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December 13, 2006
Holocaust Denial Won't Help Iran—or Palestine
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
Iranian leaders apparently think that they are doing their nation a favor nowadays by hosting anti-Semitic ideologues such as David Duke, the leader of Ku Klux Klan, for a conference which challenges the truth of the Jewish Holocaust. Are they right?
First, one should recall what Holocaust denial, or as its proponents call it, "Holocaust Revisionism," is. It is a fringe movement that started in the 60's by the French historian Paul Rassinier's "The Drama Of The European Jews" and American historian David Hoggan's "The Myth of the Six Million." In the 70's a few other historians like Arthur Butz, David Irving and Robert Faurisson joined the line. In 1979 the Institute for Historical Review (IHR) was founded in California, which became, and still acts as, the headquarters of the "revisionist" movement.
Those in the movement might have different tones and shades, however their basic argument is the same: Although many Jews did suffer and die during World War II, there were no specific measures to exterminate them, such as the horrific gas chambers of Auschwitz, Belzec or Treblinka. All the evidence pointing to the Nazi Final Solution - which, according to mainstream historians, resulted in the extermination of six million Jews, along with millions of Gypsies and Slavs, and many communists and homosexuals - is, according to these "revisionists," fake or somehow exaggerated. They argue that there was indeed an American, British and Jewish conspiracy to make Jews look like victims and to demonize Nazi Germany.
Of course such a reading of history makes the Nazis look much nicer then they have been seen up to now. Therefore it is no accident that some of the leading figures in "Holocaust Revisionism" are Nazi sympathizers and neo-Nazis. Other fascist groups like the Ku Klux Klan are also enthusiastic supporters of Holocaust denial.
The Iranians, who accuse the Israelis for using the Holocaust propaganda to serve their political causes, need to see the irony here: "Holocaust Revisionism" is a political tool, too, which is used to whitewash the Nazis. And it is not only morally corrupt but also politically unwise to try to help the Palestinian cause by forming an alliance with the latter day saints of Nazism. President Ahmedinejad will serve his nation better if he realizes that the anti-Semitism of the Nazis incorporated a deep hatred towards not only Judaism, but also its theological legatees, i.e. Christianity and Islam.
Actually if the Iranians, and other Muslims nations, really want to help Palestinians, they can do this not by objecting to but by empathizing with the Jewish Holocaust. Then, they can, for example, challenge the Israelis for imitating the brutality of the Wehrmacht with their bloody incursions in Palestine and Lebanon.
It is a pity that for the current conference in Tehran, the mullahs didn't consider inviting Khaled Mahameed, the Palestinian peace activist who opened a Holocaust institute in Nazareth last year, to help his fellow Arabs understand, not deny, the Holocaust. Such guests would bring more honor to the land of the Persians then the Ku Klux Klan leaders.
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at December 13, 2006 2:37 PM
Dear Mr. Akyol,
I couldn’t agree with more!
The President Ahmedinejad’s consistent comments on the subject as well as “what should be done with the State of Israel” further damage the name of Islam in the hearts and minds of fair minded people worldwide. I read your previous column on your visit to Israel and your explanations of Quran’s views on jews, and misperceptions by many. You were, once again, voice of reason on this topic.
It is sad to see, … let me say it differently, it is TRAGIC to see the continued and consistent hateful preoccupation of fanatics dominating the lives of 1.5 billion muslims. The same mentality that brought death and destruction to Palestinian Arabs because of a few mad men, led by (Egyptian) Yasser Arafat. Now, Iran is in the forefront of the same crazy legacy.
How else, but for the hateful and opppresive culture, do we explain the Intellectual outputs of 12 Million Jews vs 1.5 Billions Muslims Worldwide? One group has 178 Nobel Prize winners, the other has 9. The latter even includes Orhan Pamuk and Yasser Arafat. How else can the 5.5 Million people in Israel surrounded by 250-300 million people bent on destruction of this small country, but can't?
Is it even possible to convince these lunatics? I think not.
Posted by: Celal Brown at December 15, 2006 1:32 AM
i am wondering who can see any difference between what nazis did during the 2WW and what Americans did during the 2004 invasion of iraq...
history is always telling us how germans were unfair from the end of the 1930s and to the middle of the 1940s...well, how about the others?...especially americans....when we saw some american soldiers taking photoes of dead iraqi soldiers and smiling to the cams while showing the victory sign, who can claim that wermacht would absolutely be worse than that?
therefore, what humanity met is important than how some political instruments endeavored to hide some incidents related to all wars...
thanks Mr. Akyol
Posted by: Kubilay ANT at December 15, 2006 10:14 AM
Dear Mr. Kubilay ANT,
I suspect you are right if the question is posed to most Turks or most Muslims, they may not see any difference between Hitler’s attrocities and pictures seen by us all in Iraq, of acts commited by the Americans. I know because I asked many of my friends in Turkey. None saw any difference! Unfortunately, a reasoned diolog is simply not possible to tell them anything to the contrary. This is exactly why I like Mr. Akyol’s columns and the platform he provides.
As to whether there is any moral difference between what nazis did during the WWII and what Americans did during the 2004 invasion of iraq… I believe, there is.
While I no longer support the American Administration regarding their current policy in Iraq, I believe, the war was initiated based on (bad) intelligence and repeated (ignored) sanctions by Sadam. The same intelligence that Russia, U.K. and U.S.A had, which was reinforced by Sadam’s behaviour that there were WMDs in Iraq. While many can assert numerous countries have Nuclear Weapons, Americans could not afford NOT to act if it were true, after 9/11. I believe, given how some of these fanatics acted, there is no question in my mind that they would not hesitate to kill millions if they could. How can any (American) President not act given the information known at the time? How would the (American) President explain to his country after an entire city is wiped out? He would be told, after all, all the signs were there and he ignored it.
I believe, he conducted the war badly, yes. Did he act like the Hitler? Absolutely, No! Were there inhumane stories, photo ops (like the one you mentioned)? Yes. But if we keep in mind that all wars are ugly, inhumane, horrible and keep it in context, would we still conclude that the individual ugly acts commited by a few represent the intent of the American Government? I do not conclude that. But you are correct, there is plenty of opportunities for people who are predisposed to think otherwise.
Posted by: Celal Brown at December 15, 2006 9:19 PM
I was utterly shocked with the Iran's Holocaust Denial conference. But, what is even more disturbing about this is the people that are attending this conference.
A good portion of the attendants include white supremists. These are basically people who think that their "race" is superior to all others and has the obligation and privilege to enslave and rule over others.
More over, the most devastating variation of this white supremacy is the one that motivated Hitler and Nazi Germany. It was the belief that people of the "Aryan" race, which includes not just Germans but Persians, the dominant ethnic group in Iran.
Its scary to think that alot of Muslims, Shi'ites and Sunnis are casting their lot with people who would enslave them if given the opportunity. The fact of the matter is, that the anti-semitism expressed by some, if not most of the so called scholars in that conference is rooted in a contempt of people who are not of a particular race, including contempt for arabs and turks.
Posted by: Victor at December 17, 2006 5:23 AM