Prof. Ron Breiman
How can we ever protest again?
Photo: AP
Holocaust denier? Mahmoud Abbas
Photo: CNN
Judenrein in Israel
After pullout, we have lost right to denounce Holocaust deniers
The following lines have been written with great care, as one must when entering the most sensitive minefield in our collective experience, and with the hope that people won't misunderstand me.
Let it be stated from the outset: I am strongly opposed to the incorrect use of the memory of the Holocaust perpetuated by the Nazis on the Jewish people.
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We must especially reject all comparisons, written or oral, between IDF soldiers and the Nazi enemy.
Silencing debate
But the public debate overall, especially that of the media enlisted to support the expulsion, gives a Pavlovic reaction about everything that smells even remotely like a symbol of the Holocaust, engendering a hysterical counter-reaction no less absurd.
Anyone who attacks people in pain and slated for eviction, turns a blind eye to the terrible meaning of the concept of the transfer.
This is the first time in human history that a country has sent its army to evict patriotic citizens from their homes.
It would seem the very least Israel could do would be to try to understand the associations from that terrible time created by Israel's actions in 2005.
How can we protest?
After this, how can we denounce Holocaust deniers, when the Sharon government is about to transfer parts of the homeland to an unabashed Holocaust denier, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas?
How, exactly, will it help to recall the destruction of synagogues and desecration of cemeteries in Europe when Sharon is doing the same things in Israel?
How can we rail against a Judenrein Europe when Sharon has made entire sections of the Land of Israel just as Jew-free? How can we speak about European anti-Semitism when Sharon has turned Jews, including Holocaust survivors and their descendants, to refugees in their own country?
How can we speak about Zionism as an answer to the Holocaust when the government is giving support not only to terrorism, but also to anti-Semitism? How can the architect of Oslo possibly call for transferring the homes and property of Jews to the murderers of their children?
There is no escape from the fact that many of the phenomena in our awful reality bring up memories from a time not-so-far-gone.
Thought police
But in Israel where thoughts and associations are jealously policed, these experiences, too, are widely silenced, instead of trying to understand the deep layers affected by the expulsion.
As I said, it is not my intention to legitimize offensive use of Holocaust symbols and imagery. But I do protest the automatic attack on anyone who dares recall, and the silencing of people and ignoring their feelings.
The attempt to prohibit not only protest but also the memories is nothing but Holocaust denial.
Cop yells: Out!
A personal experience: Two weeks ago I was arrested at Nisanit with my friends following an all-night attempt to avoid the IDF while crossing the "green line."
The first word of the first cop who "hunted" me was, "Out!"
There is no need to know the language to conjure up the memories.
I stuck out my hand and said, "Jews say 'good morning.'" He smiled weakly and took the hand. He probably had no idea of the associations his bark stirred up in me, but the incident did not prevent him and his troops from sticking me in the temporary holding cell and eventually sending me to court in Be'er Sheva.
From Yad Vashem to Gush Katif
Not long ago, the new museum at the Yad Vashem holocaust memorial was dedicated.
Each speaker spoke about the same themes: The obligation to remember the Holocaust, the rejection of deniers, the promise to remember and not to forget, and to learn the appropriate lessons.
Did they mean what they said? The events of Israel 2005 do not prove that the lessons of the Holocaust have been learned.
At Yad Vashem, Sharon declared, "The State of Israel is the only place in the world Jews have the right and the power to defend themselves."
If so, why is he using the IDF to deport Jews from their homes, in their own land?
And not only that: He spoke about a "vow to protect human dignity and honor," but forgot about the fact that he, himself, is responsible for violating that honor and those rights for thousands of Jews, simply because they are Jews.
Senior European representatives, upon whose land 6 million Jews were slaughtered, participated in the ceremony.
But those same countries are dedicated to weakening the 6 million Jews in Israel and strengthening the Palestinian Terror Authority, whose leaders, Arafat I and Arafat II, are trying hard to finish the work of the of the European opressor.
Behind the smokescreen of niceties and slogans, they still would prefer Israel and the Jewish people ceased to exist.
The Holocaust was a singularly evil event. In order to prevent it from reoccurring, we must perpetuate the Holocaust and its lessons.
Therefore, the hypocrisy of far-left Knesset members in trying to stifle freedom of speech and feelings of connectedness between Israeli Jews today and European Jews then, is totally inappropriate.
Tisha B'Av, week of tragedy
The expulsion of Jews by other Jews began during the week of Tisha B'av, the date in the Jewish calendar inextricably tied up with the greatest tragedies to strike the Jewish people during its long history.
And despite the pain and the shame, even before the deportation was completed and thousands of Jewish refugees were left not knowing where they would spend the next few nights, the "official" press and Israeli society have already moved on to Tu B'av, a traditional day for romance and happiness.
80 kilometers from Tel Aviv, Jews are being deported, but Tel Aviv itself is proud to say it is celebrating the "holiday of love."
All this as families have "agreed to leave" their homes – a move that can only be described as eviction by force and the polar opposite of love – we have also lost the right to ask the nations of the world – how could you have taken your holidays while the Holocaust was taking place?
Ron Breiman is the head of Professors for a Strong Israel
