Eastbourne Holocaust survivor given freedom of borough
As well as her campaigning, she was recognised for her outstanding contribution to Eastbourne and its community, her dedication to Holocaust education and her passion to ensure that the Holocaust is never forgotten.Mrs Oliver-Wolff, 89, still visits schools around the country telling her story.She previously told BBC South East she would continue to educate people as long as she had "a breath in her body".
Ms Oliver-Wolff was born in Novi Sad in Serbia - formerly Yugoslavia.In 1941, she and her mother fled and travelled from place to place within Hungary, creating new identities before hiding in a cellar, from where her mother would sneak out at night to look for food in bombed-out shops.She was caught twice, managing to escape both times. On one occasion, Ms Oliver-Wolff was turned in to the Nazis by the woman who looked after her while her mother was working.She returned to Serbia in 1945 after the Soviet army liberated Hungary, where she discovered that her father and the rest of the family had been killed by the Nazis.In 2019 she was given a British Empire Medal for services to Holocaust education and awareness.
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Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Telegraph
Teacher sacked after criticising ‘two-tier justice' in Lucy Connolly case
A teacher was sacked after saying Lucy Connolly 's prison sentence was an example of 'two-tier policing'. In a post on social media, Simon Pearson, 56, who teaches at Preston College said Connolly's online comments were 'obviously wrong' but she ' should not have been jailed '. But he was dismissed after an internal investigation, prompted by a complaint from a Muslim representative of the National Education Union (NEU) at the school, found his online posts had the potential to bring the college into disrepute. Mr Pearson told The Telegraph: 'I am appalled by the way I've been treated. I've dedicated my life to education and to supporting students from all walks of life. 'Yet as soon as I was branded 'Islamophobic' for expressing concern about violent crime, I became a marked man. It was clear that I had to be found guilty by the college, it became a witch hunt, and I had to be eliminated no matter what.' Mr Pearson is an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher at the further education college in Fulwood. Connolly was jailed in October last year after posting an online message on the day of the Southport murders, that read: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f---ing hotels full of the b------s for all I care, while you're at it take the treacherous government politicians with them.' The 42-year-old, who had lost a child of her own, deleted the post fewer than four hours later, but not before it had been viewed 310,000 times. Critics claimed her 15-month jail sentence was 'a clear example of two-tier justice '. Lord Young of Acton, founder of the Free Speech Union, said: 'The most striking aspect of this case is that the teacher was sacked at the behest of the NEU. 'Once upon a time, trade unions used to stick up for workers threatened with the sack for speaking out of turn. Now, they side with management and actively try to get workers sacked, including their dues-paying members.' In a post on Facebook, Mr Pearson described Connolly's comments as 'appalling' and 'obviously wrong'. He wrote: In another Facebook post, he discussed the Manchester Airport court case, writing: After Mr Pearson made the posts on social media, a Muslim representative of the National Education Union at Preston College submitted a formal complaint to the college, alleging that the Facebook posts were 'Islamophobic' and 'racially discriminatory'. Preston College bosses then launched an investigation. Mr Pearson apologised if he had offended anyone, and says he provided extensive evidence of his support for Muslim students and asylum seekers during this process. But the investigation concluded that the posts violated Preston College policies, damaged professional relationships, and had the potential to bring the college into disrepute. Mr Pearson has now started legal action, which has been filed at an employment tribunal, with claims of wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal, harassment, and discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. He argues the posts were expressions of protected philosophical and Christian beliefs, including support for the rule of law, freedom of expression, and equal justice. Mr Pearson told The Telegraph: 'I cannot allow what has happened to me to go unchallenged. It is a grave injustice that should concern everybody who cares about freedom. 'I am determined to fight for justice and for the freedom to raise legitimate concerns in public and private as part of national debates on extremely serious issues that impact us all.' 'We need to cut their throats' Ricky Jones, 57, the Labour figure referred to in Mr Pearson's post, is actually a councillor. He was charged with encouraging violent disorder after he made a speech last year about 'disgusting Nazi fascists' and said 'we need to cut their throats and get rid of them'. Appearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court last September, Mr Jones pleaded not guilty to encouraging violent disorder. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, was convicted of assaulting PC Lydia Ward, causing actual bodily harm, and the assault of emergency worker PC Ellie Cook at Manchester Airport on July 23 last year after a three-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court. Mr Pearson's dismissal comes after Christian school administrator Kristie Higgs was sacked from her role at Farmor's School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2019 for sharing Facebook posts criticising teaching about LGBT+ relationships in schools. In February, she won a Court of Appeal battle related to her dismissal, with three senior judges finding that the decision to sack her for gross misconduct was 'unlawfully discriminatory' and 'unquestionably a disproportionate response'. The Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting Mr Pearson, says the case raises critical questions about the balance between workplace conduct, personal beliefs, and the right to speak freely on matters of public concern. A spokesman for the Christian Legal Centre, said: 'This case highlights the dangerous consequences of the vague and weaponised use of the term 'Islamophobia'. 'In a free and democratic society, we must be able to discuss public events and express concern about violence and injustice without fear of losing our livelihoods. 'The definition of Islamophobia is being used to silence legitimate speech and punish those who dare to speak out. We stand firmly behind this teacher and his right to freedom of expression.'
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- The Guardian
The US attacks on Iran have backfired horribly – but a path to peace is still possible
Hanging is the preferred method of execution in Iran, although stoning and crucifixion offer alternative options for an ever-vengeful theocracy. Death by hanging is not necessarily quick. Strangulation and suffocation can take several minutes. The UN says more than 600 people have been judicially murdered so far this year. Iran has more executions per capita than any country in the world. Since June's US and Israeli attacks, growing numbers of victims are political dissidents. Fifty days on, nothing remotely positive has resulted from the illegal bombing raids and missile strikes mounted by the US president, Donald Trump, and Israel's leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, despite their boasts of world-changing success. Iran's nuclear facilities were not obliterated, as Trump claimed. Tehran has not abandoned uranium enrichment. The regime did not fall, despite Netanyahu's call for an uprising. If anything, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is more defiant. He has since launched a new crackdown on opponents, hence the executions. Deploring last weekend's hanging of political prisoners Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, Amnesty International linked their fate to the US-Israeli attacks. Arrested in 2022, the two men were charged with rebellion and 'enmity against God'. They were tortured, forced to sign confessions and sentenced last year after a five-minute trial. The decision to execute them now 'highlights the authorities' ruthless use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression in times of national crisis to crush dissent and spread fear', Amnesty said. Hundreds have been arrested since June in a regime drive to unmask spies and collaborators, real or imagined. Glaring intelligence failures that, for example, allowed Israel to locate and bomb a national security council meeting, injuring Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, are officially blamed not on gross incompetence but supposed fifth columnists. Iran's parliament wants to expand use of capital punishment. Up to 60 political prisoners face execution. This typically harsh reaction by clerical hardliners around Khamenei, and within the judiciary and Revolutionary Guards, comes despite a surge in patriotic sentiment after the attacks, which reportedly killed at least 935 people, mostly civilians, and injured more than 5,000. By intensifying repression, the regime squandered a chance to harness public anger, not least against Britain and European governments that turned a blind eye. US-Israeli actions have had other far-reaching, negative consequences. The attacks breached the UN charter and international law, as the Brics group of 'global south' countries noted. They led Tehran to suspend UN nuclear inspections. They exacerbated US-Europe divisions. And, ironically, they increased the likelihood of Iran building a bomb for self-defence. Iran insists it does not possess and does not want nuclear weapons. For all Israel's vaunted intelligence capabilities, neither Netanyahu nor anyone else has definitively proved otherwise. The decision to attack was based on a guess, driven by fear and hatred. It caused serious physical damage, but did not change mindsets. Iran is adamant it will continue to enrich uranium for civilian purposes. The bombing was a bust. Trump's angry threat to strike again is confirmation of failure. What this reckless act of aggression did do is encourage rogue states such as Russia to believe they, too, may attack other countries with impunity. It reinforces the belief in Iranian ruling circles, and not only among rejectionist factions, that the west cannot be trusted and a closer alliance with China is necessary. It strengthens the hand of hardliners whose fondness for regional proxy warfare, and recently documented covert operations against Britain, has entrenched Iran's pariah status. Historically speaking, Iran was and is an avoidable tragedy – one of the west's worst-ever geostrategic own goals. Unthinking support for the shah helped spur the 1979 revolution. The subsequent, far from inevitable ascendancy of conservative clerics plus abiding, irrational US animosity, feeding off memories of the humiliating Tehran embassy siege, rendered the rift permanent. Europe tried and failed to chart a middle path. In 2018, Trump reneged on the US-, UN- and EU-ratified nuclear deal with Tehran and reimposed sanctions. This last of many disastrous policy mistakes led directly to today's impasse. With wiser heads, it could have been very different. All parties to this conflict should study the French Enlightenment philosopher Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu, a foe to tyranny in all its forms. Writing in his 1721 bestseller Persian Letters more than 300 years ago, he issues an impressively prescient warning about what were then imaginary weapons of mass destruction. 'You say that you are afraid of the discovery of some method of destruction that is crueller than those which are used now,' his fictitious Persian traveller Usbek writes to a friend. 'If such a fateful invention came to be discovered, it would soon be banned by international law. By the unanimous consent of every country the discovery would be buried.' In the sense that nuclear weapons are outlawed, Usbek's optimistic prediction was correct. But not 'every country' complies. If the US and Israel are sincere about preventing Iran acquiring the bomb, they should set an example and reduce, and ultimately eliminate, their nuclear arsenals. They should stop threatening renewed attacks. And they should back talks on a regional nuclear pact, as proposed by Iran's former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Only then, perhaps, will Tehran come in from the cold. Only then, perhaps, will its paranoid leaders stop hanging innocent people. Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Chris Bryant MP says he was abused by former National Youth Theatre boss
Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant has said he was sexually abused as a teenager by the late former head of the National Youth Theatre, Michael Chris said Mr Croft, who died in 1986, had invited him to dinner every evening while he was attending the company in London during the summer of MP for Rhondda and Ogmore made the comments in an interview with The Sunday a statement, the National Youth Theatre said it was "very sorry that this happened to him and to others who have previously shared with us their accounts of historic abuse by the same perpetrator". Mr Croft was 40 years the senior of the then 16-year-old and Sir Chris said one evening, having returned to Mr Croft's house, he came back from the toilet to find his host naked except for a silk said Mr Croft then asked him for sex, which he felt he had no option but to go through with, leaving him feeling like he was "a 16-year-old whore".In the interview ahead of the release of his book, Sir Chris said: "I don't like telling this very much because I've not told it very often."It was always the same Italian in King's Cross. He would eat and drink, I would eat, then he would theoretically give me a lift home, except I always ended up at his house."Sir Chris said Mr Croft never made an advance towards him again, with the pair remaining friends. An ordained minister, he conducted Mr Croft's funeral. "He behaved absolutely appallingly, it's despicable," Sir Chris added."Michael, in my case, managed to spot somebody who was gay at a time when nearly all homosexuality was illegal - certainly very frowned on - so presumed that people would keep a secret."He told The Sunday Times that in spite of the alleged abuse, he did not regret remaining friends with Croft and "didn't feel crucified by" the incident."I think it's important that people who have managed to be OK are able to tell these stories," he said, adding, "It's like with bullying - until one person tells the story, everyone else thinks they're the only person."He said at least one friend during his National Youth Theatre days was also abused by Mr 63-year-old also said he has been sexually assaulted by five male MPs during his time in Westminster, although he has not named or reported them."There was no system for doing so and I was frightened it would make me look bad," he said, adding he felt homophobia in Parliament had declined during his 24 years as an MP. 'Very sorry' A statement on the National Youth Theatre website said it was "grateful to Chris Bryant for disclosing to our team the historical abuse he suffered in the company in the 1970s"."We are very sorry that this happened to him and to others who have previously shared with us their accounts of historic abuse by the same perpetrator."As we set out in a public statement on the case in 2017, we stand in solidarity with all victims of abuse and encourage anyone who has experienced abuse, no matter how long ago, to speak to someone and access support." If you have been affected by the issues raised in this story you can visit the BBC Action Line for details of organisations who can offer support.
