Britain - Muslim group to take part in U.K. Holocaust Memorial Day

For the first time ever, representatives of Great Britain's largest Muslim umbrella organization will take part Sunday in the international Holocaust Memorial Day. Two months ago, the Muslim Council of Britain (MBC) decided to put an end to their six year boycott of the Memorial Day. The international Remembrance Day was first instituted by the UN in 2001 on the day - January 27th - that the Auschwitz extermination camp was liberated by the Allied forces.

The official ceremony will take place in Liverpool, however their will be commemorative ceremonies through out the country. U.K. chief Rabbi

Jonathan Sacks and the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will speak at the memorial service.

The MBC's decision to take part in the Memorial Day comes after they were harshly criticized of anti-Semitism by Jewish groups and the British government.

"The decision was taken because staying away was doing more harm than good and being misconstrued," a MCB spokesperson told The London Times last month.

Source: www.haaretz.com

Date: Jan 27, 2008

By Cnaan Liphshiz

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