because they are not a pure race and therefore not the true biblical Israelites and that Saddam was used as an excuse for US troops - “including thousands of Jews” - to occupy Saudi Arabia…
HOLOCAUST DAY REGARDED AS OFFENSIVE TO MUSLIMS
Ditch Holocaust day, advisers urge Blair
By Abul Taher
London Sunday Times
September 11, 2005
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1775068,00.html
Advisers appointed by Tony Blair after the London bombings are proposing to scrap the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day because it is regarded as offensive to Muslims. They want to replace it with a Genocide Day that would recognise the mass murder of Muslims in Palestine, Chechnya and Bosnia as well as people of other faiths.
The draft proposals have been prepared by committees appointed by Blair to tackle extremism. He has promised to respond to the plans, but the threat to the Holocaust Day has provoked a fierce backlash from the Jewish community.
Holocaust Day was established by Blair in 2001 after a sustained campaign by Jewish leaders to create a lasting memorial to the 6m victims of Hitler. It is marked each year on January 27.
The Queen is patron of the charity that organises the event and the Home Office pays £500,000 a year to fund it. The committees argue that the special status of Holocaust Memorial Day fuels extremists’ sense of alienation because it “excludes” Muslims.
A member of one of the committees, made up of Muslims, said it gave the impression that “western lives have more value than non-western lives”. That perception needed to be changed. “One way of doing that is if the government were to sponsor a national Genocide Memorial Day.
“The very name Holocaust Memorial Day sounds too exclusive to many young Muslims. It sends out the wrong signals: that the lives of one people are to be remembered more than others. It’s a grievance that extremists are able to exploit.”
The recommendation, drawn up by four committees including those dealing with imams and mosques, and Islamaphobia and policing, has the backing of Sir Iqbal Sacranie, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain.
He said: “The message of the Holocaust was ‘never again’, and for that message to have practical effect on the world community it has to be inclusive. We can never have double standards in terms of human life. Muslims feel hurt and excluded that their lives are not equally valuable to those lives lost in the Holocaust time.”
Ibrahim Hewitt, chairman of the charity Interpal, said: “There are 500 Palestinian towns and villages that have been wiped out over the years. That’s pretty genocidal to me.”
The committees are also set to clash with Blair on his proposal to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir, the radical Islamic group. Government sources say they will argue that a ban is unjustified because the group, which is proscribed in much of the Middle East, neither advocates nor perpetrates violence in the UK.
A Home Office spokesman said it would consider the proposals for a separate Genocide Day for all faiths but emphasised that it regarded the Holocaust as a “defining tragedy in European history”.
Mike Whine, a director of the British Board of Deputies, said: “Of course we will oppose this move. The whole point is to remember the darkest day of modern history.”
Louise Ellman, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside and a Holocaust Memorial trustee, said: “These Muslim groups should stop trying to evade the enormity of the Holocaust.”
The seven committees finalise their recommendations today at St George’s House, Windsor, and will submit them to Blair and Charles Clarke, the home secretary, on September 22.
BLAIR ADVISOR: BLAIR UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A “SINISTER” GROUP OF JEWS AND FREEMASONS
Jews and Freemasons controlled war on Iraq, says No 10 adviser
By Toby Helm
(London) Daily Telegraph
September 12, 2005
Tony Blair decided to wage war on Iraq after coming under the influence of a “sinister” group of Jews and Freemasons, a Muslim barrister who advises the Prime Minister has claimed.
Ahmad Thomson, from the Association of Muslim Lawyers, said Mr Blair was the latest in a long line of politicians to have been influenced by the group which saw the attack on Saddam Hussein as a way to control the Middle East.
A Government spokesman confirmed last night that ministers and officials consulted Mr Thomson on issues concerning Muslims but refused to be drawn on his views. “We talk to a lot of people, including many whose views we do not necessarily agree with,” she said.
Mr Thomson said: “Pressure was put on Tony Blair before the invasion. The way it works is that pressure is put on people to arrive at certain decisions. It is part of the Zionist plan and it is shaping events.”
Mr Thomson wrote a book in 1994 in which he said Freemasons and Jews controlled the governments of Europe and America and described the claim that six million Jews died in the Holocaust as a “big lie”. In The Next World Order, Mr Thomson, a Muslim convert who was born Martin Thomson in Rhodesia, wrote: “When the majority of people in a predominantly Christian society cease to worship God, the result is fascism.
“When the people in a predominantly Jewish society cease to worship God, the result is either communism or capitalism. A predominantly Christian society is concerned primarily with establishing a political ideology, whilst a predominantly Jewish society is concerned primarily with establishing an economic system.”
This, he suggested, led to the rise of Adolf Hitler. Mr Thomson, who was called to the bar in 1979, wrote: “The fascism of Hitler was the Christian element in the increasingly “Jewish” environment in which he and his followers found themselves.”
He also wrote that the Jews have no right to live in “the Holy Land” because they are not a pure race and therefore not the true biblical Israelites and that Saddam was used as an excuse for US troops - “including thousands of Jews” - to occupy Saudi Arabia.
A Government source said: “It is by talking to people with varying views that we find out what the range of opinions is. It doesn’t mean we agree with what they are saying.”