The British government has launched an appeal against a High Court decision to block the construction of a national Holocaust memorial next to the Houses of Parliament.
A plan to built the memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens, a green space between the Houses of Parliament, the River Thames and the Milibank and Lambeth bridges, was approved by Housing Minister Christopher Pincher in late July.
The plan calls for the memorial to be constructed out of 23 giant bronze fins and to also include an underground education centre. The plan was supported by over 170 MPs, including Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer who described the project as “vital,” according to BBC News.
But the memorial was challenged by several London groups who appealed to the High Court in April.
Their petition was granted this week, with the judge ruling that the $125 million plan would constitute an “exceptionally serious intrusion into a green public open space of the highest heritage significance.”
The judge explained there was “an enduring obligation to retain the new garden land as a public garden and integral part of the existing Victoria Tower Gardens.”
According to the Jewish Chronicle, a government spokesperson said that by appealing they “remain completely committed to constructing the memorial at this location, which was carefully selected to reflect its national significance – next to Parliament and close to other important memorials including the Cenotaph… We owe a lasting memorial not just to Holocaust survivors, but to the British people now and for generations to come.”
The government added that having a national Holocaust memorial was a matter of importance for survivors and their families, and that they were adamant they would fulfill their obligation to built the site as promised in a 2015 cross-party report.
The memorial is supported by the Board of Deputies and the UK chief rabbi but many in the community have voiced opposition, preferring to see the millions of dollars instead used for Holocaust and antisemitism education.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)