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| Britain |
| For Once, The UK Denies Story About Their Dhimmitude |
| 2008-02-04 |
| The UK government is taking the unprecedented step of writing to every embassy to stop a false e-mail rumour about Holocaust teaching being banned. A widely-circulated e-mail has falsely claimed that schools in the UK will stop teaching the Holocaust because it might cause offence to Muslims. Schools Secretary Ed Balls says he wants to "put an end once and for all to the myth" spread by the e-mail. He says teaching the Holocaust remains "non-negotiable" in England. This formal government rebuttal of a hoax e-mail has been prompted by a persistent rumour that "UK schools" are set to remove the Holocaust from the curriculum. The e-mail claims that this is a response to fears of offending Muslims - and it calls for the e-mail to be distributed in a "memorial chain" in protecting the memory of the Holocaust's victims. There are also versions of the e-mail claiming that teaching of the Holocaust has been banned at the University of Kentucky - presumably in a confusion over "UK". The e-mail continues to be published on many blogs and websites. A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families says the department regularly has to handle inquiries about this hoax - and that it wants to put a stop to the confusion. The BBC News website also repeatedly receives e-mails, many from international readers, asking about the validity of this supposed curriculum ban. The government is now acting to refute the e-mail, sending a statement to embassies and the "world media". "I want to put an end once and for all to the myth that the Holocaust is not being taught in schools or is being removed from the curriculum," writes Mr Balls. "I am pleased to confirm that this is absolutely not the case. Teaching of the Holocaust is compulsory in all secondary schools between the ages of 11 and 14. "We are clear that there are certain non-negotiable subjects, which are protected in schools; one of those is the Holocaust. "There is no evidence that schools are breaking the rules and not teaching the Holocaust. "We also fund visits for young people from every secondary school and college to go to Auschwitz." The UK has four education systems with separate curricula. This compulsory teaching of the Holocaust applies to schools in England - but there are no suggestions of a "ban" on the subject in other parts of the UK either. The starting point of the e-mail is believed to have been a report from the Historical Association in April 2007, which warned that some teachers appeared reluctant to teach areas of history which could be considered controversial with some pupils. This included concerns about teaching the Crusades to Muslim pupils - and worries that teaching the Holocaust could prompt an anti-Semitic response. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #3 DMFD, that's nothing, there are people out there that have names (even first and last combined for accentuation) that would qualify as a profound abuse if you used them to label someone else. The dude does exist and has he stated governmental slot. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Balls |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2008-02-04 23:44 |
| #2 "... writes Mr Balls." Yet another hoax, no one in the British government could fit that description. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2008-02-04 20:15 |
| #1 worries that teaching the Holocaust could prompt an anti-Semitic response The worries are not pulled from thin air, dhimmi post-production or not. The concept is in the same category as "if you point out that we are violent, we'll kill you!" In other words, muzzie's responses are fucked up and pathological. Dhimmis complement that with their own pathologies. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2008-02-04 19:20 |