Member's statement: Remembrance Day: War and Antisemitism
Member's statement by Dr Steve Aiken OBE on .
- MLA
- Dr Steve Aiken OBE
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 11 November 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Remembrance Day: War and Antisemitism
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4667070
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Today in the Assembly, we solemnly gathered to remember those who gave their all so that we may have the freedoms that we have today. We often forget that those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the defence of our nation and the wider democratic way of life that we cherish did so not for some base ideology but because they wanted to defend their family, their friends, their community and our way of life. Wherever they served our nation, their willingness to put themselves in harm's way speaks to their courage, which we must never forget. The wearing of the poppy is also a reminder that war and conflict continue to be with us. Recent history, regrettably, shows that violent ideology, nationalism and race hate are back with a vengeance to haunt us all. That is marked in particular by two events this weekend at either end of Europe. On the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the violence against Jewish people in the streets of Amsterdam was rightly identified by the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, as a pogrom. This is Europe in the 21st century. Secondly, virtually ignored and forgotten by our near-instance, short-attention-span media, a full-scale war is ongoing in Ukraine between Putin, along with his North Korean and Iranian allies, and the Ukrainians, to whom we should be giving all our support. The continued rise of the antisemitism that pervades what passes for political thought in some sections of this island and across Europe and the war in Ukraine are clearly and irrevocably linked. The naivety of those political and media commentators who do not see the interlinking of that wider-scale conflict in the Middle East, directed by Iran, and the battles in Ukraine, directed by Russia, show that they are perfect examples of Lenin's useful idiots. You do not need to look very far to find them. One of my predecessors as Ulster Unionist Party leader, Jim Molyneaux, saw first-hand the impacts of destructiveness and hate when he helped to liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. The horrors of war and the inhumanity and evil shown were that which our forebears fought against and which many of us who have served since thought had been consigned to the past. Regrettably, today, unless we take urgent steps to properly defend our freedoms and fight intolerance, it will not be long until those horrors are revisited on us all. As we remember the past, do not ignore the facts that could lead us inexorably back to those dark days.
422 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.38 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- Criteria met: Identity framing (0.60).
- The text criticises or condemns the framing or division (0.54).
- Subject area: Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice).
- The overall probability was low and the text did not adopt any identity-based framing.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.60 | Yes |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.17 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.09 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.31 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.27 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.10 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.38 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.13 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.54 |
| Adopts it | 0.33 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 1.00 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:32 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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