European Politics and the Holocaust

History News Network ^ | September 20, 2005 | Robert KC Johnson

[Sthitch]

Last week, the London Times reported that a group of Muslims appointed by Tony Blair to examine how the government might diminish Muslim extremism are pressuring the PM to replace Holocaust Memorial Day with "Genocide Day," since "Muslims feel hurt and excluded that their lives are not equally valuable to those lives lost in the Holocaust time." The head of a British Muslim charity added, “There are 500 Palestinian towns and villages that have been wiped out over the years. That’s pretty genocidal to me.” (One Labour MP appropriately responded, “These Muslim groups should stop trying to evade the enormity of the Holocaust.”)

Perhaps French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy might want to visit Britain for next year's Holocaust Memorial Day, which is held on January 27. Yesterday's Ha'aretz reports that Douste-Blazy revealed a shocking lack of knowledge of the Holocaust and European history during a recent visit to Israel's Holocaust memorial site, Yad Vashem.

The museum, which is an extraordinary achievement in public history, includes detailed maps showing the number of Jews killed in each nation occupied by the Nazis. Douste-Blazy asked why no British Jews were listed as murdered, prompting the museum curator to point out, "But Monsieur le minister, England was never conquered by the Nazis during World War II."

The Foreign Minister's response: "Yes, but were there no Jews who were deported from England?" Amazing.

[Sthitch]

This is unbelievable. And these Eurotrash politicians claim that Americans have no sense of history.

[Paradox]

The Foreign Minister's response: "Yes, but were there no Jews who were deported from England?" Amazing.

Sheesh, THERE's a "bushism" if I ever heard one..

[Rummyfan]

"Muslims feel hurt and excluded that their lives are not equally valuable to those lives lost in the Holocaust time."

Maybe six million of them need to be murdered?

[Sthitch]

More than 6 million of them have been murdered, but they still follow the men who kill them. Islamic tyrants have been perpetrating a holocaust on their own people since the days of Mohammad.

[DeuceTraveler]

Maybe he was thinking the US. I heard we turned a boat of Jewish refugees from Germany back around to the Reich before we entered WW2.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

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[Conservomax]

Are they Turks?

Maybe they should replace it with an Armenian holocaust statue.