Wiesenthal Center Applauds Dutch Authorities Decision to Prosecute Arab European League for Incitement

September 2, 2009

WIESENTHAL CENTER APPLAUDS DUTCH AUTHORITIES DECISION TO PROSECUTE ARAB EUROPEAN LEAGUE FOR INCITEMENT

Authorities say publishing a cartoon mocking the Holocaust is hate speech

The Simon Wiesenthal Center commended Dutch authorities for deciding to prosecute the Arab European League for incitement to hatred for publishing a cartoon denigrating the Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust. In the cartoon, two Jewish men near a concentration camp poke at a pile of skeletons. One says, “I don’t think they’re Jews,” while the other replies, “But we have to get to the six million figure somehow.” The Dutch authorities said that under its hate speech laws, publishing such a cartoon is insulting to Jews as a group and is therefore a form of incitement.

“It is especially appropriate as the world pauses to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the start of the Second World War that the people of Holland stand up for the dignity of the 6 million,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center. “We note that the same group denigrated the memory of Anne Frank by publishing a pornographic cartoon with her depicted in bed with Adolf Hitler.”

“We urge all those concerned with the denigration of Islam and all faiths to add their voice of support for the Dutch authorities’ action,” Cooper concluded.

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).

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