マスク氏、アウシュビッツ訪問　反ユダヤ主義批判を釈明

【クラクフ（ポーランド）ＡＦＰ＝時事】実業家のイーロン・マスク氏は２２日、ポーランドのアウシュビッツ・ビルケナウ強制収容所の視察ツアーに参加した。同氏は、自身が運営するＸ（旧ツイッター）で反ユダヤ主義の陰謀説を支持し、政界からも批判を浴びていたが、「心を揺さぶられた」とのコメントを発表した。（写真は実業家のイーロン・マスク氏）
　欧州ユダヤ協会（ＥＪＡ）によると、マスク氏はラビ（ユダヤ教指導者）長を務めるメナヘム・マルゴリン師と共に収容所で献花し、追悼式典に参加した。息子を肩車しているマスク氏の写真も公開された。
　マスク氏はポーランド南部の主要都市クラクフ近郊で開催されたＥＪＡ主催のシンポジウムで、「人間が他者にこれほどの所業ができることに非常に動揺し、深い悲しみと痛ましさを覚える。実際に自分の目で見ると、より心に響く」と話した。
　一方、Ｘについて「外部監査によると、他のすべてのソーシャルアプリと比べても反ユダヤ主義の投稿が最も少ない」と擁護した。
　マスク氏は昨年１１月、Ｘへの反ユダヤ主義的な投稿に「まさに真実」だとリポストしたことで批判され、謝罪に追い込まれた。
　マルゴリン師は昨年９月にマスク氏と討議した際、同氏がアウシュビッツを訪れれば「（第２次世界大戦中のナチス・ドイツによる）ホロコースト（ユダヤ人大量虐殺）についての認識と反ユダヤ主義対策」につながる「非常に強い」メッセージになるとして、訪問を呼び掛けていた。このやりとりはＸで生配信された。
　これに対してマスク氏は、「確かに模範になり得る」と同意。自らを「向上心を持つユダヤ人」だと評し、子どもの頃にヘブライ語の幼稚園に通っていたとも語っていた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/01/23-16:49）

Elon Musk on Monday took part in what he called an incredibly moving tour of Auschwitz and defended his X platform against accusations of anti-semitism just weeks after sparking a political storm by endorsing an anti-Jewish conspiracy theory.
The European Jewish Association said Musk laid a wreath and participated in a memorial service at the former Nazi death camp alongside EJA chairman, Rabbi Menachem Margolin. Photos showed Musk at the site with his son on his shoulders.
It was incredibly moving and deeply sad and tragic that humans could do this to other humans... It hits you much more in the heart when you see it in person, Musk said at a conference hosted by the EJA in nearby Krakow, southern Poland.
Musk apologised in November after responding the actual truth to a post on X, the former Twitter, that was criticised as echoing a white supremacist conspiracy theory about Jews. His gesture prompted some companies to pause adverts on the platform.
The tech tycoon has also faced accusations of a proliferation of hate speech on X, since his $44-billion takeover of the social media site in October 2022.
At the event on Monday, Musk defended his company.
?The outside audits that we?ve had done ... show that there is the least amount of anti-Semitism on X, if you look at all the other social apps, he said while speaking on a panel with US right-wing political commentator Ben Shapiro.
The symposium saw senior political figures from European countries meet to discuss and find solutions to the astronomical rises in anti-Semitism affecting Europe, the EJA said.
This troubling trend had been escalating since the Israel-Hamas war erupted, said the association.
The symposium came shortly before the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, a date that has become Holocaust Memorial Day.
One million European Jews died at the camp build by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland between 1940 and 1945, along with more than 100,000 non-Jews.
- 'Pro-Semitic' -
Margolin invited Musk to visit Auschwitz during a live broadcast on X in September, saying it would make a very strong statement that could contribute to Holocaust awareness and the struggle to combat anti-Semitism.
Musk agreed that it could be helpful... as an example to others.
During the discussion, Musk described himself as aspirationally Jewish and said he had attended Hebrew pre-school.
It's absurd to be accused of something when all the evidence points the other direction and my entire life story is in fact pro-semitic, he added at the time.
Musk has threatened to file suit against the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group, over its claims that problematic and racist speech has soared on X since his takeover.
X Corp is also currently suing the non-profit Media Matters on the grounds that it has driven away advertisers by portraying the site as rife with anti-Semitic content.
- 'Dumbest post ever' -
The post endorsed by Musk in November said that Jewish communities advocated a dialectical hatred against whites.
Musk's endorsement prompted a flood of departures from X of major advertisers and the White House accused him of abhorrent promotion of anti-Semitism.
The social media titan later apologised for what he called literally the worst and dumbest post that I've ever done.
He said it had been misinterpreted and that he had sought to clarify the remark in subsequent posts to the thread.
After the controversy, the Tesla and SpaceX tycoon visited Israel but said the trip had been planned earlier and was not an apology tour.
Israel's President Isaac Herzog told the tech mogul he has a huge role to play to combat anti-Semitism.
We need to fight it together because on the platforms which you lead, unfortunately, there's a harbouring of a lot of... anti-Semitism, Herzog said.