Holocaust
One of the more moving things I have done was to go to the Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem. More than anything it helped me understand the imperative for the state of Israel, and the history of what we see happening today. I also grieved that so little has been learnt, and politicians and using the same lines to day as they did in the 1930's to wash their hands of the Jewish problem.
What I hadn't known was that when Hitler first moved to push all Jews out of Germany, the rest of the world closed their borders. At an international meeting to discuss solutions, lines like, "It is an internal problem, we can do nothing",
and (from Australia) "We have no racial problems here, so will not allow any Jews in" (Sound familiar?) Britian, under pressure from the Arabs, closed off Palestine, arrested the illegal immigrants they caught, and send any ships they caught back (to the death camps) What is also clear is that the Allied Command knew what was happening in the camps and chose to do nothing. When faced with extermination no-one
came to the rescue of the Jewish people. Consequently, and Israel that was Jewish, where Jews were in control and could decide their own fate became a necessity. Even then, in the face of Arab hostility, little was done to find a way through and to help create such a space. Now I understand the Israeli psyche so much more. And I am warned not to become anti-Jewish or even anti-Israeli because of the treatment of Palestinians, both those in Israel, and those in the West Bank and Gaza.
Two other reflections on all this. The first was my anger at reading the description of the Warsaw ghetto. Firstly that we as humans would even do that, and secondly that you could take the work Warsaw out and put Gaza in, and so much of it
still rang true. I cannot comprehend how a people who suffered so horrifically can repeat in some degree that treatment on to others and not expect the same violent
reaction.
Secondly, I was intrigued on our tour how Jewish Insurgents/Terrorists are lauded as freedom fighters. Same tactics, just on the other side! What lesson is their in
that for us?
What I hadn't known was that when Hitler first moved to push all Jews out of Germany, the rest of the world closed their borders. At an international meeting to discuss solutions, lines like, "It is an internal problem, we can do nothing",
and (from Australia) "We have no racial problems here, so will not allow any Jews in" (Sound familiar?) Britian, under pressure from the Arabs, closed off Palestine, arrested the illegal immigrants they caught, and send any ships they caught back (to the death camps) What is also clear is that the Allied Command knew what was happening in the camps and chose to do nothing. When faced with extermination no-one
came to the rescue of the Jewish people. Consequently, and Israel that was Jewish, where Jews were in control and could decide their own fate became a necessity. Even then, in the face of Arab hostility, little was done to find a way through and to help create such a space. Now I understand the Israeli psyche so much more. And I am warned not to become anti-Jewish or even anti-Israeli because of the treatment of Palestinians, both those in Israel, and those in the West Bank and Gaza.
Two other reflections on all this. The first was my anger at reading the description of the Warsaw ghetto. Firstly that we as humans would even do that, and secondly that you could take the work Warsaw out and put Gaza in, and so much of it
still rang true. I cannot comprehend how a people who suffered so horrifically can repeat in some degree that treatment on to others and not expect the same violent
reaction.
Secondly, I was intrigued on our tour how Jewish Insurgents/Terrorists are lauded as freedom fighters. Same tactics, just on the other side! What lesson is their in
that for us?
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