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May 5, 2016
we do not live in a modern-day Nazi Germany
Yom Hashoah seems to be an appropriate day for this.
No matter what I think any specific politician, or politician wannabe, in Israel or the United States, or sector of society, it bothers me a lot when people throw around the words Holocaust, Nazi and Hitler and compare people or groups to them.
We in Israel are not living in Nazi Germany, even if some people in Israel are racist, and even if some people want to expel Palestinians. We are not perpetrating a Holocaust against Palestinians, nor are we about to. Donald Trump is not the reincarnation of Adolph Hitler, even if he might be somewhat racist and narcissistic. The Israeli police are not Nazis, and neither are Israeli soldiers, even if they, at times, take a heavy-handed approach to quelling disturbances, and even if they include police and soldiers within their ranks who suffer from racism or nationalism and/or too much zeal at using their weapons.
To the General who expressed concern about trends he identifies in Israel that remind him of Nazi Germany - no they don't. No matter what trend you are picking up on, nothing happening in Israel is reminiscent of anything I have read or watched about Nazi Germany.
To the anti-Trump people, whether they are supporters of Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump is not the reincarnation of Hitler and is not a neo-Nazi, even if he is somewhat flawed and perhaps somewhat racist. Donald Trump will also not turn the United States of America into a modern-day version of Nazi Germany.
To the many Israelis from various sides of the spectrum who call police and IDF soldiers Nazis - no they are not. The IDF and Israel Police are nothing like the SS or the Gestapo.
Yes, there are problems. Yes, we need to try to lessen the level of racism. Yes we need to be a kinder and more accepting and magnanimous society. Yes, some people are racists - some more, some less. No - it has nothing to do with, and is not similar in any way, to Nazi Germany.
Stop making these comparisons. Please. It trivializes the Holocaust when you turn every Tom, Dick, and Harry into the next leader of the next Nazi society. It trivializes the Holocaust when every time you don't like the way a policeman looks at you you think of him and call him a Nazi officer. It trivializes the Holocaust every time you call a group of people and their graffiti reminiscent of the Holocaust and/or Nazi Germany. I hear comparison, in one form or another, to the Nazi-era way too frequently nowadays.
Please put these comparisons to rest.
No matter what I think any specific politician, or politician wannabe, in Israel or the United States, or sector of society, it bothers me a lot when people throw around the words Holocaust, Nazi and Hitler and compare people or groups to them.
We in Israel are not living in Nazi Germany, even if some people in Israel are racist, and even if some people want to expel Palestinians. We are not perpetrating a Holocaust against Palestinians, nor are we about to. Donald Trump is not the reincarnation of Adolph Hitler, even if he might be somewhat racist and narcissistic. The Israeli police are not Nazis, and neither are Israeli soldiers, even if they, at times, take a heavy-handed approach to quelling disturbances, and even if they include police and soldiers within their ranks who suffer from racism or nationalism and/or too much zeal at using their weapons.
To the General who expressed concern about trends he identifies in Israel that remind him of Nazi Germany - no they don't. No matter what trend you are picking up on, nothing happening in Israel is reminiscent of anything I have read or watched about Nazi Germany.
To the anti-Trump people, whether they are supporters of Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump is not the reincarnation of Hitler and is not a neo-Nazi, even if he is somewhat flawed and perhaps somewhat racist. Donald Trump will also not turn the United States of America into a modern-day version of Nazi Germany.
To the many Israelis from various sides of the spectrum who call police and IDF soldiers Nazis - no they are not. The IDF and Israel Police are nothing like the SS or the Gestapo.
Yes, there are problems. Yes, we need to try to lessen the level of racism. Yes we need to be a kinder and more accepting and magnanimous society. Yes, some people are racists - some more, some less. No - it has nothing to do with, and is not similar in any way, to Nazi Germany.
Stop making these comparisons. Please. It trivializes the Holocaust when you turn every Tom, Dick, and Harry into the next leader of the next Nazi society. It trivializes the Holocaust when every time you don't like the way a policeman looks at you you think of him and call him a Nazi officer. It trivializes the Holocaust every time you call a group of people and their graffiti reminiscent of the Holocaust and/or Nazi Germany. I hear comparison, in one form or another, to the Nazi-era way too frequently nowadays.
Please put these comparisons to rest.
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Labels:
holocaust,
yom ha'shoah
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People worry about the Holocaust being forgotten but once the first person called someone else a Nazi after the war ended it already had been.
ReplyDeleteIt might be that some people are jumping at shadows, but I think it's legitimate to take care that we (whoever the "we" is) don't turn into Nazi Germany. Stamping out even the slightest hints of such thought or behavior ensures that it never reaches the point of no return.
ReplyDeleteLets not forget who are more comparable: it is the so-called Palestinians, who refers to Jews as "pigs and monkeys" and who want to annihilate Jews, and who do murder Jews indiscriminately.
ReplyDeleteWell said
ReplyDeleteVery well said, Rafi!
ReplyDeleteHear, hear!
ReplyDelete