By Dr Agnes Kory (PhD, Musicology)
On this day many will remember and mourn the six million murdered by the Nazis. I will be among the mourners, and will think, even more than on any other day, about murdered members of my wide family.
However, there will be those – individuals and public bodies – who will use this day of mourning for intensifying the fear (manufactured among Jews) to stifle any criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and Palestinian lands. Much will be stated about increasing antisemitism in the world but nothing will be said about the atrocities committed by Israel.
The more insecure and scared Jews are, the more Israel can get away with the false motion that Israel is the defender of Jews worldwide.
For quite a while it has pained me that the oppressed (Jews in Nazi Europe) have become the oppressors (of Palestinians). Yet, many of those committing atrocities on behalf of Israel are not Jews.
On July 5, 1950 the so-called Law of Return (Knesset, Israel) specified that people with two Jewish parents or at least with a Jewish mother could ‘return’ to Israel (even though previously they did not live there). At this stage, the idea of non-Jews becoming Israeli citizens was not yet advanced. There were also no mentions of Gaza and the West Bank!
In March 1970, the Israeli Law of Return was upgraded: people who had only one Jewish grandparent could return, even if the one Jewish grandparent never lived in Palestine. Furthermore, as clearly stated, such people could bring all their non-Jewish relatives with them.
Recent experience shows that Israel is not even checking the validity of any claim for one Jewish grandparent. All are welcome to ’return’…as long as they are not Palestinians who were driven from their land. Few months ago Tommy Robinson was the much-feted guest of the Israeli government for a week. No doubt, Tommy Robinson would be welcome and could settle in Israel.
On January 22, 2026, Richard Morrison – Chief Culture Writer at The Times – made some questionable comments about the memorisation of the Holocaust. (We need to remember the Holocaust — but the Westminster memorial won’t help; Thursday, January 22, 2026)
I am Jewish from top to bottom
Morrison writes: “In some educational and arty circles an anti-Israel sentiment, sometimes shading into outright antisemitism, is now too deeply embedded to make objective teaching about the Holocaust likely”.
Like Richard Morrison, I am also a music critic (although an unpaid volunteer reviewer for online sites). However, I am also a Jewish Holocaust Child Survivor as well as volunteer Holocaust researcher and presenter.
Like Richard Morrison, I too am familiar with ‘some educational and arty circles’ who condemn Israel’s actions and express it in strongly anti-Israel (but NOT antisemitic) terms. I am Jewish from top to bottom and stand by these circles.
Morrison laments that there will be fewer Holocaust memorial events this year (as in the past) and quotes the Chief Rabbi:
“I fear for what will happen this year,” says Ephraim Mirvis, the chief rabbi. And he bravely identifies the main reason for this decline. The Gaza situation, he says, has had a “polarising impact” on communities in the UK, making even the commemoration of the Holocaust seem “controversial”.
It is not clear what is brave about Ephraim Mirvis’s comment. However, referring to the evident ethnic cleansing of Palestinians as ‘the Gaza situation’ is too painful to digest.
I am a Jewish Holocaust Child Survivor and volunteer Holocaust researcher/presenter…with many publications/presentations behind me. I am Jewish from top to bottom and in reverse.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis does not speak for me…not in my name.
