Of all people, you’d think the police would know the importance of staying in one’s lane. Alas.
On Wednesday night, a massive rally to support the seven police officers jailed for beating protester Ken Tsang was held in Kowloon. Serving and retired police officers were in attendance, and so were their supporters. During the rally, several speakers took the stage, and one of them, a serving station sergeant, compared the experience of being insulted by protesters to the Holocaust, as seen in footage published by Apple Daily.
“I would describe it as… it’s like the Second World War. We are Jews, and we are being persecuted. We are like the Jews being persecuted by the Nazis. Right?” the sergeant said, to which the crowd shouted, “Yes!”
Yesterday, the Israeli Consulate commented that “without relating to the trial of the seven police officers”, the alleged statement is “inappropriate” and “regretful”. “We wish no further comparison will be made to the Jewish Holocaust.” A reasonable request, wouldn’t you say?
Earlier today, the German Consulate published a statement on the matter and let’s just say… they didn’t mince their words.
“The reported reference to the Holocaust shows a regrettably insufficient knowledge of historical facts. The Jewish population in Germany was persecuted by the State and all its organs during the Nazi dictatorship and millions lost their lives. Therefore the comparison between the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and police officers convicted for an abuse of power is utterly inappropriate.”
(Mic drop.)
Since the backlash, Joe Cho, the chairman of the Junior Police Officers’ Association (the convenors of the rally), has offered this non-apology:
“The association expresses regret if any participant in Wednesday’s gathering expressed views that offended anyone, any community, or any country.”
A spokesperson for the Hong Kong Police Force said the comments made at the rally were not representative of the HKPF. A police source told the SCMP that the force is due to meet with the Israeli and German consulates today to “clear up misunderstanding”.
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