Christian Today
A heavyweight group of national Jewish leaders is demanding that Manchester University removes books by the Holocaust denier David Irving from 'open access' in its main library.
A letter appealing to Manchester's vice chancellor Dame Nancy Rothwell will been sent this week, jointly signed by the Jewish Leadership Council, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Holocaust Education Trust, the Union of Jewish Students and the Community Security Trust.
The intervention marks a major boost for the ongoing campaign to persuade the university to change its position, led by Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Irene Lancaster, an eminent Jewish academic, and Guy Wilkinson, Dr Williams' former interfaith adviser.
It follows a letter sent last month by Dr Williams alongside repeated requests from Dr Lancaster as well as the local Labour MP, Graham Stringer, and coincides with a separate letter this week from local councilor John Merry on behalf of the City Mayor of Salford, who writes: 'As a local councillor who represents thousands of Jewish residents I feel personally very upset about this unfortunate situation.'
Dr. Williams wrote that the issue needs 'urgent attention' and warned that the current arrangement of Irving's work 'could be experienced as threatening by Jewish members of the University'. In response, the university said it was considering re-cataloguing the books but refused to move them from open display in the John Rylands library.
In their new letter, addressed to Dame Nancy, the Jewish leaders write: 'We understand that you have already received multiple complaints regarding these books and are yet to take appropriate measures.
David Irving was labelled by a High Court Judge as an antisemitic, racist Holocaust denier in 2000 when he lost his libel case against historian Deborah Lipstadt. Irving was subsequently sentenced to three years in an Austrian prison following speeches in which he referred to the "gas chambers fairy tale" and called the Holocaust a "myth".
More recently he spoke at a far-right event in London where, according to press reports, Auschwitz was compared to Disneyland and the death of Jo Cox was referred to as "cheery news". The fact that his writings can be found on the same shelves as books by legitimate historians is not just an insult to the victims of the Holocaust and their descendants, but also risks these books being endorsed as accurate historical fact.'
The Jewish leaders then call on the university to follow the example of Churchill College, Cambridge who in February removed Irving material followed a complaint by Lancaster, and other institutions such as neighbouring Manchester Metropolitan University who do not show Irving books on open display.
They appeal for the university immediately to remove all Irving literature from open-access shelving; appropriately label these books as being authored by a convicted Holocaust denier; re-catalogue the books; and permit access to such material on application for the purposes of genuine academic research.
A letter appealing to Manchester's vice chancellor Dame Nancy Rothwell will been sent this week, jointly signed by the Jewish Leadership Council, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Holocaust Education Trust, the Union of Jewish Students and the Community Security Trust.
The intervention marks a major boost for the ongoing campaign to persuade the university to change its position, led by Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Irene Lancaster, an eminent Jewish academic, and Guy Wilkinson, Dr Williams' former interfaith adviser.
It follows a letter sent last month by Dr Williams alongside repeated requests from Dr Lancaster as well as the local Labour MP, Graham Stringer, and coincides with a separate letter this week from local councilor John Merry on behalf of the City Mayor of Salford, who writes: 'As a local councillor who represents thousands of Jewish residents I feel personally very upset about this unfortunate situation.'
Dr. Williams wrote that the issue needs 'urgent attention' and warned that the current arrangement of Irving's work 'could be experienced as threatening by Jewish members of the University'. In response, the university said it was considering re-cataloguing the books but refused to move them from open display in the John Rylands library.
In their new letter, addressed to Dame Nancy, the Jewish leaders write: 'We understand that you have already received multiple complaints regarding these books and are yet to take appropriate measures.
David Irving was labelled by a High Court Judge as an antisemitic, racist Holocaust denier in 2000 when he lost his libel case against historian Deborah Lipstadt. Irving was subsequently sentenced to three years in an Austrian prison following speeches in which he referred to the "gas chambers fairy tale" and called the Holocaust a "myth".
More recently he spoke at a far-right event in London where, according to press reports, Auschwitz was compared to Disneyland and the death of Jo Cox was referred to as "cheery news". The fact that his writings can be found on the same shelves as books by legitimate historians is not just an insult to the victims of the Holocaust and their descendants, but also risks these books being endorsed as accurate historical fact.'
The Jewish leaders then call on the university to follow the example of Churchill College, Cambridge who in February removed Irving material followed a complaint by Lancaster, and other institutions such as neighbouring Manchester Metropolitan University who do not show Irving books on open display.
They appeal for the university immediately to remove all Irving literature from open-access shelving; appropriately label these books as being authored by a convicted Holocaust denier; re-catalogue the books; and permit access to such material on application for the purposes of genuine academic research.
'We firmly believe that these steps are wholly appropriate to ensure that these books are not seen as legitimate historical resources but are still available for academic purposes,' the Jewish groups write. 'The University of Manchester has attracted Jewish students from across the UK for many years and we feel that it is therefore of great importance that you are seen to take this matter seriously.
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