In Israel, Holocaust obsession prevents real change

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

http://972mag.com/when-holocaust-discourse-becomes-uncontrollable/87100/

A new law punishing people for calling each other ‘Nazi’ makes clear that the Holocaust has became a tool used to keep us, the Jews, in a position of eternal victimhood – to blind us from seeing what is happing in Israel. That’s exactly what the right wing wants.

One of the most important articles ever to be published in Israel was “The Need to Forget.” In his 1988 op-ed, Yehuda Elkana, who was carried off to Auschwitz as a boy of 10 and survived the Holocaust, wrote:

Lately I have become convinced that the deepest political and social factor that motivates much of Israeli society in its relations with the Palestinians is not personal frustration, but rather a profound existential ‘angst’ fed by a particular interpretation of the lessons of the Holocaust and the readiness to believe that the whole world is against us.

And he was right.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

1. More...

In Israel, the way in which we interpret events is rooted in the Second World War. Even in our childhood, the Holocaust was present at all times. During my adolescence I was curious about WWII but felt that the discussion was limited. I sometimes felt suffocated by the simplicity of the conclusions and by Israeli institutions’ tendency to use the Holocaust in order to lock us, the Jews, in an eternal position of victimhood.

[lostincalifornia]

2. Sorry, but this article is bullshit. The holocaust is NOT a tool for Jewish "victimhood", it is so

something like this doesn't happen again. The truth is the world has NOT been particularly kind to Jews

[King_David]

4. This article is bullshit indeed

Imagine posting this shit on DU ?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

5. More...

As I grew up and became a writer I began giving lectures in high schools. To my horror, I discovered that what I remembered had become much worse: the distance between the Holocaust (“what they did to us“) and the lesson (“it shall never happen to us again”) had become smaller.

Among adolescents in Israel, the common interpretation of history goes something like this: “They” hated us throughout history – in Egypt, in Spain, in Russia, and then came the final strike, the Holocaust – and “they” also hate us now. It is us, the Jews, against the world.

[lostincalifornia]

6. So I guess the antisemitism expressed against the Jews was never real?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

7. There's a comment section where you may ask Nir Baram whatever you like.

Perhaps he will answer you in full.

[DonCoquixote]

9. what is YOUR answer

Your post prosed the question, you can attempt one

[Violet_Crumble]

10. Hey, I'll answer it!

'So I guess the antisemitism expressed against the Jews was never real?' is a fucking stupid question and nowhere in the article did the author say that.

Of course anti-Semitism is a real thing, as was the Holocaust itself. What the author is saying is that the Holocaust is used as a weapon by right-wingers in Israel, and they're correct. If I could find it again, I'd post a clip of a Hebron settler attacking a Palestinian woman and calling her a Nazi (my bet is this law would still allow Israeli settlers to fling terms like 'Nazi' at Palestinians, just not at each other, which is what happened during the Disengagement). There's also been plenty of articles posted here where RW Israeli politicians invoke the Holocaust when talking about the I/P conflict. Despite these, I oppose banning the use of terms from the Nazi era, and I also oppose the law created by the same gang that outlaws Israelis from speaking out in support of boycotts of Israel. Israel doesn't have the same free speech thingy enshrined in a constitution as the US, but those two laws cross the line even for a country that doesn't have a constitution thing about free speech...

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

15. I answered you.

If you don't like the answer it's really not my problem.

[DonCoquixote]

18. actually you did not

you directed people to Nir. If Nir wants to join DU, I will gladly ask him, but the fact is, YOU did not answer, even Violet Crumble made more of an attempt than you did.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

19. Do you have an issue with the article?

The author has a place for comments.

[King_David]

8. Yes that seems to be the narrative here

Holocaust obsession is not only a "Jewish thing" I might add .
David Duke has written pages on it and Ahmadenerjst was obsessed too .
A lot of bigots deny it too .

[azurnoir]

12. exactly where was the the Holocaust denied here? please post the excerpt

one from this OP please

[King_David]

13. Exactly where did I say the OP said that ?

It was a general fact about the topic of the Holocaust .
Not only do Jews obsess over it but so do a lot of their enemies.
Hamas and Ahmerdunejet are a couple of examples , David Duke and Stormfront are others .
And then I said some people use it as a powerful tool by Denying it - there are major conferences on this attended by world bigotry ,such as the one they had in Iran a few years ago. ( the current foreign minister of Iran has attempted to make amends of course )

[azurnoir]

14. It seemed you were comparing the OP to Holocaust denial

when that is hardly the case

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

24. It appears to be the case, but if

you recieve no response the I guess you are correct in your assessment .

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

16. Perhaps you should bring it up

with the Israeli-born author and attempt to berate him for having the courage to cover a topic that some find untouchable.

[aranthus]

3. The Holocaust proved that the preceding 3,000 years of Jewish history were not a fluke. n/t

[azurnoir]

11. The author is an Israeli Jew who feels the Holocaust is being misused as a political tool

and about a recently passed law in Israel

So maybe the new draft bill that would forbid people from using the Holocaust’s symbols should be an encouraging sign? Under the new law, if you call someone “a bloody racist,” that’s okay. But if you call them “a bloody Nazi” (who were bloody racists) – well, that’s a different story, and you can spend six months in prison. Naturally, people have pointed out how the law impinges upon freedom of speech. That’s obvious. But let’s look at it from a different angle.

As I wrote, the Holocaust became a tool that is used in order to keep us, the Jews, in a position of eternal victimhood and to blind us from seeing what is happing in Israel. The Holocaust is now the most effective ingredient in a grand mechanism of denial. Thus, could this new law be the first step on a road leading to an Israeli society that is less obsessed with the Holocaust? Absolutely not.

The real motivation behind the new law is simple: it’s not about building a less exclusive, less paranoid and less Holocaust-obsessed Israeli society. It’s about keeping the Holocaust sacred; it’s about taking the Holocaust out of petty fights between conservatives and liberals where everyone calls each other a “Nazi.”

Right-wing Israeli politicians understand that if people are brainwashed with the Holocaust, they will see it everywhere and all the time. That is a problem. For these politicians, the Holocaust should always separate us, the Jews, from “all the others.” It should not be a part of the endless internal political battles between Jews in Israel. After all, the Holocaust has become the most effective tool to unite Israeli Jews under a common assumption: they have always hated us, and nothing has changed since, beside the fact that now we have a “Jewish army.” The new law’s role is to keep the Holocaust as the sacred “uniter” in a society consumed by fear.

***l

[bemildred]

17. It is interesting to read the subject line, and then read the thread. nt

[azurnoir]

20. yep

noticed that too?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

21. Who couldn't realy?

I'm not interested in being pulled into petty arguments by some. I thought that it was an interesting article.

[azurnoir]

23. sometimes...........

an articles point can be seen almost without reading the article

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

22. Kick.