The genocide in Gaza has exposed the weaponization of the Holocaust as a vehicle not to prevent genocide, but to perpetuate it, not to examine the past, but to manipulate the present.
I watched a video the other day where an old woman in the middle of the USA while waiting in line at a Panera tried to attack a young woman wearing clothing proclaiming support for Palestine. When confronted by the police and charged with a hate crime she had no remorse and seemed to think she had done nothing wrong.
It's disturbing how people can look past human suffering to perpetuate their belief systems, but that seems to be humanity in a nutshell.
Years ago I attended a luncheon with friends, many of whom were Jewish, but did not hold the same perspective of the person someone dragged along to join us. I guess it was my blond hair, blue eyes and fair skin that made her give me the evil eye and ask what nationality I was. I told her Polish and Italian. It was the Polish that set her on fire and she said with contempt that my people killed her people. I said I doubt it since most came hear and those they left behind were dead, and while there no doubt they were too busy looking for food, and I'm sure Jews were not on their menu. However, I continued if you want to talk about people killing people lets talk abut the Israeli's long death march on the Palestinians. I've certainly heard that woman's perspective from too many, and their blindness of Israel's many atrocities against them over decades is never mentioned. Too often it's rationalized by referencing them as less then human, and they started it, like Hamas started it on Oct7, Their mindset is so prejudicial they think the assault by Hamas justifies a genocide., not to mention it no doubt has been a long time goal, and the reason they ignored so many warnings of an impending assault by Hamas, highly motivated by Israel's treatment of the Palestinians in the West Bank
For a people generally so well educated, so well positioned in academia and in scholarship, so committed to social justice, it amazes how ignorant many? most? Jews can be about Zionism and Israel and how they let all that myth, propaganda and indoctrination go unchallenged.
I think many Jews, world wide, even a majority are not going along with this, but your right too many are. Certainly that is true of the majority of Israeli's which should inform anyone that it is a sick society. They have been brain washed and indoctrinated and see the Palestinians as less then human, but the reality is that they are the ones who have lost their humanity. I also blame the US and European countries that for decades have allowed them to monopolize the holocaust often dismissing the millions of others who were killed and seen as less then during Hitler's rein. They have used their victimhood for decades to ward off any criticism of their behavior when it comes to the Palestinians which has emboldened them and attributed to their soullessness .
Since it appears Israel is getting away with its genocide, wouldn’t every sane person start wondering which people is next?
We already have, in the USA, the genocide upon which this country was founded; we now have, under the reign of the convicted felon, the prospect of getting rid of black, brown peoples, and anyone opposed to his decrees!
The list of genocides seems endless:
Darfur actually deaths 400,000.; displaced from their homes 2.5 million, 200,000 have fled
Rwanda 800,000 deaths —
Bosnia and Herzegovina 200,000 deaths (vastly below the real number) 2,000,000. refugees — from what I can ascertain via internet, this is the only deed that was punished?
Cambodia by Khmer Rouge rough estimate 2,000,000.
Mao’s “great leap forward” rough estimate of deaths 27,000,000. millions
The German Nazi Holocaust rough estimate 6 million Jews, plus 2-3 million others
Holodomor (Stalin’s starvation of the Ukrainian people) rough estimate 5-7 million people systematically starved to death
The Armenian genocide rough estimate 1.5 million plus hundred thousands of others
The Herero genocide rough estimates 100,000 Hereros and 10,000 Namas
Native Americans unreliable estimates 7,000,000. by way of cleansing and spreading disease and displacement and starvation
Then there’s the USA (UK et al) slave trade — on the transatlantic crossing about 2,000,000. million people died.
If you believe the numbers I’ve quoted from various internet sources, DON’T. Because I myself am certain the numbers are vastly larger.
I would also include all individuals who died in wars as victims of genocide, military as well as civilians.
True. I guess it would be more accurate to say that there was at one time an aspiration to live in accord with moral standards that were in fact propaganda which the empire could use to create a positive image that would conceal its depravity while providing its subjects with beliefs in which they could believe and be captive to; as in holy justications for war and slavery. now, there doesn't even seem to be a need to appear in the slightest bit morally conscientious.
Jonathan Cook recently published a piece which makes some similar points to the ones made by Chris here, and I recommend people look for that too. I feel like we are in some bizarre inversion of reality where monsters pretend to be moral paragons, and people of conscience are dragged off to jail.
Even the use of the word "Holocaust" is odd with all sorts of theological implications rooted in biblical concepts of sacrifices to God.
"Shoah" is perhaps a less complicated term meaning "catastrophe" or "calamity."
Interestingly the Palestinian Arabs use a similar tern in "Nakba." Obviously there is a qualitative difference between these two catastrophes but both have yielded an equal post-traumatic response in the victims. Those of us who live outside of these groups just wish they would all just move on from their traumas but we cannot grasp how difficult that is or how these traumas feed off of each other.
To this day Israelis claim that the Arabs fled voluntarily when historical evidence is clear they were essentially expelled. We see this phenomenon continued as Arabs are dispossessed of their land in the West Bank. Israelis balk at the term but how, in practice, is this much different from the German's "Lebensraum" in the 1930s?
How do attacks on Israeli civilians advance the cause of Palestinian Arabs? How does the annihilation of Palestinian Arabs make Israel more secure unless the intention is simply to drive them out of the land?
Even at the start with the old Zionist saying "Palestine: a land without a people for a people without a land" was a distortion of reality and a lie. How could it get better from there?
To claim full victimhood status as a people you need to have both suffered and then created an ideology based on your suffering. The Nazis did this based on the suffering of the German people during and after WW1. In such an evolution it is inevitable that the teneur of the ideology will be both ‘exceptionalist’ (from the story) and ‘supremacist’ (from the ensuing ideology). Those pushing the Holocaust have followed the same path and, as with the Nazis, have progressed from victim to perpetrator, the ‘sins’ of the brainwashed ‘father’ (Nazi Germany) being visited upon the brainwashed ‘children’ (European Jews).
Tragic though this is perhaps the greatest tragedy still lies ahead. If Nazism was arguably ‘do or die’ in its underpinning expansionist mindset Zionism is certainly so as Israel’s doubling down on its outrages indicate.
But maybe this time ‘dying’ - rather than ‘doing’ - is the intended outcome as real, universal hatred of Israel replaces the imagined, local hatred. Just as Israel has planned.
So, with a nuclear-armed Israel the ultimate holocaust may well just lie ahead. And this time it definitely will be ‘never again’.
This is why I believe in “reincarnation”…. Human history is riddled with genocidal men seeking dominion over “other”. As the technology improves so does the speed of suffering and death. How can we step out of this cycle? I find myself sinking deeper into despair the more I read and absorb. Oh to be star dust
The idea is reincarnated. How to step out of this cycle? Better ideas.
One thing to keep in mind, if it helps, is that the idea of "domination" is itself a delusion. And to overcome this delusion, all that is required is to wake up. Don't despair, remember, you are already stardust.
I have remarked elsewhere on this platform that the slaughtering of Jews (during WWII), a nation that essentially regarded themselves as white Europeans, must have had a pernicious impact on the psyche of that nation. It is evident from your excellent article, Chris, that this open wound has been left unattended intentionally. The many Holocaust museums in various countries, the endless remembrance programmes, the plethora of educational programmes, et al, that one would have imagined would serve as conglutination and sentience, has been weaponised to terrorise just about anyone and everyone - the brunt of their mania, and savagery, unleashed on the Palestinian people. The narrative, handed down from generation to generation, remains constant: the aphorism “never again” as Jewish exceptionalism, that they are a chosen people and a superior race, that the world owes them a debt and that they consequently have a right to feel entitled, that they are perpetual victims and that this singularity should be employed as a means of manipulation and exploitation. It is difficult to imagine that an entire nation can imbibe from this poisoned chalice and make misanthropy their life mission. But, alas, the evidence speaks for itself.
Thank you for this excellent and thought-provoking report on the weaponization of the Holocaust. There is a lot to talk and write about and I must admit that the genocide that Israel has launched against the Palestinians is another shameful and horrific example of what can happen when a nation is given exceptional status by several countries as well as the United States, which is complicit in these crimes with their unconditional financial support, no holds barred.
I am alarmed and distressed with the current political situation and the fact that we now have a convicted felon as POTUS should be a cause for concern but I do whatever I can to resist and take action. It's time for all of us to wake up and you have been an extraordinary catalyst in that regard. Please continue to speak truth to power.
Thanks Chris, without meaning to overstate it, your analysis is really a blessing in this times. So grateful for your ongoing efforts. A reliable source of truth with a clear sense of morality. Rare finds in these days.
To paraphrase Blaise Pascal, let me apologize for the length of this post. I didn't have time to write a short one. This so resonated with me. A friend and supporter was visiting. We had a wonderful gab fest as we both are involved with the Sarasota school board which is a virtual soap opera. She writes a blog and is an incredible researcher. Before she prints anything she checks and double checks her information. Toward the end of the visit the situation in Gaza came up. I said I wonder if all those who had survived the concentration camps and moved to Israel ever thought that they, the abused would become the abuser. She stopped cold, glared at me and said that was an antisemitic comment. I was so shocked I was dumbstruck. She turned her back on me and stalked off. As one who grew up in Great Neck, NY which had a very large Jewish population. I'm not Jewish but I have Jewish godparents. I'll share funny memory from my high school days. It was 1944. At that time the Jewish holidays were not recognized but the schools allowed the Jewish students to take them off and not be penalized. It was a history class. The teacher asked a question and we all sat there with blank expressions on our faces. He looked at us and said, "Are they the only ones who have brains"? This started me thinking. I thought of all the expulsions they had been exposed to. Invest in land, real estate? I don't think so. What can you take with you? Your brain. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the percentage of Jews in the professions is greater than their percentage in the population. I'm reading Graff's book "The Devil Reached Toward the Sun". In it he speaks of the number of scientists who were involved the building the atomic bomb, some who escaped from Germany, were Jewish. I was 12 when the war ended and have vivid memories of the expression on my parents' faces after the came home from seeing what was called The Atrocity Films. I do feel the Holocaust was unique. But all genocides were/are unique. I'm glad it's not forgotten. Many of you pointed out the myriad of genocides that are forgotten.
Now, shouldn't we be putting our energies into fighting that existential threat, climate change.
Make allies instead of adversaries and protect that small blue dot that is our only home.
Of course, that's silly. Just a bit of magical thinking. Just not in the human DNA
There is untold $$ behind all of this insanity. Real estate moguls around the world are salivating as Gaza is destroyed so that their investments will materialize in some new glittering “seaside city” - built on genocide. The development blueprints include streets named after the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and other investors, whom Jared Kushner feted for real estate deals.
Expose the financial insanity driving the politics of both parties. Schumer, Jeffries and dozens of Democrats are funded by AIPAC. Blood money is behind decades of lies. Ideological “values” are merely clothing for greed.
Christian Nationalists and Opus Dei are anti-semitic but support Israel only until “Jesus returns”. Many of these right-wing nuts literally believe in demonology and that the rest of us are “possessed by demons”.
Our media NEVER reports how insane this is. If you doubt these facts, please check out these credible sources:
- Talia Lavin’s book “Wild Faith - How the Christian Right is taking over America”
- Gareth Gore’s book “Opus: the Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking and Right-wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church”.
- And, of course, Chris Hedges book on Christian Fascism.
Provocative as usual, Chris, but I see your guest, a Jew commenting on Palestinian genocide, as having "unique" self-serving blind spots, inabilities to judge against one's own in the global mayhem.
I watched a video the other day where an old woman in the middle of the USA while waiting in line at a Panera tried to attack a young woman wearing clothing proclaiming support for Palestine. When confronted by the police and charged with a hate crime she had no remorse and seemed to think she had done nothing wrong.
It's disturbing how people can look past human suffering to perpetuate their belief systems, but that seems to be humanity in a nutshell.
Years ago I attended a luncheon with friends, many of whom were Jewish, but did not hold the same perspective of the person someone dragged along to join us. I guess it was my blond hair, blue eyes and fair skin that made her give me the evil eye and ask what nationality I was. I told her Polish and Italian. It was the Polish that set her on fire and she said with contempt that my people killed her people. I said I doubt it since most came hear and those they left behind were dead, and while there no doubt they were too busy looking for food, and I'm sure Jews were not on their menu. However, I continued if you want to talk about people killing people lets talk abut the Israeli's long death march on the Palestinians. I've certainly heard that woman's perspective from too many, and their blindness of Israel's many atrocities against them over decades is never mentioned. Too often it's rationalized by referencing them as less then human, and they started it, like Hamas started it on Oct7, Their mindset is so prejudicial they think the assault by Hamas justifies a genocide., not to mention it no doubt has been a long time goal, and the reason they ignored so many warnings of an impending assault by Hamas, highly motivated by Israel's treatment of the Palestinians in the West Bank
For a people generally so well educated, so well positioned in academia and in scholarship, so committed to social justice, it amazes how ignorant many? most? Jews can be about Zionism and Israel and how they let all that myth, propaganda and indoctrination go unchallenged.
I think many Jews, world wide, even a majority are not going along with this, but your right too many are. Certainly that is true of the majority of Israeli's which should inform anyone that it is a sick society. They have been brain washed and indoctrinated and see the Palestinians as less then human, but the reality is that they are the ones who have lost their humanity. I also blame the US and European countries that for decades have allowed them to monopolize the holocaust often dismissing the millions of others who were killed and seen as less then during Hitler's rein. They have used their victimhood for decades to ward off any criticism of their behavior when it comes to the Palestinians which has emboldened them and attributed to their soullessness .
Since it appears Israel is getting away with its genocide, wouldn’t every sane person start wondering which people is next?
We already have, in the USA, the genocide upon which this country was founded; we now have, under the reign of the convicted felon, the prospect of getting rid of black, brown peoples, and anyone opposed to his decrees!
The list of genocides seems endless:
Darfur actually deaths 400,000.; displaced from their homes 2.5 million, 200,000 have fled
Rwanda 800,000 deaths —
Bosnia and Herzegovina 200,000 deaths (vastly below the real number) 2,000,000. refugees — from what I can ascertain via internet, this is the only deed that was punished?
Cambodia by Khmer Rouge rough estimate 2,000,000.
Mao’s “great leap forward” rough estimate of deaths 27,000,000. millions
The German Nazi Holocaust rough estimate 6 million Jews, plus 2-3 million others
Holodomor (Stalin’s starvation of the Ukrainian people) rough estimate 5-7 million people systematically starved to death
The Armenian genocide rough estimate 1.5 million plus hundred thousands of others
The Herero genocide rough estimates 100,000 Hereros and 10,000 Namas
Native Americans unreliable estimates 7,000,000. by way of cleansing and spreading disease and displacement and starvation
Then there’s the USA (UK et al) slave trade — on the transatlantic crossing about 2,000,000. million people died.
If you believe the numbers I’ve quoted from various internet sources, DON’T. Because I myself am certain the numbers are vastly larger.
I would also include all individuals who died in wars as victims of genocide, military as well as civilians.
Imperial Japan rough estimates of 20-30million in s.e asia
Unreal!
the genocide in Gaza has opened my eyes to the history of genocide in the US and all the other Western Colonial powers.
You're right Chris, there is no longer a moral standard in the Western world, only hypocrisy and cynical manipulation.
There never was "a moral standard in the Western world".
True. I guess it would be more accurate to say that there was at one time an aspiration to live in accord with moral standards that were in fact propaganda which the empire could use to create a positive image that would conceal its depravity while providing its subjects with beliefs in which they could believe and be captive to; as in holy justications for war and slavery. now, there doesn't even seem to be a need to appear in the slightest bit morally conscientious.
Thank you for your explication. You said it better.
Jonathan Cook recently published a piece which makes some similar points to the ones made by Chris here, and I recommend people look for that too. I feel like we are in some bizarre inversion of reality where monsters pretend to be moral paragons, and people of conscience are dragged off to jail.
Even the use of the word "Holocaust" is odd with all sorts of theological implications rooted in biblical concepts of sacrifices to God.
"Shoah" is perhaps a less complicated term meaning "catastrophe" or "calamity."
Interestingly the Palestinian Arabs use a similar tern in "Nakba." Obviously there is a qualitative difference between these two catastrophes but both have yielded an equal post-traumatic response in the victims. Those of us who live outside of these groups just wish they would all just move on from their traumas but we cannot grasp how difficult that is or how these traumas feed off of each other.
To this day Israelis claim that the Arabs fled voluntarily when historical evidence is clear they were essentially expelled. We see this phenomenon continued as Arabs are dispossessed of their land in the West Bank. Israelis balk at the term but how, in practice, is this much different from the German's "Lebensraum" in the 1930s?
How do attacks on Israeli civilians advance the cause of Palestinian Arabs? How does the annihilation of Palestinian Arabs make Israel more secure unless the intention is simply to drive them out of the land?
Even at the start with the old Zionist saying "Palestine: a land without a people for a people without a land" was a distortion of reality and a lie. How could it get better from there?
I think it was Norman Finkelstein who quipped "There's no business like Shoah business."
To claim full victimhood status as a people you need to have both suffered and then created an ideology based on your suffering. The Nazis did this based on the suffering of the German people during and after WW1. In such an evolution it is inevitable that the teneur of the ideology will be both ‘exceptionalist’ (from the story) and ‘supremacist’ (from the ensuing ideology). Those pushing the Holocaust have followed the same path and, as with the Nazis, have progressed from victim to perpetrator, the ‘sins’ of the brainwashed ‘father’ (Nazi Germany) being visited upon the brainwashed ‘children’ (European Jews).
Tragic though this is perhaps the greatest tragedy still lies ahead. If Nazism was arguably ‘do or die’ in its underpinning expansionist mindset Zionism is certainly so as Israel’s doubling down on its outrages indicate.
But maybe this time ‘dying’ - rather than ‘doing’ - is the intended outcome as real, universal hatred of Israel replaces the imagined, local hatred. Just as Israel has planned.
So, with a nuclear-armed Israel the ultimate holocaust may well just lie ahead. And this time it definitely will be ‘never again’.
Brilliant analysis.
This is why I believe in “reincarnation”…. Human history is riddled with genocidal men seeking dominion over “other”. As the technology improves so does the speed of suffering and death. How can we step out of this cycle? I find myself sinking deeper into despair the more I read and absorb. Oh to be star dust
The idea is reincarnated. How to step out of this cycle? Better ideas.
One thing to keep in mind, if it helps, is that the idea of "domination" is itself a delusion. And to overcome this delusion, all that is required is to wake up. Don't despair, remember, you are already stardust.
Thx my brother
I have remarked elsewhere on this platform that the slaughtering of Jews (during WWII), a nation that essentially regarded themselves as white Europeans, must have had a pernicious impact on the psyche of that nation. It is evident from your excellent article, Chris, that this open wound has been left unattended intentionally. The many Holocaust museums in various countries, the endless remembrance programmes, the plethora of educational programmes, et al, that one would have imagined would serve as conglutination and sentience, has been weaponised to terrorise just about anyone and everyone - the brunt of their mania, and savagery, unleashed on the Palestinian people. The narrative, handed down from generation to generation, remains constant: the aphorism “never again” as Jewish exceptionalism, that they are a chosen people and a superior race, that the world owes them a debt and that they consequently have a right to feel entitled, that they are perpetual victims and that this singularity should be employed as a means of manipulation and exploitation. It is difficult to imagine that an entire nation can imbibe from this poisoned chalice and make misanthropy their life mission. But, alas, the evidence speaks for itself.
Thank you for this excellent and thought-provoking report on the weaponization of the Holocaust. There is a lot to talk and write about and I must admit that the genocide that Israel has launched against the Palestinians is another shameful and horrific example of what can happen when a nation is given exceptional status by several countries as well as the United States, which is complicit in these crimes with their unconditional financial support, no holds barred.
I am alarmed and distressed with the current political situation and the fact that we now have a convicted felon as POTUS should be a cause for concern but I do whatever I can to resist and take action. It's time for all of us to wake up and you have been an extraordinary catalyst in that regard. Please continue to speak truth to power.
Thanks Chris, without meaning to overstate it, your analysis is really a blessing in this times. So grateful for your ongoing efforts. A reliable source of truth with a clear sense of morality. Rare finds in these days.
My man.
It's just old-fashioned tribal narcissism. The default mode for every pack hunter, wolves and lions on down. "It's okay when we do it."
To paraphrase Blaise Pascal, let me apologize for the length of this post. I didn't have time to write a short one. This so resonated with me. A friend and supporter was visiting. We had a wonderful gab fest as we both are involved with the Sarasota school board which is a virtual soap opera. She writes a blog and is an incredible researcher. Before she prints anything she checks and double checks her information. Toward the end of the visit the situation in Gaza came up. I said I wonder if all those who had survived the concentration camps and moved to Israel ever thought that they, the abused would become the abuser. She stopped cold, glared at me and said that was an antisemitic comment. I was so shocked I was dumbstruck. She turned her back on me and stalked off. As one who grew up in Great Neck, NY which had a very large Jewish population. I'm not Jewish but I have Jewish godparents. I'll share funny memory from my high school days. It was 1944. At that time the Jewish holidays were not recognized but the schools allowed the Jewish students to take them off and not be penalized. It was a history class. The teacher asked a question and we all sat there with blank expressions on our faces. He looked at us and said, "Are they the only ones who have brains"? This started me thinking. I thought of all the expulsions they had been exposed to. Invest in land, real estate? I don't think so. What can you take with you? Your brain. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the percentage of Jews in the professions is greater than their percentage in the population. I'm reading Graff's book "The Devil Reached Toward the Sun". In it he speaks of the number of scientists who were involved the building the atomic bomb, some who escaped from Germany, were Jewish. I was 12 when the war ended and have vivid memories of the expression on my parents' faces after the came home from seeing what was called The Atrocity Films. I do feel the Holocaust was unique. But all genocides were/are unique. I'm glad it's not forgotten. Many of you pointed out the myriad of genocides that are forgotten.
Now, shouldn't we be putting our energies into fighting that existential threat, climate change.
Make allies instead of adversaries and protect that small blue dot that is our only home.
Of course, that's silly. Just a bit of magical thinking. Just not in the human DNA
There is untold $$ behind all of this insanity. Real estate moguls around the world are salivating as Gaza is destroyed so that their investments will materialize in some new glittering “seaside city” - built on genocide. The development blueprints include streets named after the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and other investors, whom Jared Kushner feted for real estate deals.
Expose the financial insanity driving the politics of both parties. Schumer, Jeffries and dozens of Democrats are funded by AIPAC. Blood money is behind decades of lies. Ideological “values” are merely clothing for greed.
Christian Nationalists and Opus Dei are anti-semitic but support Israel only until “Jesus returns”. Many of these right-wing nuts literally believe in demonology and that the rest of us are “possessed by demons”.
Our media NEVER reports how insane this is. If you doubt these facts, please check out these credible sources:
- Talia Lavin’s book “Wild Faith - How the Christian Right is taking over America”
- Gareth Gore’s book “Opus: the Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking and Right-wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church”.
- And, of course, Chris Hedges book on Christian Fascism.
Provocative as usual, Chris, but I see your guest, a Jew commenting on Palestinian genocide, as having "unique" self-serving blind spots, inabilities to judge against one's own in the global mayhem.