Ignoring the Holocaust

Editorial

In a new low, critics of Israel organized a worldwide day of action against the fence to coincide with the 65th anniversary of Kristallnacht last Sunday.

Organizers defended the date, saying it was chosen because it is the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, but spitting on the memory of the Six Million cannot be so easily defended. Protesting against Israel's right to defend itself is ignorant in itself; a blatant refusal to acknowledge that without murderous Palestinian terrorists, there would be no need for a fence. Slating the worldwide protest to coincide with Kristallnacht, no matter what post facto justification is used, is a despicable act.

The fence is now the major issue in the anti-Israel movement, replacing "Right of return" or "End the occupation" as the latest in a line of mindless jingoistic slogans that have defined the pro-Palestinian movement in Canada and worldwide for the past couple of years. These thoughtless critiques ignore any and all evidence indicating the plight of the Palestinian people is due to their own dictatorial, terrorist leadership and places effectively all the blame for all of history's combined evils onto Israel.

Like other Canadian ethnic groups, Canadian Jews have particular historical experiences that affect the way they observe contemporary affairs. The Holocaust, which happened within the memory of this generation, is not an intangible historical footnote to most Jewish Canadians, as it seems to be to anti-Israel activists. Anti-Israel activism, through its language, symbols and pitch, shows an enormous amount of disrespect for this historical experience and a stunning disregard for the feelings of a minority group.

Whether this is an example of anti-Semitism is mostly irrelevant. The pain caused by this insensitivity has much the same effect, so who really cares what we name it?

Canadian schools have tried, over the past couple of decades, to teach the history of the Holocaust, and the lessons we need to take from it. But Tim Stevenson, a city councillor and religious scholar who spoke at the Kristallnacht commemoration Sunday, said he sees students coming into his classes every year who know little or nothing about the Shoah.

Ignorance, says an old proverb, is no excuse. We might like to think that some of the people who rallied against the fence on Sunday are ignorant of the lessons of the Holocaust. Yet we know that among the activists are a substantial number who appreciate the momentousness of the Holocaust. We know that at least some of them have learned about it in school and that they understand its lessons. The alarming corollary is that it appears they just don't care.

On the upside: George Costanza is coming to the rescue. Jason Alexander, the actor who played the hapless George on the long-running comedy Seinfeld, is headed to Israel to support One Voice, a new movement aimed at a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Alexander described himself in an Israeli TV interview as a "lover of Israel." One Voice also has the support of boxer Muhammad Ali and actors Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Edward Norton, Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman.

One Voice and its American supporters seem to have the best of intentions. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But there already is one strong Jewish and Israeli voice for peace. What has not been heard is a reciprocal call for peace from the other side, where Yasser Arafat proved again this week that, in conflict with his own prime minister and the international community, the old terrorist remains master of his own domain.

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