Jewish leader walks out of Bolton Holocaust Memorial Day over Gaza references
Jewish communal leader leaves Bolton ceremony after speech referencing Gaza, calling it a politicisation of Holocaust remembrance
A senior Jewish community leader walked out of Bolton’s Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration after a Labour councillor’s speech referenced Gaza, describing the remarks as “deeply inappropriate” and a politicisation of the event.
Marc Levy, chief executive of the Jewish Representative Council for Greater Manchester and region, left the ceremony at Bolton Town Hall on Tuesday before delivering a scheduled reading, after comments made by the borough’s deputy council leader, Labour councillor Akhtar Zaman.
The annual service, organised by Bolton Council with volunteers from across the community, was attended by schoolchildren and focused on Holocaust remembrance, including the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis and other victims of Nazi persecution.
During his speech, Councillor Zaman referred to a number of contemporary conflicts, including Sudan, Myanmar and Gaza. He said: “In Myanmar, the Rohingya minority continues to face systematic persecution and live under conditions of apartheid. The conflict in Gaza is also flagged under a genocide emergency by some international experts and UN bodies, with immense civilian casualties and the systematic destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure raising grave concerns under international law.”
Following the address, Levy chose to leave the hall in protest. Speaking afterwards, he said: “When the keynote speaker felt it appropriate to start discussing other conflicts in the world, especially with a focus on the terrible situation in Gaza, with no context, I felt it was deeply inappropriate because it completely misses the point of what today is meant to be about.
“It is astonishing that whoever signed off on that speech felt that it was a compelling reason to do so, because it completely got away from what the day was supposed to be about. Today is about the commemoration of those who have genocide committed against them and, whilst the conflict in Gaza is tragic and awful, what it most definitely is not is a genocide.
“In a room full of children, to reference that with no context or the ability to speak about the atrocities that were committed on 7 October and the hostage taking, it was the politicisation of the Holocaust Memorial Day.
“As a result, I felt unable to stay and attend the rest of the commemoration. The world is a very difficult and dangerous place at the minute, and you have to have responsibilities and sensitivities to all communities.”
The service included hymns sung by pupils from St Michael’s Primary School and Bolton School, alongside artwork created by students.
Bolton Council said it regretted Levy’s departure and had contacted him following the event. A spokesperson said: “As a council, we are always proud to host the annual Holocaust Memorial Day service, organised by a team of volunteers from across the community.
“Remembering the Holocaust, and the murder of six million Jews, is always at the very centre of the event.
“However, it is also an opportunity to consider the historical lessons from this atrocity in a modern context.
“This modern context was especially relevant given this year’s theme of ‘Bridging Generations’. With this in mind, speakers at our annual service will often reference current conflicts and call for peace across the world.”
“In recent years, this has included mentions of Ukraine, the Middle East and other conflicts, reflecting the cross-community nature of the event.
“We are deeply sorry that Mr Levy could not stay for the full event, and we have already reached out to him to continue a dialogue about his concerns.”
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