A MUSLIM GROUP is calling for a mass protest at Gorey Community School later this month when a Jewish Holocaust survivor comes to talk about his experiences in a World War II concentration camp.

MPAC, which describes itself as a non-profit organisation that 'helps Muslims to help themselves', is objecting to the visit by Slovakian native Tomi Reichental as he subsequently went on to serve with the Israeli defence forces during the 1950s.

The Islamic group maintains this made him part of a 'Jewish Zionist Army' which systematically persecuted Palestinians.

'How a man who had allegedly survived the Belsen concentration camp, witnessed its supposed horrors and lived to tell the tale could then, as part of the IDF, enact the same terror upon an innocent Palestinian population beggars belief,' reads a statement from the group.

'Reichental is due to speak in Gorey Community School this November. We urge all concered individuals to protest,' it continues.

One supporter wrote on the group's website yesterday (Tuesday) that 'I'll be calling the school today to lodge my protest at this war criminal's visit'.

However, Deputy Principal at the school, Frank Duke, said later that day that he was unaware of any objections to Mr Reichental's upcoming visit, nor had he heard of the Islamic group's call for a mass protest.

- Anne Marie O'CONNOR