Last Thursday, as I’m sure you know was Holocaust Memorial Day. It's always a sad day when we reflect on the atrocities of the past. I'm always left with a feeling of emptiness, helplessness, and anger. I am angry when I read the testimony of Elie Wiesel, who ignored his elderly father during a Death March because he was slowing him down and Elie wanted to survive. I am angry when I think of those Austrian parents who felt there was no alternative but to send their children to distant England, never to see them again, whilst they were shoved onto the Polish cattle-cars a few years later.

We must remember that the Nazis not only killed individuals, they destroyed vibrant communities, tore families apart; they sought to destroy an entire people. There were 17 million Jews in the world before the Holocaust, 6 million of who were murdered. Today the Jewish people make up less than 2% of the world’s population, numbering only 13 million. The same question always comes to mind, why? It's easy enough to read a history book and analyse the rise of fascism in Europe but there are no real answers, just questions. Jewish people refer to the Holocaust as the Shoah, a Hebrew word meaning ‘calamity’. The word ‘Holocaust’ implies the sacrifice of millions of lives was for a reason. This was not the case. Trade unionists, Roma, Jews, Black, disabled and LGBT people were all killed due to extremism. There is no way to explain why the Shoah happened or why we fail to prevent other genocides. However, as students we have a duty to commemorate human tragedies such as the Holocaust. We are the last generation with the opportunity to hear the words of Holocaust survivors from their own lips. If we are really serious about fighting racism and discrimination in all its guises, HMD provides us with a focus and an educational tool from which to begin.

I find it deeply upsetting that the Muslim Council of Britain have decided that commemorating the largest genocide of the twentieth century is somehow offensive. I honestly can’t understand it. This is a day for all people, secular and religious, to unite in our shared values of tolerance and respect. Whilst the critics of HMD tell us think it’s too exclusive, they themselves are selective about what genocides we can ultimately commemorate. The same people and organisations refuse to discuss the genocide in Darfur. The Janjaweed, who attack black African villages shout ‘Kill the blacks! Kill the slaves!’ yet we can’t call this racism. Little Darfuri girls are raped and are told they are being raped because they are black, but we must remain silent. I am completely baffled.

Thursday was also a very important day for Israel and Palestine. The terrorist organization Hamas were victorious in all 16 constituencies for the Palestinian Legislative Council. Sadly, Hamas has declared that they are still committed to armed conflict with Israeli civilians.

The BBC reported: ‘With victory looming, senior Hamas official Mushir al-Masri said the group wanted to work with Fatah in a "political partnership". But he said Hamas would not hold peace talks with Israel. "Negotiations with Israel are not on our agenda," he said. "Recognising Israel is not on the agenda either now.’

In September a few members of the NEC sat in East Jerusalem talking to Dr Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research. A poll asking 1369 Palestinian adults from randomly selected locations revealed that 73% support and 25% oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state that would start in the Gaza Strip and gradually extend to the West Bank. Dr Shikaki went on to tell us that past polls had revealed the majority of Palestinians were committed to peaceful negotiations with Israel but a higher number thought the Israelis were not. On the Israeli side the results were exactly the same. The results proved there was a problem, but were also optimistic. What is the future of the peace process if democracy in the Palestinian territories has resulted in a terrorist organization dominating political life? The EU and USA have both stated that they will not work with governments that are unwilling to fight terrorism and employ peaceful means of negotiation.

On 9 August 2001, I was working at a Jewish summer camp in America when there was an announcement that a bomb had exploded in a Sbarro pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem. It just so happened that my Israeli friend Naomi had decided not to work at that particular Sbarro with the rest of her six school friends that and instead decided to work at summer camp in America. Later that week we found out that 15 people had been killed including 7 children and 130 people were injured. One of the injured was Noami’s boyfriend who had thrown himself over a baby when he saw the bomber open his jacket. He saved the baby’s life and suffered third degree burns all over his body. The 10 kg bomb had exploded just before 2 pm when the restaurant was at its busiest. It was packed with nails, screws, bolts and other pieces of metal. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

On 24 September 2001 students at Al-Najah University in Nablus held an exhibition in their university which glorified the attack. They created a replica of the Jerusalem Sbarro in their cafeteria complete with fake limbs hanging from the ceiling. The exhibit also included a large rock in front of a mannequin wearing the black hat, black jacket and black trousers typically worn by ultra-Orthodox Jews. A recording from inside the rock called out: "O believer, there is a Jewish man behind me. Come and kill him." The exhibition and detailed plans of the attack were subsequently on the internet for quite some time.

I am entirely at a loss when university students celebrate the death of little children murdered whilst eating pizza with their families. I don’t think there are any answers, just questions.

B’Shalom, Salaam, Peace

Jess

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