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London, Friday, January 23, 2004 One
in seven Britons says Holocaust is
exaggerated
by Stephen Bates
religious
affairs
correspondent ONE British person in seven
believes that the scale of the Nazi Holocaust
against Jews is exaggerated, according to an
opinion poll published today. The findings of the ICM survey, conducted for
the Jewish Chronicle, were described by
David Blunkett, the home secretary, as
disappointing in an interview with the paper,
although the poll also shows that more than
two-thirds of those questioned disagreed strongly
with the revisionist suggestion. Nearly 20 percent -- one in five -- of those
questioned also said that a Jewish prime minister
would be less acceptable than a member of any other
faith. Michael Howard, the Tory leader, is
the first Jewish leader of a major political party
in recent times. The poll was conducted to coincide with
Holocaust Memorial Day next Tuesday. The editorial said: "We have indeed come a considerable way
in recent years towards building a society based
on accepting, not fearing difference. But we
have part of that journey still to travel. The
prize, a modern, genuinely
multi-ethnic society, is of incalculable
importance, not just for Britain's Jews but for
Britons of all creeds and colours." The poll, conducted by ICM with 1,007 adults in
England, Scotland and Wales, found 37 percent
agreeing that Jewish people make a positive
contribution to the political, social and cultural
life of the country, with 20 percent disagreeing.
Similar proportions were revealed in answer to a
question whether Jews have too much influence -- 18
percent agreeing, 47 percent disagreeing. Asked
whether a British Jew would make an equally
acceptable prime minister as a member of any other
faith, 53 percent agreed and 18 percent disagreed
-- 11 percent strongly. 
THE final question asked whether the scale of the
Nazi Holocaust had been exaggerated, with 15
percent agreeing it had been -- 10 percent strongly
-- and 70 percent disagreeing, 62 percent
strongly.
Mr Blunkett said: "It means people are prepared
to set aside not only the evidence, but the
overwhelming emotion that goes with it. They delude
themselves into believing that the Nazis are not
what we know them to be and this is very
depressing." Nevertheless, Jewish academics said the findings
indicated that anti-semitism in Britain was lower
than in the US or other parts of Europe. Professor Robert Wistrich, head of the
Hebrew University's Vidal Sassoon centre for the
study of anti-semitism, said: "It's a better result
than many British Jews might have expected." The findings showed highest levels of prejudice
among working class pensioners -- more than a
quarter of whom believed Jews had too much
influence -- but also among some 18 to
24-year-olds, despite the Holocaust education many
of them will have received. Around 19 percent of
recent school leavers believed the event had been
exaggerated. A Tory party spokesman told the paper:
"Politicians should be judged only on their
policies and their party's beliefs. Religion is of
no relevance." Jim Murphy, Labour MP for Eastwood and a
board member of the Labour Friends of Israel, said:
"We like to believe these views are confined to a
minority on the hard right but this poll suggests
otherwise." 
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