Holocaust denial viewed as world class blunder

NEW Zealand's reputation has been damaged by how Canterbury and Waikato Universities handled issues involving Holocaust denial, says outgoing Israeli Ambassador Lydia Choukron.

"Nowhere else in the world would people be able to say these things about the Holocaust and receive the backing of institutions like these world class universities," she said.

Waikato University is reviewing its handling of the case of Hans-Joachim Kupka, a German department student accused of denying the Holocaust. Canterbury University gave top marks to student Joel Hayward's thesis, which used discredited research to deny key facts of the Holocaust.

Comment ... THIS little episode provides a more than tenuous clue to the source of the pressures on the New Zealand universities concerned.

 Joel Hayward index

Joel Hayward: thesis: 'The Fate of Jews in German Hands' (zip file)