https://nypost.com/2019/11/21/prominent-climate-activist-sparks-outrage-after-downplaying-holocaust/
Prominent climate activist sparks outrage after downplaying Holocaust
By Associated Press
November 21, 2019 | 10:20am
BERLIN — A prominent British climate change activist sparked anger Wednesday after appearing to downplay the Holocaust in an interview with a German newspaper.
Roger Hallam, who co-founded the activist group Extinction Rebellion, told the German newspaper Die Zeit that the Nazis’ murder of 6 million Jews was merely one of many genocides.
In extracts from the interview released by Die Zeit on Wednesday, Hallam was quoted describing the Holocaust as “just another (expletive) in human history.”
The comments drew a swift rebuke from German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who called the industrial-scale murder of Jews “uniquely inhuman.”
“We must always be aware of this to ensure: never again!” Maas wrote on Twitter.
The co-leader of Germany’s environmentalist Green Party, Robert Habeck, told the newspaper Bild that “there must be no place for anti-Semitism or downplaying of the Holocaust.”
Habeck urged Extinction Rebellion — known for its disruptive protests such as road blockades — to distance itself from Hallam.
The group’s German branch tweeted Thursday that “Roger has breached the principles of XR, which don’t tolerate anti-Semitism and isn’t welcome any longer at XR Germany.”
The British branch later issued a statement also condemning Hallam’s comments “unreservedly.”
