A post-Holocaust question: Why does the war against the Jews continue? Those who support Palestinianism want something very simple—another Holocaust. Moshe Dann
https://www.jns.org/writers/moshe-dann/
The defeat of the Nazis in World War II ended the Holocaust, but the war against the Jews continued. Muslims and the British administration in Palestine sought to prevent Israel’s establishment, and in 1948, five Arab armies invaded the newly established Jewish state with the intention of wiping it out. Egypt, Syria and other countries planned to attack again in 1967, but were stopped when Israel launched a preemptive strike. The war against the Jews still went on, however, led by the PLO and, more recently, Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
Although the Nazis were defeated and condemned, their anti-Jewish ideology was adopted by Palestinian leaders, institutions and terrorists. It is explicit in the PLO Covenant and the Hamas Charter, broadcast daily by Palestinian media and taught in Palestinian schools.
Most people, however, don’t understand what Palestinianism is. They think it’s about the desire of a group of people for a homeland, a state and self-determination. It’s not. It’s about destroying Israel. Attempts to satisfy Palestinian demands and efforts to engage in a “peace process” inevitably fail when they confront this reality.
Palestinianism is based on the Palestinian narrative that Israel has no right to exist and that the Jews stole their homeland. In doing so, goes the narrative, the Jews expelled Palestinian Arabs during the war of 1948, most of whom moved to neighboring countries. These refugees have been cared for ever since as “refugees” by the U.N. agency UNRWA in order to perpetuate the Palestinian concept of the “the Nakba” (catastrophe)—that is, Israel’s existence. Over the ensuing decades, Arabs and their supporters have demanded that Israel withdraw to the 1949 Armistice lines, evacuate Jews from areas which the IDF acquired in 1967 and allow all Arabs who are considered refugees—and their descendants—to return to Israel and reclaim their property in what is called “the right of return.”
As a compromise, Israel agreed to create a Palestinian Authority via the Oslo Accords, and signed peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt. The endgame of all this is said to be the “two-state-solution,” realized by the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Yet, despite facts, logic and rational arguments against the two-state solution—for example, that a Palestinian state would be run by terrorist organizations—the international community still supports it. Most Arabs, however, reject it because it allows Israel to exist, and many if not most Israeli Arabs prefer to live under Israeli rule.
Although a Palestinian state would almost certainly be allied with Iran and other countries that seek Israel’s demise, the world doesn’t seem to care, and may even promote the idea of a Palestinian state for that very reason. Rationalized as a moral/ethical issue, regardless of the consequences, a Palestinian state would nonetheless be the first step towards eliminating Israel.
Understandably, many Muslims and Arabs support this, but why do many Christians support this anti-Zionist, anti-Israel, anti-Jewish agenda? Why do most EU countries spend hundreds of millions of Euros every year to support that agenda? Why do some church groups agree? Why do people and companies support boycotts and sanctions against Israel?
Is it because Jew-hatred, rooted in texts and tradition, is part of Western culture? Western antisemitism is certainly well-documented, inspired pogroms and massacres, and explains why so many Christians supported the Nazis and participated in the Holocaust.
The truth is that aiding the Palestinian cause is often consciously or unconsciously an excuse for Jew-hatred. Ignoring what Palestinianism stands for and condemning Israel for such things as building “settlements” is not motivated by legal, humanitarian or moral impulses; it is a way of enabling and promoting Israel’s destruction.
There are wonderful Christian organizations that support Israel, such as Christians United for Israel, but there are also church groups and many Christians who don’t. Supporting Palestinianism to advance the war against Jews and Israel is immoral and un-Christian. Christian anti-Zionism is a Christian problem; only they can resolve it.
“Never Again” demands vigilance, honesty and self-awareness; there are no exceptions or excuses. Visiting Yad Vashem and honoring the victims of the Holocaust are meaningless when the threats facing Israel are ignored. The names of the perpetrators of the war against the Jews have changed since the Nazi era, but those who ignore Iran’s declared intention to destroy Israel and support Palestinian terrorist organizations have the same goal—another Holocaust.
Moshe Dann, Ph.D., is a historian, writer and journalist living in Israel.
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