Holocaust
remembrance should remain
Our
view
The
Holocaust is an event in history long
to be remembered and never to be forgotten.
The atrocities against human life committed
during those troubled times cause us
to question the creature that is man
and how man becomes so blinded by hate
and prejudice.
Great Britain has set aside a day in remembrance of Europe’s darker hours
of intolerance, the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day. Unfortunately, there are
groups in Britain who want to take away the original meaning of that day.
Muslim committees are asking British Prime Minister Tony Blair to replace Holocaust
Day with Genocide Day to recognize the murders of members of their own faith
in Palestine, Chechnya and Bosnia.
As would be expected, Jewish leaders have responded fiercely and claim the
Muslim committees are devaluating the Holocaust. While the Jewish claims have
validity, so do some of the concerns of the Muslim community.
The Islamic leaders say all life is precious and by only recognizing Holocaust
victims, persons of Muslim faith who died tragically are not being recognized.
They believe the day implies “Western lives have more value than non-western
lives,” according to the British Telegraph News.
The claim that all life is precious is certainly true, no matter which corner
of the world that life resides in. But the Islamic argument that Holocaust
Day undermines Muslim tragedies is not nearly convincing enough.
Great Britain is a Western society. As a member of Western society, an area
complete with its own traditions, its own history and its own misfortunes,
it logically will remember even its own dismal days, the most notable of them
being the Holocaust.
Great Britain, and much of Europe for that matter, recognizes its own tragedies
but in doing so does not necessarily undermine or forget others.
Muslims living abroad in Western society should respectfully recognize that
history. The entire situation is comparable to Americans living abroad complaining
that a foreign government refuses to acknowledge the Fourth of July just because
Americans live there too.
And though America’s day of independence is no Holocaust, the example
reflects a need for others to respect local aspects, even ones which remember
days of evil.
The middle ground here that Blair should adopt is having two days, one recognizing
the Holocaust and another the tragic deaths to Muslims. Britain can recognize
both, with respect to both European history and that of its Muslim residents
and citizens.
Keeping a sacred day for Holocaust remembrance maintains the importance of
never forgetting the biggest mass murder in history. Having an additional day
for other genocides of lesser numbers but equal importance should appease everyone. |
