FSWC Says Comparison of Citizenship Burka Ban to Nazi Treatment of Jews is Exceptionally Offensive; Debases the Reality of the Holocaust

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 14, 2011) - Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) is outraged by comments made by the founder of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada likening the government's decision to ban facial coverings at citizenship swearing-in ceremonies to the treatment of Jews by the Nazis prior to World War II.

According to an interview with CFCN TV in Alberta, Syed Soharwardy says the new burka regulation amounts to Muslim bashing, noting, "Muslims are going through that situation right now that Jews faced before the Holocaust."

"Soharwardy has debased the memory of six million slaughtered Jews with a facile comparison to a new rule with which he, but not all Muslims, disagrees," said Avi Benlolo, President and CEO of FSWC. "To draw a parallel between a government decision requiring new immigrants to respect a basic value of this country - a decision supported by many Muslims, including the Canadian Muslim Congress, and the horrific experiences of European Jewry at the hands of the Nazis, demonstrates a complete insensitivity to and total lack of comprehension of the genocidal intent of Hitler's Final Solution. Sadly, the Canadian media seems to have given him a pass instead of confronting these outrageous statements," he added.

FSWC encourages the media to contact Avi Benlolo for reaction to Soharwardy's disgraceful comments.