This is the second in a series on "Why the Geneva UN Conference (Durban II) Matters" - The general theme is that what happens in the working of the UN General Assembly and its committees is incredibly instructive about the biased rhetoric that seeps into the debate over Israel and the Middle East here in this country. And why this matters to the average person - YOU - is that this is the rhetoric that well meaning liberal progressives in this country parrot thinking it is the truth. Unfortunately - that is absolutely not where the truth comes from - and all you have to do is pay attention to see it.
This entry will focus on reflections from this past Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) as words our community celebration in Boston served to be a sharp contrast from what Mahmound Ahmedinijad - the poster boy for the bias of this body - had said during the conference and in interviews since.
Yes, just as I was wrapping up my initial article on President Ahmadinejad and his role at the UN Conference in Geneva (Durban II), I was also trying to get my head into a place to attend the community's Yom Hashoah commemoration at Faneiul Hall.
To summarize, I asked everyone to watch the video from the morning's "This Week with George Stephanopolis" and pay particular attention to two things:
1) That the Iranian president was not an aberration, but a crystal clear reflection of what so many around the globe think of Jews and Israel.
2) That his critique of both was so wrapped up in a clear cultural bias against Jews and Israel that arguments rarely follow reason. It is like when a bigot is trying to explain why he is better than another race. People with a reasoned mind can only role their eyes.
Here is the link again to the video interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7398354
When asked why he doesn't think the Holocaust happened, he takes two very significant approaches.
1) First, he never talks about History. HE ONLY TALKS ABOUT ISRAEL. In America, we want so much to separate anti-Israel feelings from anti-Jewish feelings. But you really can't when the rest of the world cannot separate feelings about Israel from feelings about Jews. The Holocasut is clearly a Jewish related event yet Ahmdinejad immediately begins talking about how the Holocaust - if it happened was Europe's fault and so they should not have "created" Israel and harmed the Arabic peoples living in Palestine. Of course in saying this, two things are revealed. He has no desire to acknowledge any historical presence of Jews in the land, or any History of a kingdom or country of the Hebrew tribes. But, in the same conversation where he says he DOES NOT BELIEVE THE HOLOCAUST HAPPENED - he also asks the world to believe that IT DID HAPPEN but since IT HAPPENED IN EUROPE THEY SHOULD HAVE TAKEN CARE OF THEIR GUILT OVER IT SOME OTHER WAY THEN with the state of Israel. And Historically, this negates the generations of Jews who never left Israel, the thousands who settled there in the 1800's, and the thousands who settled throughout the early years of the 20th century.
I hope people can get a sense for how challenging it is to counter such logic. Can he have it both ways? Can the Holocaust be BOTH a lie perpetrated by Jews to create the State of Israel and at the same time a TRUTH by which European guilt created the state of Israel. Can both of these be in any way relevant when the History shows Israel was on a path to re-establishment in some way well before the Holocaust? As I said, it makes no sense, yet people march in the streets in America to defend these views and the countries and leaders from around the globe who subscribe to the same hypocrisy. I meet with people every day who think Jews have no business there and never did. Amazing.
However, as I try to explain in my presentations, so much of the anti-Israel commentary in this country is not really about details of the current crisis. It is bias, inconsistent argumentation, and age old anti-Jewish sentiment wrapped up in a neat little bundle. And of course once anyone says that truth, that any part of this Israel thing is about anti-Jewish bias, they are labeled as the boy who cried wolf - or the boy who cried anti-Semitism - which of course is the neat little invalidator of any argument in support of Israel. Even thought it is the truth in so many cases.
2) Now if that weren't bad enough, there was another interesting comment Ahmadinejad made that stuck in my mind that afternoon at the Yom Hashoah event. The Iranian President asked why the Holocaust was like a "Holy" thing for Jews - such that it could not be questioned. It is History he said. Ah yes, yet another contradiction. Either it is History or it isn't Mr. President. And if it is, then I guess you deny the overwhelming evidence from one of the most studied events in our time. But whether it is or isn't really shouldn't be something you have the right to claim. If you want to start debating what a religion calls Holy, I think your glass house is shattering - ye of the cartoon protesters.
I have actually heard something similar from fellow Jews - that we shouldn't be so sensitive to critique of the Holocaust. I have also said it in the past in another way. I believe that the numbers we generally throw around may just be higher than what was documented. (Many scholars have acknowledged this). Also, there may very well be inconsistencies in stories or places where X happened but not Y. And of course there are the few - very few - survivors who have fabricated stories. These prove to be the irrlevent fodder for deniers like Ahmadinejad. What is the truth is that 4 or 5 million would be NO different than 6 million. The roots, evolution, and growth of what we know of as the Holocaust is as real as the sun in the sky. That is the key to this debate. What's more, the key note address at the community celebration asked. "Why is the commemoration of the Holocaust not MORE HOLY?" This is a charge we have to deal with.
He mentioned the calamities that befell Jews that are remembered in other "real" holidays - like Tisha B'Av and Purim, and spoke of how the numbers killed in the Holocaust so overshadow the deaths in ALL the other calamities, that it should be given a fast day, or place in our calendar similar to the other HOLY DAYS. Some would say maybe this is beause the event is too recent. But Purim was once "too recent" as well. In fact, there was once great debate as to whether it should have the stature it currently has.
What really came through strong however was a question about ALL the Jewish Holidays. Are they not ALL about ZACHOR - about remembrance? And if the are, does Yom Hashoah not deserve a place of even greater significance?
I would say it does. And here is where I wrap this up. I believe it doesn't have as strong a place because so many Jews would join with Ahmedinejad in thinking that "Jews talk too much about the Holocaust" - a classic commentary used to vilify Jews around the globe that taps into every Jewish conspiracy theory ever constructed. As with so many issues in the lives of Jews these days - we are our own worst enemies. When President Ahmadinejad can get traction in the Jewish community with comments about why the Holocaust should be treated like a holy day - you can see part of the problem.
And then I hear from a wise Rabbi - why isn't the Holocaust MORE holy to us. And I ask the same thing. And it sounds alot like the question - why isn't Israel MORE holy to us as well.
And now I am going to an Israeli independence celebration.
