“Shocking, outrageous and totally unacceptable”: That was how the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights organization, characterized the Chinese media’s attempt to draw an analogy between Nobel Peace Laureate Dalai Lama and the Nazi perpetrator of the Holocaust. The Center demanded that China Tibet Online and the Xinhua News Agency apologize for slandering the Dalai Lama and denigrating holocaust victims.
Titled “Seven questions to the 14th Dalai Lama”, the commentary, posted on China Tibet Online and carried by the official Xinhua News Agency on March 24, accused the Dalai Lama of advocating policies that would result in the expulsion of Chinese from the Tibetan territories. “The remarks of the Dalai Lama remind us of the cruel Nazis during the Second World War,” it stated, adding, “How similar it is to the Holocaust committed by Hitler on the Jews!”
Taking strong exception to this piece, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center devoted to imparting the lessons of the Holocaust and promoting tolerance, said: [Source]
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Dhondup Gyalpo is a senior fellow at the Tibet Policy Institute. Views expressed here does not necessarily reflect those of the Tibet Policy Institute.
Notes
1. China’s Outrageous Comparison of the Dalai Lama to Nazis, Huffington Post, Mar 27, 2012.
2. Seven questions for the Dalai Lama, China Tibet Online, March 23, 2012.
3. Kalon Tripa’s Losar Statement, Central Tibetan Administration, Feb 20, 2012.
4. CTA Expresses Concern Over Self-Immolation Incidents, Central Tibetan Administration, Mar 27, 2012.
5. Learning How to Argue: An Interview with Ran Yunfei, The New York Review of Books, Mar 2,2012.
6. Authorities tighten grip, isolating Tibet even more from the outside world, Reporters Without Borders, Mar 1, 2012.