Wiesenthal Center: Turkish President’s Rhetoric “Legitimizing Anti-Semitic Violence”

December 17, 2017

The Simon Wiesenthal Center today condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan’s depiction of Israel as a “child-murderer state” as dangerous rhetoric that could legitimize and fuel violence against Jews. Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said that, “President Erdoǧan’s inflammatory language could inspire more anti-Jewish violence that Jewish communities have experienced in recent days,” adding, “When calls for shooting Jews punctuates demonstrations in London, New York, Malmo, France and Austria such incendiary words from an important leader can only contribute to the already supercharged climate of hate.”    

 Mark Weitzman, the Wiesenthal Center’s Director of Government Affairs added, “President Erdoǧan’s linkage of Jews and child-murder is a modern incarnation of the medieval ritual murder accusation that fueled the persecution and killing of Jews throughout history. We urge the President to stop such rhetoric and to denounce the calls for anti-Jewish violence.” 

For more information, please contact the Center's Communications Department, 310-553-9036. Join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

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