BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 9. A total of 86 spiritual Jewish authorities from Europe, America, and Muslim countries, as well as numerous Jewish religious media outlets worldwide, voiced their objections to the exploitation of Holocaust symbolism by Armenian political figures, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, which is a part of a campaign to demonize Azerbaijan.
On September 6, 50 leading rabbis, representing the largest association of Jewish religious leaders known as the Rabbinical Center of Europe, collectively composed an official letter addressed to the Prime Minister and President of Armenia. In this letter, they demanded an immediate and complete halt to the use of Holocaust symbolism in Armenian propaganda, stating that it should not be utilized for any political objectives.
The Rabbinical Center of Europe has also condemned "the Armenian leaders for using Holocaust rhetoric in a campaign against their neighbor, Azerbaijan".
Israel Heritage Foundation, the American association created by the Holocaust survivors, noted in its statement, that they "reject the loose usage of the word ‘Holocaust’ by officials in the Armenian government to discuss the situation in the Karabakh region, and firmly contend that any comparisons to the Holocaust are unwarranted and unjustified".
Chabadinfo website, one of the leading online platforms of Chabad, one of the largest Hasidic groups and Jewish religious organizations in the world, has called the accusations against Baku regarding the so-called "genocide" of the Armenians in Azerbaijan's Karabakh a "smear campaign".
Pan-European Jewish magazine, Jüdisches Europa, noted that drawing analogies between the Nazi policy of the "final solution to the Jewish question" and Azerbaijan’s attitude towards Armenians in Karabakh, as the Prime Minister of Armenia does, is completely unfounded. Jüdisches Europa further emphasized that “regarding Azerbaijan’s accusations of the "genocide" of Armenians, "there is no tangible evidence of it".
Bruno Fischzon, who is the Chief Rabbi of the Moselle department in northeastern France and the city of Metz, wrote on his personal Facebook page: "I am shocked by the comments made by the Armenian political leader comparing the current situation with the extermination of Jews during the Shoah (Holocaust)".
Viennese Rabbi Arie Folger accused French municipal officials of politicizing humanitarian aid, who at the end of August tried to travel from Armenia to Azerbaijani Karabakh without the consent of official Baku.
Leading rabbis from France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK have signed the appeal among nearly a hundred European Jewish spiritual authorities who spoke out against the methods of Armenian propaganda and demonization of Azerbaijan.