They were once victims of a Holocaust. Really?

By Yamin Zakaria

ccun.org, January 2, 2009

"It's a horrifyingly sad place (Gaza) because of the desperation and misery of the way people live. I was unprepared for camps that are much worse than anything I saw in South Africa." (Edward Said)

The carnage in Gaza follows the carnage in Lebanon, Jenin, and Qana. The list will continue to grow as Israel with American fuel maintains the onslaught against the Palestinians and other Arab states. In line with the Jewish tradition, the Israelis are claiming to be the innocent victim. Just the body count alone tells the real story of who is the real victim in this asymmetric conflict.  

It is difficult to fathom how a nation can behave in such a belligerent manner after it had allegedly lost six million in a relatively recent Holocaust, that took place during the Second World War, and some are still alive from that episode.  If a nation genuinely suffered such losses in one tragic episode, they would show utmost restraint in killing innocent civilians. Moreover, one would expect them to be at the forefront in opposing the persecution of another group of people, let alone engage in such activities.

If it were the Germans instead of the Palestinians, that would make sense, as vengeance is a natural response. However, the Palestinians and Arabs had no connection with the Nazis in Germany. Europe commits the crime against the Jews; the people in the Middle East (Muslims and Christians) pay the price. This is unjust and illogical. Even more so, when you consider that historically the Jews have always prospered under Muslim rule, particularly under the ‘fundamentalist’ Caliphate that was constantly waging Jihad!

From Istanbul to Granada, the Jews lived happily without facing the regular inquisitions and pogroms of Christian Europe. A challenge for the Muslims is to convey the facts to the ignorant American masses, undoing the brainwashing done by the nasty mass media filled with mini Joseph Gobbles, so that they would at least see the Middle East with their two eyes, instead of one, like a one-eyed Dajjal. 

 Israel is claiming that it acted in self-defence, in response to the rockets fired by Hamas. As if it was entirely a unilateral provocation from Hamas without any prior cause.  Let us assume the Israeli claims to be true. It is also true that Israel possesses huge technological advantage, with a fully equipped conventional armed force in comparison to Hamas. Even the analogy of David and Goliath would not be apt here. Under such circumstances, they should have sent ground troops, selectively targeting the Hamas fighters. Instead, they took the easy option, resorted to the aerial bombardment, which is indiscriminate by its nature, and not surprisingly led to the killing of innocent civilians and destroyed the infrastructure of the place bringing more chaos and suffering. Thus, everyone is talking about the cowardly disproportionate Israeli response.    

How is the civilian casualties justified now?

Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, told the US media “"Unfortunately in a war ... sometimes also civilians pay the price". Then, the same argument should apply when Hamas kills Israeli civilians, but it does not. If we are to be consistent both sides are terrorists for engaging in killing civilians, otherwise the label of terrorism should be discarded as nothing other than a term of war propaganda.  It also follows, the more civilians you kill, the bigger the terrorist you are. So it is Israel that wins the title here but overall trailing well behind the US.

Indeed, if this situation were reverse, for example, Tel Aviv bombed by Syria or Iran, the mass media would have gone into a frenzy calling it Arab Terrorism or Islamic Terrorism. For sure, the UN would have been a lot more active, producing endless resolutions.  If the Muslims can create Islamic terrorism, surely the Jews can create Judaic terrorism. Accordingly, can the Arabs/Muslims call the bombing of Gaza as an example of Judaic terrorism or Jewish terrorism? There are ample grounds to claim, this sort of Israeli action is the product of the racist, Talmudic laws and values, which considers the gentiles (non-Jews) to be less than human beings.  It is no secret, the Jewish ideology considers the Jews to be the chosen race of God, and the rest by implication are something less. Perhaps this is why Israel sees the death of 3 or 4 Jews as enough to kill 300 or more Palestinians in line with its Judaic based ethos.

Let us not forget Christian terrorism. Iraq can be a prime example of that, since George Bush, Tony Blair and many others in the US Administration have openly professed as being devout Christians.  According to George Bush, God inspired him to wage this crusade in Iraq; the WMD was the Holy Grail demanded by King George Bush. Note the tacit approval of the Vatican and the Orthodox Church by their silence. For the US, the killing of foreigners in a large scale has been part of its Secular-Christian heritage, from the genocide of Native Americans to the Arabs. Historical facts clearly point to that tradition of the Wild West.   

The reality of Gaza, Iraq, and Afghanistan shows one thing, the Muslims are the ones being terrorized; they are the victims of state-led terrorism. Let us apply commonsense and ask: Which inflicts more terror, an F16 fighter plane or a primitive home-made rocket?  Who has been terrorized, the Jews living in fortress Israel with 4 or 5 casualties or the Palestinians in Gaza with 400 plus? Truth is indeed the first casualty of war.  

Yamin Zakaria, London, UK.

(www.radicalviews.org, yamin@radicalviews.org)