GREEN: Israel and Palestine conflict should never be compared to Holocaust
Published: Sunday, April 1, 2012
Here’s a tip for the young idealist types who wade into the morass that is the Palestine and Israel conflict: Use Google.
Several weeks ago, many of my classmates saw nothing wrong with comparing the Israeli occupation of Palestine to the Holocaust. In fact, a fleeting attempt was made to directly compare the Nakba to the Holocaust. It shouldn’t need to be explained why this is problematic.
However, it appears people aren’t interested in complexity. Here’s why you should never compare what’s currently happening in Israel to the worst act of genocide thus far in human history.
In the interest of space, I’m going to limit this discussion to a few points.
First, prominent Palestinians actively supported Adolf Hitler before and during World War Two.
Google “Haj Amin Al-Husseini.”
In his zeal to prevent the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, the Haj recruited Muslims into the Waffen-SS. Incidentally enough, that same organization was in charge of the concentration camps that must never be forgotten.
The Haj wasn’t some fringe figure. His father was the Mufti of Jerusalem, arguably the most important religious figure in Palestine. For the Haj to collaborate with the person who attempted to single-handedly wipe out a people suggests that he saw Jews as less human than himself.
No nationalist sentiment should be used as justification for genocide. I’d love for a Palestinian sympathizer to contact me with an explanation for just that.
Why else is it problematic for the Nakba to be compared to the Holocaust? Might it be the fact that the vast majority of Holocaust denial comes from the Muslim world? When the political leader of a major state openly calls for the destruction of Israel and hosts conferences for Holocaust deniers, comparing the two events turns from a questionable decision into tragic comedy.
Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran fits this description exactly. Argue over translations or the meaning of his discourse all you’d like. At the end of the day, the man actively stirs anti-Semitism to achieve political ends. Americans play directly into his hand by not voraciously denouncing his words.
I’d suggest many Palestinian sympathizers fail to do so because at bottom they are as delusional as hardline Israelis. Both parties seem to hold a fantasy that if they just protest or kill each other enough, one morning the other side will decide to self-deport.
That isn’t going to happen. There will someday be a two-state solution, and that’s for the best. In fact, I’d recommend that those who truly care about the plight of the Palestinian people support exactly that. A two-state solution, although imperfect, allows for self-determination in a land that has never had such options.
Obviously, that would require Hamas to recognize the obvious fact that Israel exists. That might even require Westerners to cease actively aiding and abetting organizations that wouldn’t maintain relevance without terrorism and armed struggle.
Finally, people should avoid calling Israeli actions reminiscent of the Holocaust out of simple respect. The state of Israel exists today because Zionism proved to be true. Unless the Jewish people have a national homeland, they can never feel secure.
If you’ll use the Google machine again, look up the Holocaust. Look deeper and realize the virulent anti-Semitism existed not only in Nazi Germany but also worldwide. The Nazis generally had no problem getting occupied peoples to hand over their Jews.
Look, the situation in the occupied territories sucks. Calling Gaza the world’s largest open-air prison is harsh language, but it’s compelling because it has a grain of truth. By maintaining the occupation, Israel does itself no favors at home or abroad.
Americans tend to support Israel because its national culture is so much more like our own than Israel’s neighbors. Only in Israel can gays live in peace and security. Only in Israel are women’s rights taken seriously. Only in Israel exists the liberal democracy that is best at minimizing human suffering.
So, Palestinian sympathizers (a category in which I would include myself), please recognize the power of language. Each time you toss out comparisons of the Nakba and Holocaust, you demean both events. The Holocaust wasn’t bad because it could be compared to something. It was bad because Europe (with support from a prominent Palestinian, remember) sought to exterminate an entire race of people.
Israel isn’t trying to exterminate the Palestinians. The Palestinians, I would argue, aren’t trying to exterminate the Israelis. Both sides have locked themselves into a belief that the other will just leave.
As that isn’t happening anytime soon, the best thing Americans can do is to stop adding fuel to the fire. The Palestinian conflict is only two decades old, in political terms. Peace can be reached. The inconsistent and typically incorrect advice and pressure coming from Americans is hurting rather than helping that process.
Displaced Husker 