New Zealand MP "sick" of HolocaustBy JPOST.COM STAFF
"I am sick and tired of hearing how many Jews got gassed," announced New Zealand Labor Party MP John Tamihere, in an interview released on Sunday.
Tamihere's comment was met with quick reaction from international groups as well as his own party, which currently holds the New Zealand premiership.
In a statement issued to the press, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark described Tamihere's comments as "deeply offensive to New Zealanders" and added that "the statements are also offensive and utterly unacceptable to the New Zealand Labor Party."
Clark went on to apologize on behalf of her party: "The pain caused to the Jewish community and to others who suffered in the Holocaust by these thoughtless comments is acknowledged and deeply regretted by the Labor Party."
In response to the New Zealander MP's comments, Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Israel director suggested that such a lack of understanding of the significance of the Holocaust makes Tamihere unfit for political leadership.
"It would appear that MP Tamihere is in urgent need of psychological assistance to increase his ability to deal with the sad history and reality of life on the planet Earth during the past century, an absolutely necessary quality for anyone who desires to serve as a public representative. In that respect, "Holocaust fatigue " is simply a new form of mental illness, which is a condition which should disqualify him from public service," said Zuroff on Sunday.
According to a statement issued by the New Zealand PM's office, Tamihere will not attend caucus this Tuesday and will be placed on extended leave, as part of an agreement made with Labor Party leadership in light of this, the latest in a series of brash statements that caused embarrassment to the Labor Party leadership.
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