Ms. Turia Not Alone in Misuse of "Holocaust" comparisons.

"ALRANZ welcomes Tariana Turia's statement that she rescinded earlier comments that compared Maori experiences of colonisation to the Nazi Holocaust. I do not think most New Zealanders of good will would deny that there have been grave historical wrongs within the past of this country."

"However, while Ms. Turia has apologised for her misuse of the term "holocaust", other political figures maintain its use. We refer to the anti -abortion movement, some of whose members use inflammatory comparisons of the Holocaust, a paradigm case of human evil and genocide of six million Jews, one million Sinti and Romani (gypsies), half a million people with psychological and intellectual disabilities, half a million gay men, and others."

"Indeed, the Nazis prohibited abortions for "Aryan" women, while Jewish women and others were forcibly sterilised. Nazi Germany did not endorse democratic freedoms like women's reproductive choice."

"If Ms.Turia has the courage to admit that her comparison was inappropriate, what arrogance prevents New Zealand anti-abortionists from similar apologies to the New Zealand Jewish communities, and other victims of Nazi barbarity? Their own continued use of this offensive comparison must be abandoned immediately." Craig Young, ALRANZ Research Officer, said today.

© Scoop Media