Rt Hon Theresa May - Why Holocaust Education is so Important

Last year, in 2014 I had the pleasure of spending a little time with UK Home Secretary and constituent MP, Theresa May. I was extremely grateful that Ms May set aside a little time within an extremely busy schedule to allow me to ask her a few questions about why holocaust memorial and education is so important for us globally, both socially and politically. Here's what Ms May had to say on the issue:

1) Q: Why is learning about holocaust so important within compulsory education?

Well I think it is important that young people understand what happened during the holocaust and hey see and understand the depths to which man’s inhumanity to man, can go. Sadly of course, we’ve seen in recent years, genocides such as in Rwanda, but it’s so important people understand what happened during the holocaust.

And I think what the Holocaust Educational Trust does in actually taking youngsters to Auschwitz, showing them what it was like, just brings it into much sharper focus for people and so I’m very pleased that schools in my constituency do actually participate in this and give young people that opportunity.

And of course, in terms of [Key] Stage 3 history curriculum, there is education about the holocaust as part of that, which I think is important.

2) Q: And what about its political significance?

I think it’s important particularly in fact, for the same reasons it’s important that young people learn about it. First of all it is important that we all remember and recognise what can happen when a regime such as the one in Nazi Germany takes the actions it did, takes the attitude that it did, towards groups of people, and then takes the action that led to the many millions of deaths that occurred during the holocaust.

It is a sharp wake up call to politicians to remind us of the depths to which human beings can go and that’s important in itself but it’s important today as well, for another reason which is that sadly we still see people wanting to take up violence against others, hate crimes occurring.

I recently participated in an event run by the community safety trust and visited a group that is funded by the Jewish community, that works to provide security to synagogues, to provide support and information to young people at university for example about how to protect themselves from anti-Semitic behaviour and abuse and hate crimes. How sad it is that that is still necessary today. Despite what we saw happening during the holocaust and despite what we should have learnt from that.

And so for politicians today, we have to recognise, the problems that still exist in society, in relation to hate crimes and those can be hate crimes against people of a variety faiths for example but we still see hate crime out there today and we have to be aware of it and recognise it.

And Holocaust Memorial Day reminds us of the extremities that human beings are willing to go to when there is that hatred among them.

3) Q: And it’s resonance globally?

I think we all would have hoped that, as human beings, we would have learned and would have recognised that that was not what should occur. Sadly of course we have seen, as in the genocide in Rwanda that once again people, because people happen to belong to a different sort of group within their society, we saw genocide on the scale that we did.

What we want, obviously what we all want is to ensure that events like that do not happen again. That’s why Holocaust Memorial is relevant, not just for us here in the UK, but relevant globally.

But it is also relevant because we see hate crime, at a lesser level, elsewhere as well, in parts of Europe, I am aware of. So these are messages that we need to KEEP giving to people and keep reminding people of. We would all want to be in a situation where we didn’t need to but sadly, the evidence is, we do need to continue. That’s why that constant memorial, reminding people of what did happen and what can happen, is so important.

4) Q: What’s your view on educating adults about the holocaust?

Well, young people go through school, and they become adults obviously, and they can take that through into their adulthood and take that understanding through into their adulthood.

I think what’s important in what the Holocaust Educational trust but particularly the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust does is there is a point in time each year, when the issue is raised and the profile of the issue is raised, so that reminds adults about the issue and can act as a trigger. Hopefully some people will say, well actually I want to know more about this, as a result of seeing that memorial and see people taking that time to say we need to recognise, we need to remind ourselves of what CAN happen between human beings. And hopefully people will then take that forward.

But In the whole arena of trying to reduce hate crime, trying to deal with hate crime, and also to do with extremism of course, government has a role to play.

One of the things we’ve done is to encourage the proper recording of hate crime so we get a much better understanding of what is happening. And also as a government we’ve taken a more robust view, than has been done previously in relation to extremist preachers, for example.

Are We At War?

dezeen.com

Of course not, you might say. Officially, I guess not. But I'm talking about another kind of war. A war that sees innocent people forgotten about and cartoonists who dedicate their lives to making caricatures of those they disagree with, make worldwide news. 12 cartoonists are shot, and everyone's Charlie Hebdo but not once is anyone raising their hand to say anything about any of the hundreds and thousands of deaths that are happening around the world to people who have never said a word against anyone. Yes, the deaths are tragic and the killing is completely unjust. Yes, it is upsetting. Yes, free speech is important. Yes, the fact that Paris is closer to home is likely to cause a larger outpour of 'sympathy' and 'outrage' but whatever the reason for such a huge response to the Paris attack and the complete lack of response to anything else, even if that reason may seem compelling with the addition of a hashtag and more followers... IT'S WRONG.

mirror.co.uk

And David Cameron, where does he stand on all of this? Well yesterday he marched side by side with 3.5million others demonstrating their strength of feeling towards free speech and today, he decided that actually, all of that was bollocks and instead he's going to ban whatsapp.

Britain is at a turning point in modern politics where the likes of Russell Brand drive more public interaction with the subject than any politician of our time. It's a time where Twitter drives votes and UKIP is the go-to party for voters who are bored with the way things are - but then at least they bother to turn out and vote in the first place. The leaders of the parties are exasperating ridiculous ways to win public adoration, with Cameron's latest threat of refusing to appear on television debates without the presence of the Green party, either a wonderful stab at appearing to be a just and equal opponent or a step towards the naughty corner when broadcasts go ahead without him. It doesn't matter how bigoted, how ignorant or how wonderful the education at Eton was... the point is, that something is wrong with British politics and if we don't start looking for alternative ways to fix it, we're in trouble.

theguardian.com

I don't pretend to have the answers to everything, or anything in fact but I think a good place to start is the voting system. Of course, it would help if we had candidates we actually WANTED to vote for, not just ones we prefer over all of the others. But our 65% voting turnout is shameful. Almost 100yrs ago women fought for the right to vote which also caused the voting age of men to be lowered too. People lost their lives in that fight and now, most can't be bothered. Call it disillusionment, but those who don't vote allow the room for votes towards radicalism to rise. So why does the option to vote online not exist, to make it easy for them? People have jobs to go to and no time to spend queueing in a polling station. Online votes need to happen soon - either that or election day is made a public holiday for us to cast our votes, or we are allowed to take time away from work without the threat of no pay - as in some US states (California). It's a suggestion, which is far better than our current system, in MY opinion. We need to make it easy for voters.

123rf.com

As I say, I don't have an answer for anything. But I see that there is a problem and I see the worth of free-speech more than ever. There are people around the world who hate the ways of the West and hate our politics. If I'm honest, I'm beginning to hate our politics too and banning whatsapp is certainly not the way to go about changing that. 1 in 6 of our population are over 65 and by 2050, that is predicted to rise to 1 in 4. Is this society the one we want to see our elderly relatives grow old in? The one that threatens the UK's position as a haven for those in need, for refugees and for asylum seekers. The one that values bigotry over equality. The one that will vote UKIP out of indecisiveness and naivety?

In my opinion, we are at war - with morality - and somewhere along the line, we have to start voting for it. We have to stop jumping on the bandwagon of the next Twitter hashtag and look around for other issues. Issues that we might ACTUALLY care about, might ACTUALLY rally to change and change people's minds in the process. Who knows, you MIGHT even solve it, someone's got to, coz it's not looking likely to be Cameron any time soon. After all, democracy means 'power belongs to the people', so let's remind our leaders just that...just a suggestion.

Red Lines

Tomorrow 26th September, the UK government votes yes or no to ISIS air strikes. Tonight I,along with a room full of documentary-goers at Rich Mix cinema in Shoreditch, London have shared a Skype call with two devoted Syrian activists, Mouaz and Razan joined by US congressmen Adam Kinzinger from the Syrian border, who urge MPs in the the UK to vote 'yes'. Not just for strikes on ISIS but also on Assad's airstrips that drop an average of 60 barrel bombs a day on Syrian civilians according to activist Mouaz. Using Congressman Kinzinger's own words, as heard in the recording below ..  The fastest way to kill ISIS is to kill Assad. But the recording is about much more than that, it about the plea of 9 million displaced Syrians and the many who have already perished.

Red Lines by Tvset on Mixcloud

Tonight I saw the struggle of these two activists as they have spent the years since the beginning of the revolution, rallying UK MPs and US congressmen to offer more than just lip service and to deliver on their promises to support moderate civilian forces, provide humanitarian aid and strike Assad in retaliation of his ongoing disregard for the red lines laid out. Even today there is news of more chemical attacks on civilians and yet, we hear nothing. 

This Skype conversation was not sensationalised, it was not for the media, nor for the newspapers, and activists, UK documentary goers and congressmen alike, could plainly and freely express their horror at the continuing of a genocide that has been deemed acceptable and forgettable by the West.

Razan and Mouaz

Now, as our UK government votes, I say no more and instead urge you to listen to this short recording of a short part of our Q&A tonight to decide for yourselves that we should rally our UK MPs to vote yes to military action against ISIS, who share mutual aspirations as Assad...' Support us or support them, either way one of us will rule you'. 

Following that, it is more than military action. We must provide support for the creation and continuation of civilian police forces and support for the FSA, vetted through the right channels and with the help of those on the ground who know the good from the bad. It is about condemning Assad and retaliating when he assaults the freedom of unarmed, innocent civilians. He can no longer tell us that he targets militants. ISIS remain untouched and unchallenged. They are not the same entity but they share the same aims. If we do not wish to say yes to air strikes that may unavoidably kill innocents, then we must push and push for the UK government to instead strike Assad airstrips. Destroying airstrips is to save thousands.

A few months ago I sat across the table from congressman Cicilline in Washington DC who expressed he did not agree with the failure to act against Assad. US congressman are voicing their opinions, so when the bell rings calling our UK MPs to vote, whether it's a yes or a no, they must at least be rallied to deliver on their promises and #FreeSyria. I will not turn a blind eye to dying children, nor will these two wonderful activists and their networks, nor will the humanitarian charities who work to give aid, such as Iman Mujahed of Hand in Hand for Syria but this, is not enough. Syria needs Western governments to intervene.

The rest I will leave to Razan and Mouaz, and to congressman Kinzinger. And if you can find a way of watching the documentary 'Red Lines' then please do.