Hong Kong police disperse protesters in Mong Kok during the Occupy Movement, 2014. A speech comparing the conviction of seven police officers on assault charges to what Jewish people suffered during the Second World War has been panned. (ucanews.com photo)
Two foreign consulate generals in Hong Kong have criticized local police who compared themselves to Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
The offending comments were made when some 33,000 police officers rallied on Feb. 22 in support of seven colleagues who got two years jail term for beating a protester during the democratic Occupy Movement in 2014. During the rally, one of the speakers said the judgment was inappropriate and claimed it was persecuting Hong Kong police, similar to the situation when the Jewish faced in the Second World War.
The Consulate General of Israel responded the next day that making reference to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe is "inappropriate and regretful."
"We wish no further comparison will be made to the Jewish Holocaust," said the consulate general, according to the South China Morning Post.
On Feb. 24, the German Consulate General also said that the comparison between the Holocaust victims and police officers convicted for abuse of power is "utterly inappropriate."