Who is Exploiting the Holocaust?

During a debate on the current situation in Gaza in the British Parliament yesterday, MP Gerald Kaufman stated that "The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploit the continuing guilt from Gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians," . "My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town.... A German soldier shot her dead in her bed, he said. My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza,". To my knowledge there has been no attempt to use the Holocaust to justify any actions by Israel in Gaza, either official or unofficial. I would invite "the honourable gentleman" to provide evidence to support his charge.

Kaufman's statement yesterday is just one more example of the irresponsible use of the Holocaust and evocative language in order to gain media headlines and demonise Israel. There has been a large number of statements over the past few weeks in relation to the conflict in Gaza which have exploited the Holocaust in order to attack Israel. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, himself a holocaust denier; stated that the Israel operation in Gaza is "worse than the holocaust". Khaled Mashaal the Leader of Hams sitting in Syria has called the operation in Gaza "A new Holocaust." A Libyan envoy at the UN stated that the situation in Gaza is "worse than in the Nazi Camps." There are many more examples. In addition the cynical use of evocative language in order to grab headlines continues unabated with the world media lapping it up. Terms such as genocide, massacre, war crimes, are all used regularly in relation to Israel's actions in order to incite against the Jewish state

In addition to perverting the facts of the situation, the irresponsible use of such terms is an insult to those who have indeed suffered such situations. It also demeans the terms themselves as the actual horror and true meaning of such terrible instances is cheapened, perverted and exploited cynically for political ends.

Forget the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust and the millions of \Gentiles who died at the hands of the Nazi regime or Stalin's Soviet Union. Perhaps Mr Kaufman and his co conspirators would like to explain to those in The Congo, in Rwanda or in Darfur, how these terms are supposed to apply to the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis. He may also wish to apologize to the memory of his murdered grandmother, who I am sure did not die in order to provide cover for his baseless and vindictive slander of the Jewish state.