Holocaust Memorial Day

I went along yesterday to the ceremony at West Brom Memorial Garden. It was a solemn and poignant reminder of what went on. Lead by the Mayor of Sandwell it was just long enough to catch the essence of the evil that happened then and in other genocides across the globe. In Sandwell I think it’s the third year we have had a service of for this event. It seems to be a political event because a large proportion of the audience were Labour Councillors. I only saw one opposition member. I can’t help wondering why this should be. Is there some kind of petty argument going on within the council over staging this event or is it something more deeply felt by our opposition? We should never forget such evil but having said that I feel outraged at the way Israel has recently treated its neighbour. To me it’s a case of international bullying on a grand scale. Any sympathy I had with their cause is much diminished. It was strange to me that the fighting ended just hours before Barack Obama was sworn in. Could this be something to do with Bush’s legacy? I hope the new President will take a firmer line with Israel and work closely to get a solution. One is long overdue.