Holocaust remark provokes protest

The Wellington Jewish community will today demonstrate outside the Iranian Embassy in protest at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent comments that the Holocaust was a myth.

The President triggered a wave of international condemnation when he said in a broadcast speech last week that the Jews had "fabricated a legend" and he called for them to be relocated to Europe and North America.

New Zealand Jewish Council president Stephen Goodman said the local Jewish community would attempt to deliver a letter to the ambassador for Mr Ahmadinejad.

"The Iranian President's statements are totally unacceptable to the New Zealand Jewish community, and we have to tell him so," Mr Goodman said.

The protest will begin at noon outside the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the suburb of Hataitai.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters joined the international condemnation last week, describing the comments as "aggressive and totally unacceptable".

He said they were at odds with history and the contemporary reality of Israel's right to live within secure borders.

- NZPA