Holocaust memorial was only one of 14 in park to be hidden
A HOLOCAUST memorial was covered up for a pro-Palestine march on Saturday – yet the 13 other monuments in Hyde Park were left untouched.
Fears it would be vandalised led park authorities to throw a blue tarpaulin over the stone, which was Britain’s first public memorial to the millions of victims of the Nazi genocide.
The Royal Parks had said the memorial was ‘routinely covered as a precautionary measure’ but provided only one recent example – the broadcast of a World Cup semi-final in 2018 when every statue was covered.
About 200,000 demonstrators on the agreed route passed four other statues or memorial fountains in the park on Saturday but none was hidden in the same way as the 1983 memorial.
Holocaust survivor Noemi Ebenstein, 82, said it was ‘shameful’ to hide it. She said she wished the West would stand up to antiSemites, rather than ‘ running away, covering up monuments and being apologetic’.
And Adam Ma’anit, whose 18year-old cousin was killed in the October 7 massacre on Israel, said the memory of Holocaust horrors was being hidden because of anti-Semitism. ‘We’ve been lied to for months that these marches are about peace,’ he said. ‘It’s quite clear that there are specific concerns about the Holocaust Memorial because no other monument was covered.’ Mr Ma’anit, whose relatives died at the hands of Nazis, added: ‘This is also far from routine given it was last shrouded six years ago.
‘It is incredibly sad that the park authorities feel it necessary to hide the memory of the Holocaust from what they clearly believe is a very real threat. The answer isn’t to hide Jews. It’s to stop the hate at source.’
The Combat Antisemitism Movement wrote on social media: ‘ If covering up a Holocaust Memorial in central London is the answer, you’re asking the wrong questions.
‘Instead of hiding this public reminder to be vigilant of Jew-hatred, uncover it and arrest any individual who defaces or in any way manipulates it for pro-terror ideology.’
Scotland Yard insisted Hyde Park officials were responsible for the decision to cover the memorial. A Royal Parks spokesman said: ‘During demonstrations and major events, The Royal Parks works closely with the Metropolitan Police to ensure the safety of park users and its environment.’
The Government’s adviser on anti-Semitism, Lord Mann, said he had advised the Holocaust memorial should be monitored by police, but not covered.
He said: ‘Covering up the memorial is not appropriate.
‘Police keeping an eye on it during a protest is. As they do with other memorials.’
The outrage comes after Gideon Falter, who leads the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), was warned by a policeman over his ‘openly Jewish’ appearance at a pro-Palestine march earlier this month.
Mr Falter had planned to lead a counter-protest with the CAA on Saturday but called it off over concerns for the safety of Jewish members.
Officers arrested at least two people, one for holding a placard with a swastika on it and another for an alleged racist remark towards counter-protesters.
A spokesman for Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, expressed its ‘deep concern’ over the covering of memorials and implored authorities to instead focus on countering hatred and anti-Semitism.
‘Shameful to hide it’