RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/01/27/the-debasement-of-the-holocaust/

On 27 January 1945, Soviet forces liberated those then still imprisoned at Auschwitz, the infamous Nazi concentration and death camp. Eighty years on, millions of young people in the West know nothing about Auschwitz or indeed the Holocaust itself. They are ignorant of the gravest crime of the 20th century.

A recent survey has shown that one in nine young Germans has not heard of the Holocaust. A quarter cannot name a single concentration camp, death camp or ghetto. It also showed that ‘nearly half of American adults could not identify any killing sites of the Holocaust’.

A poll carried out by The Economist and YouGov in 2023 made for equally disturbing reading. It showed that more than a fifth of young Americans, aged between 18 and 29, agreed with the statement that ‘the Holocaust is a myth’, while a further 30 per cent neither agreed nor disagreed. That means that less than half of young Americans firmly believe the Holocaust actually happened.

This growing historical amnesia is worrying enough. But of even greater concern is the way in which the meaning of the Holocaust has been distorted and inverted by our cultural and political elites, and weaponised by anti-Israel zealots.

Indeed, Auschwitz itself – a death camp designed for the genocide of the Jews – is fast being turned into something else: an all-purpose symbol of human cruelty. It is becoming Disneyfied, transformed into a gruesome theme park for those looking for an easy moral message.

Take UNESCO, arguably the most powerful international cultural institution in the world. In its official assessment of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, a World Heritage site, it talks of its ‘outstanding universal value’. It claims that the camp serves as a symbol of ‘humanity’s cruelty to its fellow human beings in the 20th century’.

To treat Auschwitz as a generic symbol of cruelty, as UNESCO has done, renders it totally banal. There are countless examples of humanity’s terrible cruelty throughout history, but there is only one Holocaust. Its unique historical significance derives from the fact it was an industrialised extermination campaign singularly directed at Jewish people. And it’s that meaning we are now in danger of losing altogether.

https://jihadwatch.org/2025/01/islamic-republic-of-iran-two-girls-arrested-for-dancing-could-face-years-in-prison-or-death-penalty?utm_source=rss&utm_

The Ayatollah Khomeini said it: “Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious.”

“Teenage girls arrested by Tehran over viral video of them dancing on Iranian war memorial could now face ‘years in prison or the death penalty,’” by Tom Midlane, Daily Mail, January 25, 2025:

Two young women were detained by police in Iran for posting a video of themselves dancing.

The viral Instagram post features the two girls, who appear to be teenagers, purportedly dancing at the Monument to the Unknown Martyrs of the Sacred Defence war memorial in Tehran.

The monument was built by Italian architect Marcello D’Olivo and honours those killed in the Iran-Iraq War that raged between 1980 and 1982.

Both of the women are wearing jeans, with one wearing a knitted jumper and the other a blue top covered by a cardigan.

Iranian authorities have said the girls’ outfits were ‘inappropriate’ and both girls have had their Instagram accounts blocked, according to Iran International.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-change-at-the-top-of-the-international-criminal-court/

Nawaf Salam, who had been the president of the International Court of Justice, has just accepted the post of Prime Minister of Lebanon. When Salam headed the ICJ, the Court agreed to consider South Africa’s charge that Israel was committing “genocide” in Gaza. But one judge — Julia Sebutinde of Uganda, who has been Vice President of the ICJ since February 2024 — robustly rejected South Africa’s claims. And now that Salam has left his ICJ post, Judge Sebutinde becomes the president of the ICJ for the next three years. That may well result in a more just treatment of Israel by the Court. More on Judge Julia Sebutinde can be found here: “Pro-Israel judge poised to take over ICJ presidency,” Jewish News Syndicate, January 14, 2025:

Judge Julia Sebutinde is set to assume the presidency of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), marking another milestone in her groundbreaking career as well as a significant shift for the court.

The Ugandan jurist, who recently made headlines for her robust defence of Israel against South Africa’s genocide allegations, will take the helm following current President Nawaf Salam’s departure.

Salam has been appointed Prime Minister of his native Lebanon by new president Joseph Aoun, whose election, backed by the US and Saudi Arabia, represents a major blow to Iran and its proxy Hezbollah.