The Holocaust Foundation strongly objects to Dr Rawiri Taonui’s recent statements concerning Hitler and his gross misrepresentation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On 4 April 2023 Dr Taonui tweeted:

Hitler exercised an unfettered right to free speech and look where that ended”

This is a significant misrepresentation of one the best-documented periods in world history.

Censorship and suppression of free speech were central components of Hitler’s strategy. The Nazis took office in 1933 and it soon became illegal to speak against the government. Dissenters were often persecuted and imprisoned. Goebbels’ use of propaganda, control of media and silencing of dissent were central to the advancement of the Nazi cause.

On 13 April 2023 Dr Taonui tweeted:

The anti-Semitic persecution of the Jewish people and the equal & opposite suppression of the Palestinian people are among the saddest cases of genocide over the last 100 years.”

It is a straightforward falsehood to suggest that Israel has committed genocide against the Palestinians. In addition, this is a profoundly cynical use of the Holocaust for political ends.

Dr Taonui has engaged in what renowned Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt has called soft-core Holocaust denial. By the standards of International Holocaust

Remembrance Alliance, in which NZ holds observer status, Dr Taonui’s comments are antisemitic.

His conduct is unbecoming of a member of the National Anti-Racism Taskforce.