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Bolton bans Holocaust Day

IN A move widely seen to be bowing to Muslim pressure, Bolton Council has scrapped its Holocaust Memorial Day event. The council is to replace it with a Genocide Memorial Day in June. This is in line with the policy of the Muslim Council of Britain, which continues to boycott HMD and is asking for a Genocide Day, which will also mark "the ongoing genocide and human rights abuses of Palestinians" by Israelis. The council decision was made in consultation with the town's Interfaith Council. But Rabbi Joseph Lever of United Synagogue who has participated in the Bolton event for around three years was not consulted on the decision. He said: "I mourn the fact that the Holocaust Memorial Day event will not take place in Bolton this year." Louis Rapaport, president of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester, was equally disappointed that the Jewish community was not consulted. He said: "Bolton, alone of all the local authorities in our area, is not having an HMD event which is a government recommendation." He added: "There may not be many Jews in Bolton but the day is supposed to have an educational message to the whole community. "I can't help feeling the decision was influenced by Bolton's large Muslim community." Holocaust educator David Arnold said: "It is more than unfortunate that Bolton has seen fit to trivialise the remembrance of the Shoah." Mr Arnold regretted the intrusion of "politics" into the issue. He said: "It is entirely inappropriate and stems from a failure to understand the issues."