Posted on 01/05/2003 9:40:58 AM PST by knighthawk
A local politician in Wales was today accused of gross anti-Semitism after comparing Israel to Nazi Germany.
Labour party councillor Ray Davies condemned Israel's "apartheid regime" and likened it to Hitler's occupation of Europe.
The councillor, from Caerphilly, south Wales, said: "Hitler's Nazi regime occupied Europe for four years only. Palestine and the West Bank have been occupied for 40 years."
His comments provoked outrage from the Israeli community.
Jean Evans, the director of the Israel information centre for Wales and the west of England, said: "This is a gross insult to Jews.
"It is anti-Semitic to compare Israel to Nazi Germany. There is no genocide in Israel. Experiments are not carried out on women and twins. Palestinians' fat is not turned into soap or their skin into lampshades.
"His comments reveal his high level of ignorance and they are very, very insulting."
Mr Davies's comments come as Welsh business minister Carwyn Jones and Tory AM Alun Cairns came under pressure to pull out of a trip to Israel.
Welsh children's poet laureate Menna Elfyn has written to Mr Jones asking him to boycott next week's trip organised by the Israeli government.
Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, Mr Davies, who is vice chair of CND in Wales refused to withdraw his comments adding: "I do draw that comparison because [this is] one group of people who should understand what oppression is and what it is like living under occupation."
Mr Davies also accused the Israeli government of treating the Holocaust "like an industry" to justify its actions against Palestinians.
The councillor has himself been on a fact-finding trip to the occupied territories but he said he had "utterly resisted" an invitation by the Israeli government.
"When they go out there they will be treated like Lords and taken to the Holocaust museum to try to engineer as much sympathy as they can and shown the bright side and the pleasant side and the sort of life the Israelis are enjoying," he added.
"The Israeli government are pretty concerned about the depth of resentment that is taking place against the apartheid regime of Israel.
"Anybody who goes to Israel will be taken to the Holocaust museum and shown what has happened to the Israelis.
"But that does not give the Israeli government any right to do what they are doing to the poor beleaguered Palestinians for over 40 years. Life in Palestine and the occupied territories at the moment is nothing short of disgraceful and I would appeal to the AMs please don't go there at this particular point in time.
"What is disgraceful is that the Israeli government is using against the wishes of the vast majority of the international community as some sort of industry."
The Conservative Party AM Mr Cairns condemned Mr Davies's comments.
And Ms Evans, who has organised the trip, accused him of a campaign of denigration against Israel.
She insisted the trip was not a propaganda exercise but would take in Israeli and Palestinian areas and culminate in a trip to an Arab-Israeli conciliation centre.
"I am very happy for him to help the Palestinian people," she said.
"But if he wants to call himself a peace activist he must be neutral."
But in those 4 years they killed off millions of people. It's strange how he compares these situations using time as an agrument, but 'forgets' much more important things.
PUHLeeeze!
Perhaps he might consider commenting on the Zimbabwe Worker's Paradise also.
I am so sick of this stuff.
This is beyond mental illness.
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