Mike Hancock News
Mike Hancock MP supports Holocaust Memorial Day
Mike Hancock MP supports Holocaust Memorial Day
Mike Hancock MP (Lib Dem - Portsmouth South) has encouraged his constituents and fellow party members to support UK Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January. Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) remembers the millions who were murdered in the Holocaust and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur in order to challenge hatred and persecution in the UK today. On this day people across the world will be making their voices heard by taking inspiration from the past.
HMD 2012 looks at how we choose when to speak up and considers the dangers in both choosing to speak out and not speaking up and asks us all to speak up against injustice and hatred today. The chosen date of HMD marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Soviet Union in 1945.
The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT), established in May 2005, is a charity which works to raise awareness of HMD. According to the HMDT, during its existence the number of activities held for HMD has grown by over 350%.
This year the HMDT's theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2012 asks us to "Speak Up, Speak Out" to create a safer, better future. The theme encourages us to think about the rights, responsibility and duty we all have to speak up when we see or hear something which we believe to be wrong. The HMDT invites us to sign a pledge on 27 January to "challenge the language of hatred and commit to using words which reflect respect for the dignity of those around you."
On 27 January, Mike will attending be local activities in his constituency to make his pledge to end the language of hatred, including a Holocaust Memorial Day Service at John Pounds Memorial Unitarian Church. To support the message of the HMDT, Mike has spoken out against discrimination and persecution in his constituency. Mike said, "We must continue to remember those who have suffered to ensure that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past".
The Holocaust Memorial Day Service will be held at 7.30pm on 27 January at John Pounds Memorial Unitarian Church on Portsmouth High Street.
ENDS
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