The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC), Australia’s leading organisation combatting anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and hatred in all its forms, has decried attempts to draw links between homosexuality and the rise of Nazism. This follows a discussion on ABC’s Q&A on the subject.
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chair of The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission, issued the following statement:
“It’s clear that the exploitation, trivialisation and debasement of the Holocaust for shock value and for the purpose of generating headlines keep hitting new lows. Any effort to compare homosexuality to the rise of the Nazi regime, responsible for the planned and industrial extermination of millions of Jews and millions of others, including homosexuals, crosses many red lines and is an outrageous cheapening of history’s darkest manifestation of hatred and anti-Semitism. Such wholly inappropriate comparisons diminish the historical truth, denigrate the memory of the victims and survivors, and trivialise the terrors that Hitler and his monstrous regime actually perpetrated. I am extremely troubled that an increasing number of public figures find it acceptable to cynically manipulate this horrific tragedy as a tactic to gain support for their agenda. These types of remarks are also deeply offensive to all those who fought valiantly against the Nazis in WWII. I hope that political and religious leaders publicly repudiate such hurtful statements, and make it clear that such analogies are totally unacceptable and coarsen public debate in Australia. As leaders in promoting rights for all people, we urge everyone to show greater sensitivity and selectiveness, and steer clear from invoking such equations in the future.”
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
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