"A former United Nations spokesman, replying to a five-day-old post about Holocaust Remembrance Day, demanded a Holocaust museum respond to a ten-year-old Israeli comment.
Chris Gunness was the spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
On Monday, Gunness found a Twitter post from Yad Vashem, a museum and center for Holocaust research. The post commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Day, observed last Thursday.
The museum's full post, written on Holocaust Remembrance Day, read:
Each year, six Holocaust survivors are chosen to light torches in memory of the six million Jews who were murdered during the #Holocaust. Watch the stories of all 6 torch-lighters chosen for the 2019 Holocaust Remembrance Day State Opening Ceremony here
Gunness took the opportunity to demand comment on a former Israeli official's comment about a 'shoah' against the Palestinians...
In April 2008, following a barrage of Hamas-fired rockets from the Gaza Strip, former Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai warned of a shoah (lit. 'catastrophe, holocaust') in response.
'The more Qassam [Hamas rocket] fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, they will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah because we will use all our might to defend ourselves,' he said on army radio.
The term 'shoah' is biblical. It means 'catastrophe,' with connotations of fire...
Following global coverage of Vilnai's remarks, a spokesperson clarified he meant to use the word in its general sense.
'The minister used the Hebrew term 'shoah' which means 'catastrophe' and in this context does not refer to the 'the Shoah' – the Holocaust,' a representative said...
On Monday, Gunness wrote a separate tweet accusing Israeli officials of 'exploitation of the holocaust [sic] and Nazi-esque behavoir [sic].'..."