An Iran-linked group has been condemned after it called on the King to “use his influence” to include the Gaza conflict in Monday’s Holocaust commemorations.
The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), which is funded by a registered charity, has been accused of trying to denigrate the significance of the Holocaust by drawing “false parallels” with other conflicts and suffering.
The IHRC has joined dozens of academics, celebrities and activists in writing to King Charles calling for him to intervene in the decision by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust – of which he is a patron – not to include Gaza among the genocides it will commemorate.
They argue it is “morally unacceptable” that Gaza is not included as a “genocide” alongside the Holocaust.
This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day will mark 80 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.
The day also commemorates more recent genocides recognised by the UK government, such as Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda and Darfur.
In an open letter, the IHRC joined Roger Waters, the former Pink Floyd member, Ken Loach, the film director, and Clare Short, the former Labour minister, in asking the King to “intercede for Palestinians in Gaza” and “use your influence to insist that the Holocaust Memorial Day acknowledges the current genocide”.
But the Holocaust Educational Trust and other Jewish groups have criticised the letter as part of a campaign intended to undermine the unique significance of the Holocaust.
Karen Pollock CBE, the trust’s chief executive, said: “Just days before we mark Holocaust Memorial Day, 80 years since the liberation of the notorious concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, we are appalled to see that the Islamic Human Rights Commission continue this tasteless campaign to undermine such a significant day.
“Their cynical attempt to denigrate the memory of the Holocaust by drawing false parallels between the Holocaust – a unique and unprecedented episode in history – and unrelated current events, will not succeed.
“On 27th January, we will all come together to remember the six million Jewish men, women and children who were systematically murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators.”