Somewhere, sometime, when I was growing up, I learned that the history of the Holocaust was so important because we had to make sure it never happened again. That was why I couldn't ignore the pictures and stories of the gruesome details. I couldn't tell you who told me that or if I heard it once or 100 times. I learned it though and accepted it as one of those basic life principles.
I often thought it was an overreaction. How could anyone let that happen a second time? There were those weirdos though who claimed that the Holocaust never happened. We had to at least protect against those lunatics on the fringe.
Somewhere, somehow, a bunch of other people missed this lesson that is so much a part of me. Calpundit reports on an Arab newspaper that claims that Jews are running the world because one Israeli made it into the top 20 richest people list. The Rottweiler reports on a study that's been squelched in Europe because it came to the non-PC conclusion that Muslims were responsible for the anti-Jewish violence. Shark and many others have reported that our friends the Brits have awarded a prize to a cartoon showing Sharon eating an Arab baby. Shark contrasts the cartoon with what Israel really does for Arab babies. Aaron's Rantblog reports on the FBI failing to hire Arab-speaking Jews.
There's a glimpse of the problem. What are we going to do about it? When I was young, they taught us about the Holocaust. Graphically. Do your kids know?
Posted by Justene Adamec at November 30, 2003 09:56 AM | TrackBackIt has happened again. In Rwanda in 1992. In Cambodia throughout the late 1970s. The lackluster US and European response to both showed us for hypocrites.
Posted by: aphrael at November 30, 2003 12:51 PM (Permalink)Arsonists irecently burned down a small holocaust museum in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The national Holocaust Memorial Museum was created for the purpose of having a permanent institution which would serve to educate generations of people about the horrors of which humans are capable.
Posted by: charles at November 30, 2003 02:05 PM (Permalink)Don't forget Iraq. Only this year did we finally get around to doing what should have been done in 1991 - and even that would have been too late for many of the regime's victims.
Posted by: Xrlq at November 30, 2003 03:02 PM (Permalink)XRLQ - with all due respect, I'm unconvinced that what happened in Iraq compares with the Holocaust or either of my two examples.
Posted by: aphrael at November 30, 2003 06:43 PM (Permalink)What happened in Iraq wasn't the same... It was war, and secondly, done with our weapons. Heck with 1991. What about 1981?
Still, I'm not sure why images of Ariel Sharon get mixed in with anti-semitism. Does this mean that Israel gets a 'get out of jail free' card for any atrocities they may attempt?
I certainly agree about the over-reaction of 'Jews controlling the world', that's just rediculous. But to those who are not empowered, the rest of the world looks fairly scary... And some groups are just not as prevailent in 'the rest of the world'. That's the balance of power that needs to be rectified if we're ever to not repeat the holocausts.
Posted by: Crissa at December 1, 2003 12:34 PM (Permalink)I had a troubling encounter recently. I was having drinks with a young - early 20s - hispanic male friend and his girlfriend about two months ago. During the course of conversation, the subject changed to Israel. I was then told about Israel denying a Palestinian pregnant woman access to a hospital during labor. I suggested that while this was sad nonetheless Israel had real security concerns and this example didn't equate to targeting civilians for premeditated murder. The next observation was that there were "those who felt 'the jews' had a great deal of economic power over the United States." I suggested that this was the classic screed of the bigot. He asserted that he didn't feel that way, but that "there were many who did." This guy's older brother is a Chicano Studies major.
My conclusion is that classic anti-semitism is out there on the Left with all of its desires to satisfy imagined grievances with a convenient scapegoat. (For Heaven's sake, this is Fresno. There aren't that many Jews here for Hispanics to identify them as an oppressor class . I doubt that this kid has ever met a Jew.) This attitude is found among the young and, as I know the parents of this young man, I know it doesn't come from the parents.
Sad and disturbing.
Posted by: Peter Sean Bradley at December 1, 2003 10:40 PM (Permalink)I kind of think Xrlq was talking about the killing of Iraqis by their own dictator -- which went on, wartime and peacetime, for 30 years.
And the Holocaust took place during a war too.
<expression of exasperation for people who can say things like the comments to which I'm responding>
Posted by: McGehee at December 2, 2003 10:30 AM (Permalink)peterseanesq: That's what I meant about being generally disenfranchised.
mcghee: Yes, for the mjority of those thirty years the US supported the Iraqi regime. Those were our chemical weapons they used, our Rumsfeld who shook Saddam's hand. I didn't even think to mention the current war...
Posted by: Crissa at December 2, 2003 02:51 PM (Permalink)The political cartoon in question was about the leader of a government and his policies. The only reference to religion was one to ancient Roman mythology. Any anti-Semitic bias is in the eye of the beholder. It's hard to see how the memory of the Holocaust would be well-served by suppressing criticism of a leader because of his faith.
Posted by: neil at December 5, 2003 09:13 PM (Permalink)