By Dr. Robert Rozett

Much too frequently in our world people cry “Holocaust!” They do so for its rhetorical effect: lacking a deep understanding of the Holocaust, they wield what is really an extraordinarily weighty term with incredible lightness and aplomb. However, the conflux of the ranting and raving of Iran’s President Ahmadinejad, his country’s nuclear gambit and the events following the publication of insulting Danish cartoons about the prophet Mohammed should make it crystal clear that today, for the first time since the end of the Second World War, we are facing a situation that could plausibly lead to a new version of the Holocaust.

For those who believe Ahmadinejad’s opinions are relatively harmless, the outburst of violence and incitement worldwide are an unmistakable signal that the danger far exceeds the borders of his state. Radical Islamic Fundamentalists have demonstrated again and again dangerous levels of hate and intolerance brimming over with unfettered violence and self-righteousness. Given the slightest opportunity, this breaks forth with a virulence and scope wholly disproportionate to the catalyst.

Antisemitism lies at the core of this worldview. This can be seen not just through Ahmadinejad and his cronies, but by innumerable statements, articles, cartoons and television shows featuring regularly in the media at the hive of Radical Islamic Fundamentalism. The competition of cartoons that satire the Holocaust launched by Iran’s newspaper Hamshari was justified by Iran as a commensurate response to the Danish cartoons. Of course “the Jews” had nothing to do with the original cartoons, and certainly there is no logical connection between the Holocaust and the pain the Danish cartoons caused among Islamic believers. Nevertheless, like the Nazis before them, Radical Islamic Fundamentalists believe Jews and Israel are the source of all society’s ills; therefore, according to their logic, Jews must be behind the cartoons, and if the Prophet can be ridiculed, so can the Holocaust.

Hitler and his partners carried out the Holocaust because they had an ideology overflowing with hate and self-righteousness that sought to create a utopian society. Although he had no clear plan for the extermination of the Jews when he came to power, the possibility was there, and within several years the course of events led to the evolution of a policy for the systematic mass murder of all the Jews under his dominion. Ultimately, Hitler was able to carry out the annihilation because he believed he had the reason, and he certainly had the means and the opportunity. The Radical Islamic Fundamentalist world today likewise believes it has all the reasons it needs to embark upon a new Holocaust, focused on the destruction of the State of Israel, but not necessarily ending there. If Ahmadinejad and his ilk are not checked, they will soon have the means, and if the world does not stop them, they will certainly create the opportunity. Given the arsenal they are trying to build, the conflagration may well be worse than the event we now rightly consider the measure of humanity’s ability to perpetrate evil.

On the heels of a visit to Yad Vashem in February, newly elected German Chancellor Angela Merkel compared the threat posed by Iran and its president Ahmadinejad to Hitler’s Germany. Ms. Merkel looked at Ahmadinejad’s threats to wipe out the State of Israel, his denial of the Holocaust and his nearly consummated plan to achieve nuclear capabilities, and drew her conclusions. Unlike most who use the term Holocaust lightly, she got it right. The leaders of the world must follow Merkel, and pull no punches in recognizing that a new Hitler-like force with a huge following has arrived on the scene. It must be prevented from trying to destroy Israel and devastating the world.

The author is Director of the Yad Vashem Libraries.

top