Anger over decision to ban Westminister Holocaust exhibition
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign have been allowed to erect a stall in the same Westminister Hall location
A parliamentary official has ruled that a Holocaust memorial exhibition was too political to be displayed in Westminster Hall.
But Jewish News understands Speaker Linsday Hoyle was not consulted about the decision.
The ruling was made despite the fact that the Palestine Solidarity Campaign have been given the green light to set up a stall on more than one occasion in Westminister Hall.
One official said The Vicious Circle installation, created by Marc Cave from the National Holocaust Centre and Museum, would not fall within the criteria of being politically neutral and could therefore not be displayed in the Hall for an exhibition.
It tells the story of anti-Jewish pogroms from Kristallnacht in 1938 to Baghdad in 1941 and then October 7 2023.
After learning of the decision to ban the exhibition the National Holocaust Centre and Museum said on X:”We will be seeking clarification from Commons Speaker, whose objective assessment we would value, on the inconsistencies of Westminster Hall Advisory Group’s decision-making.”
Last July, Jewish News was alerted to concerns raised by visitors to Westminster, including familes of the Gaza hostages, about the prominent positioning of a PSC display inside Westminster Hall.
We were told that signage was considered on a case-by-case basis and was used by the PSC to direct individuals to a mass anti-Israel lobby event, supported by Jeremy Corbyn and several other MPs.
Lord Pickles, the government’s special envoy on post-Holocaust issues, told Times Radio the decision should be reversed with the the exhibition allowed.
“Considering the timing of it, that we have just commemorated the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps put by Nazi Germany, I was frankly astounded,” he said. “It just seems to me that if you are going to ensure that the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign has something there, it’s not unreasonable to have a government-funded exhibition there.
“Dealing with the questions of antisemitism, I mean, after all, Westminster Hall is where Churchill laid in state. Westminster Hall is where he received many honours. There was perhaps no greater fighter against antisemitism than Churchill. He would be appalled by this decision.”
The Times reported that Cave has secured spots for his exhibition at the European parliament in Brussels and the German parliament in Berlin. He applied to bring it to Westminster Hall, for a week that would have included Holocaust Memorial Day, on January 27, but his application was rejected.
“It’s one of the great tragedies, I think, of the social media era, and my fear is that by parliament being perhaps more ready to house one side of the argument but not the other — that’s kind of dangerous,” Cave told Times Radio.
It is claimed a distinction can be found between mass lobbying events and the exhibition proposed by Cave.
A parliamentary spokesman said: “Requests for exhibitions in Westminster Hall are taken on a case-by-case basis, and many requests are made throughout the year.
“These are completely different to mass lobbies — signage is considered on a case-by-case basis for the sole purposes of directing individuals during a mass lobby.”
Speaker Hoyle has worked hard to forge excellent links with the Jewish community under his watch, including the start of an annual Chanukah event in Westminster Hall.
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