An event honoring female Holocaust survivors that would have included a Jewish pro-Palestinian activist who has likened Israel to Nazi Germany was canceled by the Austrian Parliament two days after invitations were sent out.
A spokeswoman for the president of the Austrian Parliament said that the March 8 event was called off but did not specifically mention activist Hedy Epstein, who is in her early 90s.
“In consideration for the concerns against some of the participants, the Austrian Parliament has canceled the event ‘In Grandmother’s Words: The Fate of Women in the Second World War,’” spokeswoman Marianne Lackner told the Jerusalem Post.
In invitations sent Feb. 19 by the office of the president of the Austrian Parliament, Epstein, whom the Anti-Defamation League has criticized for demonizing Israel, was described as a peace and human rights activist. The only Jewish guest slated to speak at the event, Epstein was invited as a witness of the Holocaust to talk about her experiences.
In a 2004 lecture at Stanford University, Epstein compared the Nazi treatment of Jews to the Israeli treatment of Palestinians. Epstein has participated in several actions to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and has signed numerous petitions of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel.
As a teenager, she left her native Germany in 1939 on a Kindertransport and was sent to Britain for the war years. — jta