Simon Wiesenthal Center: ANC Anti-Israel Slander Comparing Jewish State to Genocidal Nazi Germany

July 11, 2014

"A pack of lies that abets Hamas Terrorism and Desecrates the Legacy of Nelson Mandela," said Center official

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish Human Rights NGO dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Nazi Holocaust, denounced a statement by South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) describing Gaza and other Palestinians territories as "permanent death camps." The ANC accused Israel of crimes reminiscent of "the atrocities of Nazi Germany," that makes it "ask the people of Israel, has the term 'lest we forget' lost its meaning?"

"The ANC anti-Israel attack is a despicable pack of lies," charged Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Wiesenthal Center.

"Israel is guilty; guilty of defending her citizens from the onslaught of hundreds of missiles, terrorist kidnappings and murder. Israel is guilty of actually calling and texting Gaza civilians, used as human shields by Hamas terrorist thugs, urging innocents to evacuate buildings, before they are bombed. All freedom-loving people and opponents of terrorism should back Israel's struggle and commitment to a two-state solution," Rabbi Cooper added.

"With this despicable attack, ANC is also guilty; guilty of desecrating the legacy of Nelson Mandela, the ultimate icon of a freedom fighter, whose integrity and heroism still inspires millions of people around the globe."

"Which 'death camp' or 'open air prison' boasts five star hotels? Gaza does. Who continued to supply Gaza with electricity and fuel despite thousands of terrorist launchings from Hamas-controlled territory? Whose hospitals treat the most critically ill Gazans in their hospitals? The very nation that the ANC denounces as ‘barbarians'."

"Beyond its gratuitous insults of the people of Israel, the ANC's statement will not improve a single Palestinian life, but will insure that Hamas will use the ANC's free pass to create ever more ‘instant martyrs' for the next news cycles," Rabbi Cooper concluded.

Rabbi Cooper is a long-time Jewish activist and human rights advocate who served as a spokesman for Jewish groups at the ill-fated 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa. The two week gathering, the first ever held in Africa, was intended to focus on the scourge of terrorism, but instead degenerated into an anti-Israel, anti-Jewish and anti-American "hate fest."

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

Statement issued by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, July 11 2014

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