Wednesday, October 20, 2010
[The following, by Richard Landes, is crossposted from Augean Stables.]
For those who bother to hold the Arabs and Muslims to basic standards of consistent reasoning, it's something of a standing joke how they at once deny the Holocaust and then accuse Israel of acting like Hitler did (not). What lies behind such rhetoric is the demopath's logic: you want to commit another genocide against the Jews, but the (Western) people you want to gull into letting you, into siding with you, could not possibly support you openly.
So you first deny that the Holocaust happened (take away from the Jews the protection that guilt over the Holocaust has gotten them), and then you demonize the Jews for engaging in Nazi-like behavior, in order to make them worthy of being wiped out.
But these days, it's so easy to gull the dupes, that demopaths no longer even bother to hide their agendas. They can count on Westerners to ignore the evidence. It's been like that ever since William Orme dropped the genocidal incitement from his article on incitement as an element in the intifada back in 2000.
Now view this talk given by Yigal Carmon of MEMRI, delivered at the UN. (Was anyone listening?)
Captured German war records prove that millions of innocent Jews (and tens of thousands of others) were systematically exterminated by Nazi Germany - mostly in gas chambers. These facts have been proven repeatedly through countless thesis and dissertation research papers. Virtually every PhD in the world will stake their career on these known Holocaust FACTS. Despite this knowledge, Holocaust deniers ply their mendacious poison everywhere, especially with young people on the Internet. The deniers have only one agenda - to distort the truth in a way that promotes antagonism against the object of their hatred (Jews), or to deny the culpability of their ancestors and heroes.
Museums and mandatory public education are appropriate tools to dispel bigotry, especially racial and ethnic hatred. Books and films can also establish the veracity of genocides, such as recent Holocaust films. They help to tell the true story of the perpetrators of genocide; and they reveal the abject terror, humiliation and degradation resulting from such blind loathing and prejudice. We must disclose the cruelty and horror of genocide to combat the deniers’ virulent and inaccurate historical revision. By doing this, we protect vulnerable future generations from making the same mistakes.
Whenever we stand up to those who deny or minimize genocide we send a critical message to the world. As we continue to live in an age of genocide and ethnic cleansing, we must repel the broken ethics of our ancestors, or risk a dreadful repeat of past transgressions. A world that continues to allow genocide requires ethical remediation. We must show the world that religious, racial, ethnic and gender persecution is wrong; and that tolerance is our progeny's only hope. Only through such efforts can we reveal the true horror of genocide and promote the triumphant spirit of humankind.
Charles Weinblatt
Author, Jacob’s Courage
http://jacobscourage.wordpress.com/