Comparing war in Gaza to the Holocaust is inaccurate, ill-conceived | Opinion
As a historian who studies the history of the Jews in modern times, I have been concerned at how easily and inaccurately comparisons have recently been drawn between the Nazi Holocaust and the State of Israel’s war in Gaza. Notwithstanding significant differences between them, they have both been called genocides, a category that surely applies to the Holocaust and, with some justification, has also been used to define other efforts aimed at destroying complete populations, such as the Armenians or the Muslim Rohinga people. But is that also true for Israelis in the current conflict?
The international convention on genocide describes it as "a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part." This definition precisely fits the Holocaust. Nazi ideology demanded the destruction of all Jews simply because they were Jews. As the Holocaust and Humanity Center’s museum here in Cincinnati graphically illustrates, the process began with removing Jews from positions of influence in German society, then proceeded gradually to depriving them of their property. With the pogrom of November 1938, it moved on to organized violence. And during World War II it culminated in the murder of approximately six million Jews, some by execution squads, others by gas chambers in death camps. The Nazis wanted utterly to wipe out what they called the Jewish "race." By 1945, they had succeeded in destroying one-third of the Jews in the world.
Like the Nazi ideology, that of Hamas is dedicated to Jewish destruction, not alone of the State of Israel but, at least in ideology, also of the Jewish people as a whole. The Hamas Covenant of August 18, 1988 includes this authoritative passage in Article 7: "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." This vision of the future is, I believe, the hope of very few Muslims in the world today, also of few Palestinians, but the fact remains that Hamas chose to cite it in their covenant.
When Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, it mercilessly and indiscriminately killed men, women, and children, raping and mutilating bodies. Israel’s response was not to reply in kind. It does not have an ideology that calls for the immediate or future destruction of the Palestinian people. It does not aim at a genocide. Rather its objective has been to destroy the power of Hamas, which seeks no peace with the State of Israel, no harmonious relations with its Jewish population. The fact that Hamas has mingled its fighters with the civilian population and stored weapons in hospitals, mosques, and private residences, has forced upon Israel military actions that, tragically, have led to an increasing number of civilian deaths. With few exceptions, the people of Israel do not desire such deaths.
Had Hamas turned the material aid they have received into building their economy instead of constructing tunnels for the purpose of attacking Israel, had they turned from hatred to acceptance, the path would have been open to a peaceful settlement. It may still be possible today if peace-loving Israelis and Palestinians are able to come together under the banner of their common humanity. But that will require a willingness to abstain from ill-conceived historical comparisons that can only block the way.
Michael A. Meyer is the Adolph S. Ochs Professor of Jewish History emeritus at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati and a board member of the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center. He has published books and numerous articles on the Jews of Germany.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The Holocaust fits the definition of genocide, the Gaza war does not
