The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC), Australia’s leading civil and human rights organisation fighting anti-Semitism and hatred in all its forms, has denounced the comments by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte likening himself to Hitler and stating that he is willing to unleash a program of extermination against drug dealers in his country. Duterte remarked, “Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now there is three million drug addicts in the Philippines, there are. I’d be happy to slaughter them.”
Dr. Abramovich, Chairman of the ADC, issued the following statement:
“We are enormously shocked and outraged by the abhorrent comparison of drug dealers in the Philippines to the Jewish victims of Hitler’s unspeakable atrocities. We are also deeply troubled and puzzled by President Rodrigo Duterte’s likening of himself to Hitler, an evil and monstrous tyrant responsible for unspeakable suffering and the murder of six million Jews and millions of others. For any leader to openly advocate for the systematic killing of millions is deeply alarming and unacceptable. It is our hope that world leaders will publicly and vigorously repudiate these disturbing comments and make it clear that any call for a campaign of mass extermination of a group of people will not be tolerated by the international community. We also urge President Duterte to realise how offensive and reprehensible his rhetoric and statements are and to apologise, in particular to Holocaust survivors here in Australia and in other countries, and to the families of those who perished at the hands of the Nazis.”
The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission, founded in 1979, is Australia’s leading organization fighting racism through educational programs that combat bigotry, prejudice and all forms of hatred.
For further information please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on 0410 539 015.