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VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY
Tensions reignite over memorial ‘shambles’ 13 March 2025 • 13 Adar 5785 • Issue No.1410 •
@JewishNewsUK
Lords clash over Westminster Holocaust centre deepens communal divide
“Just as Jewish organisations were Tensions over the long-promised UK told, ‘You’d better back this proposal or Holocaust Memorial and Learning there’ll be no Holocaust memorial,’ so Centre in Westminster resurfaced no one dared to admit that this project in this week in the wake of a heated Victoria Tower Gardens was out of condebate in Parliament which led a Control, for fear of being accused of not supservative peer to brand the project porting Holocaust commemoration. an “out-of-control shambles”, writes “I say that pushing on with a failed Michelle Rosenberg. project with no proper cost control is A succession of Conservative peers treating parliament with contempt. We have raised concerns about the spiralling need to know the best estimates for the cost of the project, now claimed to be at operating costs and exactly who will be £138.8m with a 15 percent contingency, in charge.” for the building of a memorial and educaSeveral critics of the project noted tional centre in Victoria Tower Gardens. that when first proposed under David Speaking in the Lords, Lord Blen- A protest againt the Shoah cathra, who introduced himself as a memorial’s planned location Cameron’s leadership, the memorial was costed at £100m, which the government strong supporter of the Conservative Friends of Israel group, said he did not want his opposi- proposed to finance with £25m in philanthropic funding. Lord Robathan, another Conservative peer, said: “It tion to the memorial to be “misconstrued”. But he added: “I cannot blame the present government for pushing on is the wrong place to put a large building such as this. It will, furthermore, cost a great deal more than £138.8 milwith this out-of-control shambles. “The government whom I supported were more guilty, lion, as I think we all know, even including a 15 percent because they were told two years ago that the project was contingency.” Speaking in support of the memorial, Lord Finkelstein unachievable. “Did the department do anything to sort out the project began by saying: “I was a member of David Cameron’s definition, the schedule or the budget, which the authority Holocaust Commission and take a long-standing interest said was not manageable nor resolvable? No, of course not, in this as the son of a Holocaust survivor. “Of course, not all Holocaust survivors agree about this because it was a big sacred cow – or, to mix metaphors, no Continued on page 3 one dared to suggest that this emperor had no clothes.
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PALESTINIAN ‘TERRORIST’ IN UK COURT
Arrested: Abu Wadee
A Palestinian man who entered the UK illegally and has a history of calling for the mass killing of Jews has been arrested and charged with immigration offences, writes Annabel Sinclair. Abu Wadee, also known as Mosab Abdulkarim Al-Gassas, was taken into custody on Sunday, three days after arriving in the UK on a small boat. His detention follows reports
highlighting his violent antisemitic statements and extremist social media activity, raising urgent concerns about border security and the delay in his arrest. Wadee, believed to be in his 30s and originally from Khan Younis in Gaza, has posted videos online in which he openly calls for the murder of Jews. In footage uncovered by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, he
can be heard praying: “Allah, kill them one by one, and don’t leave a single one. Allah, destroy them completely, disperse them completely, and make the earth fall from under his feet.” He has also posted images of himself holding an assault rifle and declared himself a member of the so-called ‘tyre-burning unit’, a terror group known for attacking Israeli forces with firebombs and rocks.
A Home Office spokesperson confirmed that Wadee has been charged with knowingly arriving in the UK without leave. He is due to appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court. The delay in his arrest has sparked strong political criticism, with shadow home secretary Chris Philp calling for immediate deportation. “I’m glad the authorities have Continued on page 2