Muslim Council Ends Holocaust Memorial Day Boycott

December 3, 2007

Author: Vikram Dodd

Source: The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2220780,00.html

Britain's largest Muslim body has voted to end its boycott of Holocaust memorial day, the Guardian has learned.

The Muslim Council of Britain voted this weekend to end its six-year protest, which had angered the government and Jewish groups.

The decision may lead to some groups leaving the MCB, an umbrella organisation with over 500 members. Its working committee voted 18 to 8 to end the boycott, which began in 2001. Those who voted to attend said the stance had allowed the MCB to be accused of antisemitism and seeming to disrespect the suffering of Jews.

Representatives of the MCB will attend the next memorial day, on January 27, in Liverpool. The decision is an emotional one for members. Those supporting the boycott believe the memorial day is too narrowly focused on Jewish suffering and ignores recent genocides such as that in Rwanda and of Muslims in Srebrenica.