Germany threatens to walk out of UN General Assembly if Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

A spokesman for the German government has announced plans to walk out of the United Nations General Assembly if Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust in a speech he is due to give on Wednesday.

The spokesman said, "We will leave the hall if President Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust or makes anti-Semitic statements ... we are making efforts toward a unified European position," going on to request a "common response" from other European Union member nations. Gabriela Shalev, Israel's ambassador to the UN, also encouraged a boycott of Ahmadinejad's speech.

On Friday, Ahmadinejad gave a speech in which he called the Holocaust "a lie" and a "fairy tale". German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned the remarks, calling Ahmadinejad "a disgrace".

Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany, where the Nazis carried out the Holocaust, a mass persecution and killing of Jews and other minorities, during World War II.


Sources