The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC), Australia’s leading organisation fighting hatred in all its forms, has expressed its concern about the use of Holocaust imagery and analogies by MP Ron Hoenig to denounce Pauline Hanson’s rhetoric. On his Facebook page, Mr Hoenig included an image of emaciated death camp inmates from Auschwitz to argue that Hanson’s xenophobia could lead to another Holocaust
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the ADC, issued the following statement:
“I do hope that there will come a point where politicians will realise that using inappropriate and painful comparisons to the Holocaust to criticise an opponent is misguided, adds nothing to the debate, and cheapens the suffering experienced by Hitler’s victims. The ADC has time and again denounced the exploitation and distortion of the Holocaust and has registered its disgust when such offensive imagery has been employed by politicians. While Ron Hoenig is entitled to excoriate Pauline Hanson’s rhetoric, it is wrong to imply in any way that her views could lead to another Holocaust where six million Jews and millions of non-Jews were murdered as a result of the Third Reich’s deliberate and systematic extermination policy. By using this inflammatory comparison, Hoenig is poisoning what is a serious debate that needs to be conducted in a thoughtful and civil way. I am increasingly concerned about the coarsening of public discussion and the utilization of this unprecedented tragedy as a way to bring attention to the issues that our elected officials are passionate about. Invoking the Holocaust to attack Hanson’s policies does a tremendous disservice to history, trivializes the terror and atrocities of the Holocaust, and needlessly causes pain to survivors and to their families. We urge Mr Hoenig to choose his words carefully and refrain from using such equations in the future.”
Ron Hoenig MP
Yesterday at 8:00am · · Politics
With the election Pauline Hanson to the Australian Senate my colleague Chris Minns: Labor for Kogarah is right in his opinion piece in yesterday’s Fairfax Media http://m.theage.com.au/…/pauline-hanson-is-wrong-about-hurs…. Hanson’s xenophobic “missives must be met with a sustained challenge from across the political spectrum….We all have a responsibility to speak up”; he writes. This infographic is a stark reminder on where xenophobia can lead that so murderously impacted on 6 million Jews, including my family. Even in Australia it is not unknown that comments by certain ‘community leaders’ have given “licence to racists to act out”. We all must speak up, and do so forcefully.
The Anti-Defamation Commission, founded in 1979, is Australia’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through educational programs that combat bigotry, prejudice and all forms of hatred.
For further information please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on (03) 9272 5677