The comparison in a recent New Yorker article was viewed as controversial in Germany, where government authorities strongly support Israel as a form of remorse and responsibility after Adolf Hitler’s Germany murdered up to 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.
Gessen, who was born Jewish in the Soviet Union, is critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
In Gessen’s article, titled “In the Shadow of the Holocaust,” the author explores German Holocaust memory, arguing that Germany today stifles free and open debate on Israel.
Gessen also is critical of Israel’s relationship with Palestinians, writing that Gaza is “like a Jewish ghetto in an Eastern European country occupied by Nazi Germany.”
“The ghetto is being liquidated,” the article added.
(Here’s a non-paywall link to the article.) It is profound.
Saying the same thing, but with a less negative connotation, I think it’s important that a Jewish man is the one making this comparison and pushing others to reevaluate their blind tribalism on the matter. Jews have been killed, displaced, and persecuted by Muslims long before the rise of Hitlers Reich, but answering barbarism with more barbarism only ensures future barbarism.
Everyone deserves peace, freedom and safety. No one deserves the right to take peace, freedom or safety away from others, but humans do horrible things with power. We are not so different from our distant ancestors, and we still havent come close to rising above our nature..