Remove Holocaust Denier David Irving’s Works from Manchester U

Sussex Friends of Israel supports the Change.org initiative by Northwest Friends of Israel:

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Manchester University has refused to move works by David Irving from open display on library shelves or to label them as “Holocaust denial” literature.

According to the IHRA definition of anti Semitism which has been adopted by the UK government, Manchester Combined Authority, Welsh and Scottish Assemblies, the Labour Party and numerous other councils and public bodies “Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).” is anti Semitic.

Thereby it makes NO difference if Manchester University re classifies these books to “historical studies”. These books are therefore according to the IHRA definition anti Semitic and have NO place on the shelves of a UK university -or indeed anywhere else.

By not removing these books completely Manchester University is sending a clear message that anti Semitism is to be tolerated and allowed on campus. How can the University expect its Jewish students to feel safe? It is disgraceful and the Chancellor and University should act immediately.

Please sign this petition so that Manchester University, its Chancellor Lemn Sissay (chancellor@manchester.ac.uk ) and Governing Body understand the depth of feeling there is to a UK university refusing to act regarding Holocaust denial literature.

In recent months, growing numbers of British universities, including Cambridge and University College London (UCL), have reclassified works by the controversial writer. They either moved them to “closed access” areas, or inserted disclaimers inside the books. This has been due to a campaign led by Dr Irene Lancaster, formerly a teaching fellow in Jewish history at Manchester University, and the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, now master of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Manchester University, however, has refused to move Irving’s books to an area where students would have to ask to read them.

It has also refused a request from the Campaign against Antisemitism to insert a disclaimer into the books describing them as Holocaust denial literature.

Leaving Irving’s books on open display is a threat to the safety of Jewish students and staff at a time when anti-Semitic hate crime is on the rise across Europe. Dr Lancaster, whose grandmother was murdered by the Nazis at Treblinka, said: “Leaving this literature on open shelving with inadequate labelling poses a physical threat to the Jewish student and staff body and constitutes a deep insult to the lives of all those who were exterminated in the Nazi Holocaust.”

Please sign this petition now.