London – London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s attendance at a Holocaust
commemoration event last week inspired praise by many, but did not sit well
with some in the Twittersphere, with some responding with virulently
anti-Israel comments and even Holocaust denial.
On Sunday, Mayor Khan, the London-born son of Pakistani immigrants and
first Muslim mayor of London, tweeted: “So important to reflect, remember and
educate about the 6 million Jewish lives lost in the Holocaust,” referring to
his visit to the Holocaust memorial event, his first official mayoral act.
As of Monday evening, the post had attracted more than 1,500 “likes” and
was shared 950 times, with responses such as: “Thank you for attending the Yom
HaShoah event. The event made me proud to be British for so many reasons. We
are all one.”
But among the other responses was blatant Holocaust denial, including a
comment that “much of the so-called ‘holocaust’ has been faked, including the
post-1945 Auschwitz construction,” suggesting that much of the Auschwitz site
was built after World War II.
Another commentators challenged Khan with: “Have you plucked that figure
of 6 [million] out of thin air? What was the total population of Jews in 1940?
Don’t distort history. Max 1 [million].” An anti-Muslim reaction was also among
the Twitter barrage: “The cult followers of Muhammad have killed 270 million
people in 1,400 years.”
At Yom HaShoah commemorations today. So important to reflect, remember and educate about the 6 million Jewish lives lost in the Holocaust.
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) May 8, 2016
Khan made Sunday’s appearance at a London ceremony following a racially
charged election campaign during which Conservative Party opponents sought to
portray him as an apologist for Islamic extremism and to highlight cases of
alleged antisemitism within the ranks of the mayor’s Labour Party.
The annual Holocaust commemoration, which was held in a rugby stadium,
brought together thousands from London’s Jewish community, including more than
150 Holocaust survivors and a combined choir from five Jewish elementary
schools. Khan attended alongside Lord Michael Levy, one of Labour’s most senior
Jewish supporters and the party’s former lead fundraiser.
