Jewish academic and Hebrew scholar Irene Lancaster explains why, even as a Jew, she is fiercely opposed to plans for a new Holocaust memorial in Westminster.
This week and next the Children of Israel begin their descent from the heights of Sinai en route to the Promised Land. Moses uses his influence in order to assuage the misgivings of his people and then sends out 12 men to 'spy out' the unknown territory of Canaan.
Much has been written about this story, found in the book of Numbers (13-15). Some years ago I gave a sermon on the subject in a Jerusalem synagogue and compared the spies to hostile visitors to Israel who see only the bad and don't mention the good. Others have said that the spies feared failure, so didn't want to leave what had become their comfort zone of the desert, surrounded only by fellow Jews. Some have stated that the spies didn't fear failure: what they actually feared was success, and added for good measure (and possibly with some irony) that this is because they were 'rabbinic scholars' and not warriors.
How can a person fear success, you might ask. The fact is that often when you reach your goal, you step back, afraid to take the last step and instead make excuses and turn back.
Recently, we in the Jewish community have been faced with a situation where the UK government, official opposition and fellow travellers have decided to deal with the problem of rising antisemitism by dedicating in a much loved small park a grotesque lump of metal to the dead of the Shoah.
In order to do this the powers-that-be have trampled over the rights of local residents, the local council, children in the area, dog-walkers and people who simply enjoy parks, in order to promote their erroneous view that the Shoah was just one of many events in history, similar to civil wars and tribal enmities, for instance, instead of a political tool utilized to eradicate the Jewish people once and for all.
And some in the Jewish community have gone along with this rewriting of history by supporting the destruction of the much-loved small park for spurious ends, which will simply increase antisemitism in the UK, already at record heights.
Why?
Often, it so much easier to 'go with the flow', take the easy way out and not stand up for our rights. Perhaps even more worryingly, those brave people who are not Jewish and have objected to this ludicrous desecration of the dead of the Holocaust by citing common sense, environmental protection, health reasons, and, most of all, because the whole idea reeks of 'emperor's clothes syndrome', have, unbelievably, been accused of being anti-Semitic by non-Jewish government ministers, civil servants and others who don't like the idea that a terrible mistake may have been made.
Three eminent judges opted for common sense and told local residents they were right in law to want to preserve their park for posterity. And yet, the government now wants to overturn even these judges.
What price then the division of powers in this country: the much-admired system in which government, executive and legislature act as checks on each other?
Can you think of any other costly proposal that would be carried out against the wishes of local residents, together with a substantial, articulate and growing number of Jewish people, especially survivors, survivor families, Jewish historians, architects and all those from every walk of life who care about democracy, including of course the rights of local people, but especially also care about the future of the Jewish people..
Disgracefully, the Church hierarchy in this country have, on the whole, followed the lead of the Jewish establishment, even against the pleas of the local Anglican Area Dean of Westminster, whose church and church school will be materially affected, not least because his Church school pupils have nowhere to play except the park playground.
But suddenly, the tide has turned. First it was a trickle of Holocaust survivors themselves who smelled a rat and declared, very publicly, that they could not agree to this waste of money and destruction of a much-loved public space, as well as this gross misrepresentation of their own lived experiences and the lived experience of their loved ones.
Then, the London Jewish Museum, which surely should have already been receiving the funding that so many seem to want to waste on an ugly monstrosity to the dead (knowing full well, by the way, that in every country where Holocaust Memorials are constructed, antisemitism has increased by leaps and bounds: see the USA, Germany and Canada, for instance, to name but a few recent examples), has suddenly had to close for financial reasons.
And that is the moment when so many who were afraid of being accused of antisemitism, or (in the case of Jewish women objectors) being dismissed as mere 'outliers', 'contrarians' and 'naysayers', no longer care what they are called. Around 60 people, both Jewish and non-Jewish, from all walks of life: survivors, survivor families, historians, social commentators, retired heads of Oxbridge colleges, lawyers, writers, broadcasters, actors, politicians and philanthropists, have penned a joint letter to the Jewish press, stating that the Jewish Museum should be saved and the Memorial plan shelved.
They have done this together with members of the Buxton family whose own discreet memorial to their ancestor and anti-slaver, Thomas Fowell Buxton, will be overshadowed and disrespected if the project were to go ahead. And most amazing of all, around twelve members of the Church of England and the Catholic Church, many of them seasoned leaders in the fight against antisemitism (in contrast to those church officials who back the government scheme) have also now come forward to support the Jewish community through enhancing life over death (as it states in the book of Deuteronomy).
Because, maybe these signatories from the Church have read all the evidence that has come to us from the USA, Canada, France and Germany, places where there are very large Jewish communities. In every case the lesson is clear: celebrating past Jewish deaths through memorials and monuments threatens contemporary Jewish life. Not so much 'Jews don't count', as 'People love dead Jews'. As long as we Jews stay dead and buried; as long as our museums, schools, synagogues, Jewish human rights, die out; as long as we aren't heard; as long as every last Jew knows their place or at least emigrates to Israel, then we are 'loved'.
But when we stick up for our rights, in tandem with every other ethnic and religious community in this country (and by the way, did you know that it is actually illegal to state that Jews are an ethnicity? Is that true of any other minority, do you think?), then survivors, survivor families, historians, architects, lawyers, writers, musicians and artists suddenly morph – in the eyes of the government, opposition and their supporters - into 'contrarians' and 'naysayers', and even become 'enablers of antisemites and Jew-haters.'
Nothing could be further from the truth. As it states in this week's Sedra, 'Shelah Lecha' (Numbers 13-15) (similar to 'Lech Lecha', when Abram first 'goes out' in the Book of Genesis), (Numbers 14:9) 'the people .... are our bread'. In other words, the powers-that-be are not 'too strong for us'; they are simply, as we would say, 'a piece of cake'. Once we realize that the spirit is with us, then nothing can hold us back.
And who are these 12 members of the Church who have signalled support for our letter? The first who should be mentioned is the Area Dean of Westminster, parish priest at St Matthew's Church Westminster, who spoke very well at the initial Planning Enquiry into this beleaguered scheme. When challenged publicly by journalists about his stance, he stated correctly that most Jews he knows support him on this issue.
Then we have Lord Rowan Williams of Oystermouth, who has valiantly written joint letters with me to umpteen secretaries of state, ministers (including the Prime Minister) and others, but to no avail. Then there is the extraordinary former Bishop of Manchester, Nigel McCulloch, who received a rare knighthood from the late Queen for services to Jewish-Christian relations and for acting as her almoner for so many years.
There is Canon Guy Wilkinson CBE, who worked tirelessly to set up the Anglican-Jewish Commission with the Chief Rabbinate of the State of Israel and is thanked by name in the English-language version of my biography of Chief Rabbi of Haifa, Shear Yashuv Cohen, as well as being personally acknowledged by the family of that great rabbi, son of the Nazir of Jerusalem.
In addition, we have Malcolm MacNaughton, the Bishop of Repton, formerly in the Office of the Archbishop of York, who is a member of our Jewish Christian dialogue groups; a couple of Canons from here in Greater Manchester (one of whom is the Co-Chair of the Manchester Council of Christians and Jews) and a local Archdeacon, also involved in Jewish Christian relations.
And, last but certainly not least, we have a few members of local churches, committed to learning more about the Hebrew Bible and working tirelessly in support of the Jewish community.
And these people are apparently being dismissed as anti-Semitic ....... By who exactly? No doubt these brave Christians and others will be dismissed as irrelevant and naïve. But they aren't. They can be compared to the two spies, Joshua and Calev (future leaders of the Children of Israel) who truly saw things as they were. That Judaism is all about life and not death. That the reason we Jews are hated by governments and other powerful people is because we simply won't get back into our box and 'follow a multitude to do evil'. These Christians have often themselves been the butt of abuse for pursuing what is right and eschewing evil.....
So, as we get ready to read the famous 'spies' story from the biblical book of Numbers, let's not forget that it is the 10 conventional spies who led the Children of Israel a merry dance for an extra 39 years, whereas if Joshua and Calev had been followed, entry into the Promised Land would have been swift and relatively painless.
I have been involved in this sorry saga for around 10 years and was appointed to the panel tasked with choosing the best design for the Holocaust memorial project. Naturally, we were not told the truth by government spokesmen during this event, and every attempt was made to silence me. The truth is that nothing was said at the time, even when questions were put, about the destruction of a much-loved, park against the wishes of the local residents, council and the Buxton family. In fact, we were told that everyone in the immediate vicinity, and the Buxton family, were very much in favour of the venue. Nothing was said to our jury panel about the Learning Centre and its downplaying of the Shoah in favour of other events in history.
For this is what the most famous Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, was afraid of. He resigned from the Board of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum because he saw that Jews were being used as a hook in order to talk about other events in history, thus downplaying what is unique to the Jews. And what's more he told me this when I met him at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo. He stated that the only way forward is what I was doing in my university teaching: 'education, education and more education' and, he added for good measure 'a very strong and effective Jewish State', the State of Israel.
This is why I feel responsible for the negative outcome for the local residents and environment in Westminster. I'm pretty sure however that I won't be alive in 29 years; so let's hope that this sad tale gets sorted in the very near future; that Victoria Tower Gardens is preserved for the enjoyment of present and future generations, and that Jewish life in this country finally enjoys the respect and repose it very much deserves, by celebrating not Jewish death, but Jewish life, now and forever.
