AFP: Democratic Senator John Kerry on Thursday denounced remarks by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad questioning the Holocaust and suggesting that Israel should be relocated to Austria or Germany. WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (AFP) – Democratic Senator John Kerry on Thursday denounced remarks by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad questioning the Holocaust and suggesting that Israel should be relocated to Austria or Germany.
“For the leader of any country to question whether the Holocaust happened and suggest Israel be moved to Europe is beyond unacceptable,” the former Democratic presidential candidate said in a statement.
“If President Ahmadinejad has any doubts about the Holocaust, he should have the guts to visit Auschwitz or talk to Holocaust survivors about the horrors they can never forget.”
The Iranian leader said Thursday that if Germany and Austria believed Jews were massacred during World War II, then a state of Israel should be established on their soil — comments Kerry termed a “hateful assault” against Israel.
“President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is an extreme ideologue whose hateful attacks against our ally Israel must be condemned in the strongest possible terms all over the world,” the Massachusetts Democrat said.
“This is worse than just reprehensible rhetoric from the head of the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism,” said Kerry.
“It is a stark reminder that it’s long overdue for the community of nations to take strong and decisive steps to make Iran cease its support for terrorism.”
In October, Ahmadinejad had said Israel “must be wiped off the map”.
