Senior Irish Politician Compares Lone Jewish Parliamentarian to Goebbels

January 19, 2009

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Senior Irish Politician Compares Lone Jewish Parliamentarian to Goebbels

Wiesenthal Centre to Irish Prime Minister: "Condemn Sinn Fein Antisemitic Slur"

Paris

In a letter to the Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach), Brian Cowen, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, expressed outrage at the comparison drawn by Sinn Fein's International Affairs Spokesman, Aengus O. Snodaigh, between his fellow Parliamentarian, T.D. Alan Shatter, and Nazi Minister for Propaganda, Josef Goebbels.

Samuels noted that "perhaps it is no coincidence that T.D. Shatter is the only Jewish member of the Irish Parliament. Apparently, this attack occurred during your Government's Foreign Affairs Committee debate on the Gaza conflict."

He continued, "This outrage may be viewed in the context of Sinn Fein's past support for Palestinian terrorism and its long history of antisemitism (see photo of a Sinn Fein call for a boycott of Jewish tailors from 1908, exhibited in Dublin's Jewish museum)." - click on photo to enlarge

The Centre urged the Prime Minister "to publicly condemn T.D. Snodaigh's slur and to apologize to T.D. Shatter on behalf of the Irish Government."

"This incident is in clear violation of Irish commitments to anti-racism and Holocaust banalization provisions of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe," concluded Samuels.

For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33.609.77.01.58.