THE rise in anti-Semitism was a source of regret for a lot of speakers within the House of Lords debate, held on Thursday of last week, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day (27 January). The take-note debate was moved “with respect and solemn reflection” by the Minister for Faith, Lord Khan.
He recounted survivors’ stories, and stated how, in his view, “some foreign governments proceed to rinse their history. . . It is as much as each of us, every one in all us, to forcefully condemn any denial of the Holocaust. It is as much as us to combat not only anti-Semitism, but racism, bigotry, and intolerance in all their forms, here and world wide.”
The Government remained “determined to create the UK national Holocaust memorial and learning centre in Victoria Tower Gardens — a spot where we are able to learn concerning the Holocaust, a spot which can make sure that we always remember where hatred can lead”, Lord Khan said. “Subject to the passage of the Bill, and to recovery of planning consent, we hope to start construction before the tip of this yr” (News, 12 September 2024.)
For the Bishop of Lichfield, Dr Michael Ipgrave, “this yr has been particularly significant, because it marks the eightieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz”. He was clear that “the Church will need to have a significant role and duty, in partnership with others, in actively standing against anti-Semitism,” because “through a distortion of Christian theology, the Church in just about all its branches has historically contributed to the immense suffering and injustice experienced by Jewish people over the ages.” Better education was “a serious task for our renewed theological understanding today”, he said.
“While the horrors of Auschwitz move further into history, sadly, anti-Semitism doesn’t. . . We must actively challenge anti-Semitism and all discrimination wherever we see it, to hunt understanding slightly than fearing those that are different from us. . . Interfaith dialogue plays a very important role on this, in addition to being an example of how those of various beliefs can come together to search out common ground and connection.”
The Bishop of Manchester, Dr David Walker, commended the Church of England’s 2019 teaching document God’s Unfailing Word, which “speaks of attitudes towards Judaism over many centuries as providing ‘a fertile seed-bed for murderous antisemitism’, and of the necessity for Christians to repent of the ‘sins of the past’ towards our Jewish neighbours”, he said. “It notes the part played by flawed Christian theology in promoting negative stereotypes of Jewish people.
“There could be no overlap between the reality of our witness to Christ, which it’s the task of theology to articulate, and the darkness of anti-Semitism. We have an obligation as Christians to be alert to the continuation of such stereotyping and to withstand it.”
Baroness Eaton (Conservative), a former Guardian of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, advocated for “each Holocaust Memorial Day [as] a day not only of reflection but of renewed commitment to tackling contemporary anti-Semitism in all its forms. . . Without this, the fight against anti-Semitism will proceed to be missed, sidelined, and deprioritised on the political agenda.”
Lord Wolfson of Tredegar reminded all that the day was “the Jewish festival often known as Tu Bishvat, celebrated every year on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shevat . . . often often known as the ‘recent yr for trees’”.
Baroness Anderson (Labour) concluded the talk: “This is our obligation: not simply to bear witness, but to act.”
