| In the past, I used to wonder why “Holocaust denial” was listed as a criminal offense by many European countries and considered such a moral outrage everywhere else. Clearly, the Holocaust occurred and the grizzly material evidence of its horrific extent is incontestable. Anyone who would deny it is clearly an ignorant fool, similar to anyone who still believes the earth to be flat, to be ridiculed and pitied. The issue is one of fact, case closed, and questions of criminality or morality over its acknowledgment shouldn’t matter. Now, I think I understand the issue differently: Holocaust denial has nothing to do with proving or contesting facts of history. Rather, it is about the moral consequences for each of us in recognition of that horrendous reality; it is about the moral cowardice and depravity of denying uncontested facts and the moral imperative and costs of responding appropriately. If the Holocaust can be denied or disputed and considered a fraud or an inaccurate record of what happened in Germany, then current anti-jewish antisemitism might be tolerated or even justified. Both those who participated in the Holocaust and those who were silent or did not do everything in their power to stop it cannot therefore be seen as complicit in the crime or face guilt and moral approbation. Similarly, those who committed the crimes would not have to pay a heavy price, be ostracized from polite company, or have to live with the shame and public rebuke of their actions and malfeasance. The horrors of that crime could not be used as a proper motivator to fight all forms of discrimination and bias or to enact laws and ensure that such toxic doctrines and practices are never again tolerated by human society. The consequences of Holocaust denial come to mind these days when many in this country, including many in the church, public institutions, and other organisations or networks, are reluctant to call out the horrific genocide taking place in Gaza. Many even outright deny it. This is not being done for lack of information, facts or evidence. Nor is is it the result of technical arguments about what does or does not constitute the crime of genocide, or of how many people are slaughtered before we can call it a genocide. The facts are known and seen by us all on social media, if not always on corporate television and “mainstream” media. Genocide experts have clearly and uniformly pronounced this to be a genocide. Furthermore, unlike the Holocaust, which largely took place in the dark and whose true horrors did not fully come into light untill after the end of WWII, this genocide is well documented in real time. The genocidal language used by Israeli officials at all levels is reported in the media, “There are no innocents in Gaza” “They are Amalek”. Israeli army and political leaders openly call for the elimination of all aspects of life in Gaza: withholding food, water, and fuel; systematically destroying all hospitals, educational institutions, and commercial and economic infrastructure; and 90% of all residential units have been destroyed, coupled with the incessant bombing of encampments (designated “safe zones”) which is yielding daily lists of civilian victims—. Some Israelis foolishly post their war crimes on their own social media, arrogantly boasting about and celebrating their crimes. Despite Israeli prohibitions on access by international journalists and the slaughter of around 200 Palestinian journalists, the facts are well known. Furthermore, respected neutral international organizations, like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and international tribunals like the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, have also provided detailed reports naming Israel’s actions as genocidal. Those who continue to hesitate, or those like US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken who flatly deny there is a genocide, do so for political and personal reasons having nothing to do with the actual facts. They are simply denying the genocide because they do not wish to deal with the political and moral implications of such an admission. For one thing, the behavior of the US government, and the Biden administration in particular, is nothing short of full complicity and direct responsibility. The US not only provides the vast majority of weapons and ammunition, but it also provides the political umbrella protecting Israel from the consequences of its crimes or even from attempts by the world community to implement a ceasefire and put a stop to the ongoing atrocities. Recognizing the genocide would be an admission of guilt and a confession of ongoing culpability. In addition, the provisions of international law and conventions, particularly after the Holocaust, require countries to take affirmative steps to prevent and punish the commission of genocidal acts. Even totally uninvolved countries have an affirmative obligation to arrest, prosecute and punish perpetrators of the crime of genocide (for which there is universal jurisdiction and no statute of limitations) wherever and whenever those crimes are committed. For individuals and organizations, and here I specifically include the churches, the moral obligation to repudiate and do everything possible to put an end to these crimes is clear and self-evident. The fact that churches have not sufficiently taken up this moral responsibility is a damning indictment. To brazenly prefer your comfort, interests, important connections, and desire to avoid embarrassment is to exhibit moral bankruptcy. Future generations (and current opinion) will judge the church, its institutions and publications harshly for such a moral dereliction of duties. Worst of all, how will such Christians respond when called to account before their Lord and Master, the true Judge of the world for their moral dereliction and denial of the Palestinian genocide taking place today? |
