The Haunting Past

The allegations by Palestinians accusing Israel of Nazi tactics are disgraceful and slanderous. Appealing to peoples’ emotions by invoking the six million Jews pushed into ovens and gassed in chambers, and comparing that to the Palestinians’ situation is completely insulting to everyone who suffered from the Holocaust (and anyone with rational intelligence). It is a recent yet unsurprising low by the Palestinian propaganda machine, but also serves as a means of divesting the world of any residual guilt it might still have by implicating the very people that lost over 1/3 of their total population in 6 years. The accusation is so poignant precisely because the so-called perpetrators were once the victims. It’s this alleged irony that the Palestinian commentators seem to focus on and revel in. By making the unmentionable commonplace, by referring to the Holocaust in such casual terms of comparison, they are removing the taboo and attempting to give virile anti-Israel sentiments legitimate grounds. Though seemingly idiotic misinformation, it is effective for those who seek to cast Israel as the devil-incarnate. Is it a coincidence then that this argument has gained popularity in the historic hotbeds of anti-Semitism- the Middle East and Europe?

On the fundamental level, Israel does not discriminate against Arabs because they are Arabs. Israel is home to 1 million Arab citizens who live far better than most of their brethren in neighboring Arab countries. Israel distinguishes only those Arabs that encourage and partake in the murder of Israelis and destruction of Israel. It’s a well known fact by now that the quality of life in the territories was more a result of the autocratic PA regime (that funneled money and aid to genocidal terrorists and a few strategic bank accounts), than Israel’s democracy; (which by the way, has had 5 prime ministers since the Oslo accords, all trying to find lasting peace with the same single man, Arafat).

People who perpetrate this falsehood are recklessly throwing around the imagery without a speck of legitimate basis for comparison. The Jews of Germany did not practice terrorism against the state. Rather, they were loyal citizens. In irony of ironies, history is actually repeating itself: It is the Palestinians that go out purposefully to kill innocent civilians because they are Jewish. The only difference this time is that the Jewish people can defend themselves. And when Palestinian civilians are injured or killed by the IDF, there will unfailingly be an investigation, culpability will be determined, and appropriate punishment will be meted out. These are the safeguards of a democratic state that goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties, even when the distinction between civilian and belligerent is made intentionally murky by the enemy. Civilian casualties are never intentional, nor is it Israel’s state policy. In contrast, when Israeli civilians are killed by Palestinian terrorists, there is no investigation or (gasp!) imprisonment. The only guarantee from the corrupt regime is a celebration and lauding of the ‘martyr’, and a financial reward for the family.

Accusations of war crimes –as in Jenin- are nothing more than second-rate propaganda campaigns that are invariably repudiated. When the truth is revealed, the facts consistently prove Israel’s morality and restraint during combat. As a matter of fact, the statistics of the most recent ‘intifada’ have shown that more than twice as many Israeli women and girls (152) have been killed as Palestinian women and girls(61) (this number includes female suicide bombers)^[1].

To those who express indignation at Israel’s collective measures and compare them to those of Nazi Germany, I respond that all of Israel’s actions are deliberate, pointed, and bear a direct and rational relationship to their legitimate security interests. It is outrageous and irresponsible to claim that such measures as military checkpoints, curfews and the separation fence bear any resemblance to the indiscriminate and genocidal German concentration camps and murder factories. Israel’s collective measures take the form of inconveniences that may affect quality of life at worst, but are always amenable to improvement; murder and genocide is permanent. Having said that, it is an unfortunate fact that innocent Palestinians have to suffer because 70% of their comrades support suicide bombings. [2] Collective punishment is an unfortunate option, but what is Israel’s alternative when an atmosphere of hatred is that pervasive?

  
Collective punishment is generally abhorred because of a well-established rejection of the concept of collective guilt. The idea gained acceptance after World War II, when Germans asserted that it was not possible that their whole society could be blamed for the actions of its government, thereby painting each individual as a faceless drone, powerless to the will of the State. This dubious reasoning indiscreetly attempts to acquit each individual of any responsibility; as though the passive, fatalistic approach is not itself an indictment of their guilt. The man who stands motionless at the banks of the river watching another drown, when he has all the resources to help, is by no means innocent; and though he may not be charged in a criminal court, you don’t need a judge to know he is a morally bankrupt human being.

While the Germans’ disputing of collective guilt is based on their passivity and powerlessness, the Palestinians cannot use this excuse. If there’s ever an example of collective guilt, it does lie with the Palestinian people; for what more does one need proof? 70% support civilian massacre, 51% believed the intifada’s goal was to ‘liberate ALL of historic Palestine‘^[3]. Don’t the people deserve blame for the outcome of their values and attitudes? The mother who kisses her son and showers praise on him before he leaves on a ‘mission’ is as much an accomplice as the man who funded him. Through popular support, these people are creating an atmosphere that extols civilian massacre, and endorsing a policy of genocide.

The Jewish people, with their tortured past and ethical legacy, have always placed great significance on human dignity and tolerance. And Israel, as the political manifestation of the Jewish nation, furthers these principles through state policy. Therefore, when all is said and done, claims of massacres and war crimes are consistently revealed to be nothing more than despicable reincarnations of anti-semitic propaganda, in the tradition of the ‘Blood Libel’ and ‘Elders of the Protocols of Zion’.