New Zealand community slams a mayoral candidate who used “sieg heil”
Candidate John Tamihere has used the Nazi expression “Seig Heil” in a mayoral debate in Auckland.
John Tamihere Facebook
Current mayor Phil Goff said during the debate on diversity: “We won’t put up with the sort of nonsense that we get from racists coming into this country to tell us that multiculturalism doesn’t work.”
Tamihere retorted: “I say sieg heil to that.”
Chris Harris, the CEO of the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand said: “Mr Tamihere uses Nazi language – the language of race hatred – in a throwaway manner. It is wrong, deeply irresponsible and inciting hate in one of the world’s most ethnically diverse cities. It is utterly unacceptable for a public figure to evoke Hitler and the Nazis as Mr Tamihere is doing.”
Spokesperson for the New Zealand Jewish Council Juliet Moses told J-Wire: “The Jewish Council doesn’t think the terminology is appropriate in a mayoral debate and would like to see it discarded on the garbage heap of Nazi history, where it belongs.”
