Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli has criticised Pope Francis for suggesting the international community should study whether Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, reports Al Jazeera.
In an open letter published by Italian newspaper Il Foglio, Chikli said the pope’s remarks – made in excerpts from a forthcoming book that were published last month – amounted to a “trivialisation” of the term genocide.
“As a people who lost six million of its sons and daughters in the Holocaust, we are particularly sensitive to the trivialisation of the term ‘genocide’ – a trivialisation that comes dangerously close to Holocaust denial,” Chikli wrote.
Chikli, who ended the letter by calling Francis “a dear friend of the Jewish people”, asked the pope “to clarify your position regarding the new accusation of genocide against the Jewish state”.
In the book excerpts published by Italian daily La Stampa, the pontiff said some international experts said that “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide”.
“We should investigate carefully to assess whether this fits into the technical definition [of genocide] formulated by international jurists and organisations,” the pope said.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
