Israel's "Bigger Holocaust"
Threat Against the Palestinians
High Time for a Worldwide Boycott
Omar Barghouti
Yesterday, Friday, 29 February 2008,
Israel's deputy defense minister Matan
Vilnai threatened Palestinians in Gaza with
a "holocaust," telling the Israeli Army
Radio: "The more Qassam fire intensifies
and the rockets reach a longer range,
[the Palestinians] will bring upon
themselves a bigger holocaust because
we will use all our might to defend
ourselves."[1] This date will go down
in history as the beginning of a new
phase in the colonial conflict between
Israel and the Palestinians, whereby a
senior Israeli leader, a "leftist" for that matter,
has publicly revealed the genocidal plans
Israel is considering to implement against
Palestinians under its military occupation,
if they do not cease to resist its dictates.
It will also mark the first time since World
War II that any state has relentlessly --
and on live TV -- terrorized a civilian
population with acts of slow, or low-intensity,
genocide, with one of its senior government
officials overtly inciting to a full-blown
"Holocaust," while
the world stood by, watching in utter apathy,
or in glee, as in the case of leading
western leaders.
For an Israeli leader who is Jewish, in
particular, to threaten anyone with Holocaust
is a sad irony of history. Are victims of
unspeakable crimes invariably doomed
to turn into appalling criminals? Can
anything be possibly done to break
this vicious cycle, before the state that claims
to represent the main victims of
the Holocaust commits a fresh
Holocaust itself?
particular, to threaten anyone with Holocaust
is a sad irony of history. Are victims of
unspeakable crimes invariably doomed
to turn into appalling criminals? Can
anything be possibly done to break
this vicious cycle, before the state that claims
to represent the main victims of
the Holocaust commits a fresh
Holocaust itself?
Before addressing those questions, however,
isn't it exaggerated and pointedly
counterproductive, one may ask, to compare
Israel's crimes against the Palestinians, no
matter how brutal and inhumane they have
been, to Nazi genocide? Besides, isn't each
crime unique and worthy of attention in its
own right as a violation of human rights, of
international law, of universal moral principles?
The answer is yes; each crime is unique,
and nothing Israel has done to date comes
even close, in quantity, to Nazi crimes.
But when victims-turned-perpetrators openly
admit their intentions to carry out a unique
form of offense that they are most familiar
with, and they actually commit repeated
acts that are qualitatively reminiscent of
that crime in their unbridled racism and
the ghastly level of disregard for the
value and dignity of the human life of the
"other" that is inherent in them, then their
threats ought to be taken seriously.
Everyone is called upon to react, to act in
any way to stop this crime-in-progress
from reaching its logical conclusion.
isn't it exaggerated and pointedly
counterproductive, one may ask, to compare
Israel's crimes against the Palestinians, no
matter how brutal and inhumane they have
been, to Nazi genocide? Besides, isn't each
crime unique and worthy of attention in its
own right as a violation of human rights, of
international law, of universal moral principles?
The answer is yes; each crime is unique,
and nothing Israel has done to date comes
even close, in quantity, to Nazi crimes.
But when victims-turned-perpetrators openly
admit their intentions to carry out a unique
form of offense that they are most familiar
with, and they actually commit repeated
acts that are qualitatively reminiscent of
that crime in their unbridled racism and
the ghastly level of disregard for the
value and dignity of the human life of the
"other" that is inherent in them, then their
threats ought to be taken seriously.
Everyone is called upon to react, to act in
any way to stop this crime-in-progress
from reaching its logical conclusion.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority,
despite its lack of political independence
and its disputed mandate, is called upon
to immediately exonerate itself from the
popular accusation of complicity. Azmi
Bishara was among the most prominent
of those who issued this harsh indictment,
in reaction to the announcement by the
head of the PA in Cairo, just a day before
the latest Israeli massacre in Gaza, that
Al-Qaida had infiltrated Gaza, and that
the projectiles fired indiscriminately by
the Palestinian resistance at Israeli
towns and settlements provide the excuse
for Israel's aggression. The credibility of
this complicity assertion was compelling
enough to prompt Mahmoud Abbas to
condemn the Israeli crime in unprecedented
austerity and hyperbole, describing it as
"more than a Holocaust." [2]
despite its lack of political independence
and its disputed mandate, is called upon
to immediately exonerate itself from the
popular accusation of complicity. Azmi
Bishara was among the most prominent
of those who issued this harsh indictment,
in reaction to the announcement by the
head of the PA in Cairo, just a day before
the latest Israeli massacre in Gaza, that
Al-Qaida had infiltrated Gaza, and that
the projectiles fired indiscriminately by
the Palestinian resistance at Israeli
towns and settlements provide the excuse
for Israel's aggression. The credibility of
this complicity assertion was compelling
enough to prompt Mahmoud Abbas to
condemn the Israeli crime in unprecedented
austerity and hyperbole, describing it as
"more than a Holocaust." [2]
Arab regimes, especially Egypt's and Jordan's,
as unelected, illegitimate and subservient to
the US as they may be, are still expected to
distance themselves from Israel's lethal war
of aggression on Gaza. After all, their continued
diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel,
as well as their implicit justification of
Israel's crimes through their repeated and
gratuitous vilification of Hamas, have
convincingly labeled them in the eyes of their
respective publics, not to mention the wider
Arab public, as accessories in crime.
as unelected, illegitimate and subservient to
the US as they may be, are still expected to
distance themselves from Israel's lethal war
of aggression on Gaza. After all, their continued
diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel,
as well as their implicit justification of
Israel's crimes through their repeated and
gratuitous vilification of Hamas, have
convincingly labeled them in the eyes of their
respective publics, not to mention the wider
Arab public, as accessories in crime.
European governments, chiefly in France,
Britain and Germany, have to also answer
to the serious charge of collusion in Israel's
crimes against humanity, prevalent among
wide Palestinian, Arab and Muslim majorities.
They have not only stayed silent in the face
of Israel's willful killing [3] of almost 100
innocent civilians, many of whom are children,
in the course of the last few days in Gaza;
they have continued to treat Israel with
reverence, celebrating its so-called 60th
anniversary, a gruesome event of ethnic
cleansing and colonial ruin itself, showering
it with economic, political and scientific
support that significantly contributes to
its impunity.
Britain and Germany, have to also answer
to the serious charge of collusion in Israel's
crimes against humanity, prevalent among
wide Palestinian, Arab and Muslim majorities.
They have not only stayed silent in the face
of Israel's willful killing [3] of almost 100
innocent civilians, many of whom are children,
in the course of the last few days in Gaza;
they have continued to treat Israel with
reverence, celebrating its so-called 60th
anniversary, a gruesome event of ethnic
cleansing and colonial ruin itself, showering
it with economic, political and scientific
support that significantly contributes to
its impunity.
The US government, on the other hand,
cannot be accused of abetting Israel's acts
of genocide in the same league as all the
above sinister accomplices. It is and has
always been a full and proud partner in
planning, bankrolling and executing those
crimes against the Palestinians, not to
mention its own unmatched criminal record in
Afghanistan, Iraq and, before both, Vietnam.
When our own Nuremberg moment arrives,
when Israeli war criminals are finally
prosecuted in an international court,
a substantial space in the defense chamber
will have to be reserved for US commanders
and political leaders. Without American
partnership, expressed in immeasurable
military, economic and diplomatic aid,
Israel could not have committed all its
racist and colonial crimes with such impunity.
cannot be accused of abetting Israel's acts
of genocide in the same league as all the
above sinister accomplices. It is and has
always been a full and proud partner in
planning, bankrolling and executing those
crimes against the Palestinians, not to
mention its own unmatched criminal record in
Afghanistan, Iraq and, before both, Vietnam.
When our own Nuremberg moment arrives,
when Israeli war criminals are finally
prosecuted in an international court,
a substantial space in the defense chamber
will have to be reserved for US commanders
and political leaders. Without American
partnership, expressed in immeasurable
military, economic and diplomatic aid,
Israel could not have committed all its
racist and colonial crimes with such impunity.
Going back to the question of whether
anything should and could be done to
stop Israel, the answer is a certain yes.
South African apartheid crimes were
challenged not only by the heroic struggle
of the oppressed masses on the ground in
South Africa; they were also fought by
worldwide campaigns of boycott, divestment
and sanctions against the regime, with
all its complicit economic, academic,
cultural, and athletic institutions. Similarly,
international civil society can, and ought
to, apply the same measures of non-violent
justice to bring about Israel's compliance
with international law and basic human
rights. Even the threat of sanctions has
proven effective enough in the past to
halt Israel's repeated campaigns of death
and devastation.
anything should and could be done to
stop Israel, the answer is a certain yes.
South African apartheid crimes were
challenged not only by the heroic struggle
of the oppressed masses on the ground in
South Africa; they were also fought by
worldwide campaigns of boycott, divestment
and sanctions against the regime, with
all its complicit economic, academic,
cultural, and athletic institutions. Similarly,
international civil society can, and ought
to, apply the same measures of non-violent
justice to bring about Israel's compliance
with international law and basic human
rights. Even the threat of sanctions has
proven effective enough in the past to
halt Israel's repeated campaigns of death
and devastation.
If all those images of tens of Palestinian
children torn to pieces, all those recurrent
episodes of wanton killing and destruction
by an occupation army against a predominantly defenseless civilian population, go unpunished,
the world may well witness a new Holocaust
indeed.
children torn to pieces, all those recurrent
episodes of wanton killing and destruction
by an occupation army against a predominantly defenseless civilian population, go unpunished,
the world may well witness a new Holocaust
indeed.
---------------------------
* Omar Barghouti is an independent political analyst
[1] http://www.haaretz.com/hasen
/spages/959532.html
[2] http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0C8EBD66-032E-4470-82FB-005D6A2B5186.htm
/spages/959532.html
[2] http://english.aljazeera.net
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