Tinuligsa ng iba’t ibang Jewish group at mga gobyerno sa mundo ang mga pahayag ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte noong Biyernes na tulad ni Adolf Hitler ay handa siyang pumatay ng tatlong milyong kriminal “to finish the problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition.”

Agad na umalma ang German government at sinabi sa ambassador ng Pilipinas na “unacceptable” na inihalintulad ni Duterte ang mga kriminal sa pagsisikap ni Hitler na maubos ang mga lahi ng Jew.

Inihayag ng German foreign ministry na inimbitahan nito ang Philippine envoy “to come to the ministry for a discussion on this issue”.

“Any comparison of the singular atrocities of the Holocaust with anything else is totally unacceptable,” sabi ni ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer.

Metro

MANIBELA magkakasa ng libreng sakay sa Pasko at Bagong Taon

Idiniin naman ng United Nations at Jewish advocacy group B’nai B’rith, na hindi nararapat ang mga ganitong pahayag.

“I think any use of the Holocaust and the suffering of the Holocaust in comparison to anything else frankly is is inappropriate and is to be rejected,” sabi ni Stéphane Dujaric, tagapagsalita ng United Nations.

“They show either a high level of ignorance or a disdain for history or both,” banat ni Daniel Mariaschin, Executive Vice President ng B’nai B’rith International sa Washington.

“For someone to want to identify themselves with a person who was responsible for intending to wipe out an entire people, for engaging in genocide is simply inexplicable,” dagdag niya.

Sinabi ni Rabbi Abraham Cooper, pinuno ng Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Digital Terrorism and Hate project na “outrageous” ang mga tinuran ni Duterte at dapat itong humingi ng paumanhin sa mga biktima ng Holocaust. “Duterte owes the victims (of the Holocaust) an apology for his disgusting rhetoric.”

Inilarawan ng Anti-Defamation League, isang international Jewish group na nakabase sa United States, ang mga komento ni Duterte na “shocking for their tone-deafness.”

“The comparison of drug users and dealers to Holocaust victims is inappropriate and deeply offensive,” sabi ni Todd Gutnick, director of communications ng grupo.

Nabagabag rin ang U.S. State Department at ang Pentagon.

“America’s ... partnership with the Philippines is ... based on a mutual foundation of shared values and that includes our shared belief in human rights and human dignity,” sabi ni State Department spokesman Mark Toner. “President Duterte’s comments are a significant departure from that tradition and we find them troubling.”

‘’Speaking personally for myself, I find those comments deeply troubling,’’ sabi ni Pentagon chief Ashton Carter sa mamamahayag sa isang regional security summit kasama ang defense ministers mula sa mga kasanggang bansa sa Southeast Asia, kabilang na ang Pilipinas. - Reuters, AFP