(Irish Times) Stephen Collins - The Irish government in the 1940s did nothing to oppose the extermination of the Jews in Europe, Minister for Justice and Defense Alan Shatter said Wednesday. He also warned that the international community today had to stand up to those such as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran who not only denied the Holocaust but were actively seeking to destroy the State of Israel. Opening a conference at Trinity College Dublin to mark the centenary of the birth of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved more than 50,000 Hungarian Jews from the death camps, Shatter said: "The Irish government of the day sat on its hands. And even after the death camps were liberated, the Irish government denied Jews refuge in Ireland." Shatter said, "It is morally absurd that Ahmadinejad still rules Iran, an active denier of the Shoah who has promised to use nuclear missiles to turn Israel to smoke and ash. And the silence of so many of the non-aligned states in the face of his threats must surely undermine their moral authority to speak on important issues of international concern."
2012-09-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive