Wiesenthal Center Condemns Iranian Exhibition of Holocaust Cartoons

August 14, 2006

WIESENTHAL CENTER CONDEMNS IRANIAN EXHIBITION OF HOLOCAUST CARTOONS

Center says effect of Tehran-sanction antisemitism “devastating and long-reaching”

In response to last year's Muslim rage over a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper, Iran launched today an exhibition of more than 200 cartoons about the Holocaust. The display was strongly influenced by Iranian President Ahmadinejad, who has drawn international condemnation for calling the Holocaust a “myth” and calling for the destruction of the State of Israel.
       
“The launching of the cartoon exhibition mocking the victims of the Nazi Holocaust is part of the Iranian regime’s avowed genocidal hatred of the Jewish people and the State of Israel,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “Tehran's state-sanctioned antisemitism has devastating and long-reaching effect. We urge a swift condemnation by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and European Commission President Barroso,” Rabbi Cooper concluded.

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