The New UK Government Committed To Build A Holocaust Commemoration Monument Next To The Parliament Building

PM Starmer chaired his government's inaugural meeting. (Wikimedia Commons/Laurenuria/No 10 Downing Street)

JAKARTA - The new British government under the Labor Party on Wednesday announced it would build a Holocaust memorial and a learning center next to the Parliament Building in London, as a commitment to the old promises overshadowed by controversy.

First proposed nearly a decade ago under previous Conservative rule, the Holocaust memorial was meant to honor the memories of more than six million Jews and other victims killed by the Nazis and their accomplices in the Second World War.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government plans to submit a Holocaust Commemoration Monument Bill, which certifies project costs and revokes applicable laws since 1900, which prohibits proposed locations from being used as anything other than public parks.

"We must do everything we can to ensure the Holocaust is never forgotten, to fight antisemitism and all forms of hatred and prejudice in our society," the government said in a briefing document accompanying the King's Speech, which set its legislative agenda.

Last year was the worst year for antisemitism in the UK since records began in 1984, with thousands of incidents reported following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October, according to a Jewish advisory body.

The Labor Party's commitment to the memorial also follows PM Starmer's efforts to eradicate antisemitism from his party, after a report in 2020 that found serious failures in the way the party handled complaints of anti-Jahudi discrimination.

PM Starmer also defended Israel's right to self-defense in the war in Gaza, which angered several Muslim supporters in the Labor Party.

The initial proposal from 2015 called for a "pointing and standout" national memorial with a "world-class learning center" and identified Victoria Tower Gardens, just south of parliament, as the location of the memorial.

Since then, the memorial has faced legal challenges over its location and criticism of proposed designs, objectives, and costs, including those of Holocaust survivors and their family members.

Critics equated the draft, featuring nearly two dozen high bronze "crypions" to symbolize countries with the Holocaust-destroyed Jewish community, with "bakling bread" and others saying it would hinder parliament's view of the park.