So I think that I might be loosing my sensitivity about the Holocaust. I need to check that, because I do not want to come across as someone who doesn’t understand how truly awful the deliberate and scientific persecution of Jews (and gypsys and gays) was.
But, I keep thinking about trying to value all life equally, and that the way we (the generations since the Holocaust) think about the Holocaust is too singular. Meaning, that we need to be more angry about current genocidal practices than past ones. When I say we should move towards forgiveness, I by no means think that we should forget the Holocaust. I mean, I am a historian so I obviously think it is incredibly important to remember our shared past, which includes some of the darkest acts possible by fellow human beings. In stead of talking about the politics of how we remember the Holocaust, maybe we should learn from it. And by learning from it I don’t mean perpetuating the idea that there is evil in this world and that Jews are not safe unless they are armed with nuclear weapons. I don’t mean that Anti-Semitism in our (global) history is too omnipresent for there ever to be an era of newfound good feelings and mutual respect among religions and ethnicities. I just am looking towards the perhaps unrealistic idea that there can be a new world order with mutual respect amongst everyone.
The situation in the Middle East is intolerable, just as the situation in Germany and greater Europe in the 1930s and 40s. We (global community) did not do enough then. Maybe back then the answer would have been more public outcry, less appeasement and isolationism, and yes perhaps more military action against Nazi aggression. Today, I do not think that the answer is in military action. The threat of nuclear and biochemical weapons is too great, we cannot afford to use violence to solve any problems anymore.
So what does that leave us? Diplomacy, World Courts and International Laws, and Education. I think the lesson of Vietnam can be that you cannot win over hearts and minds with nepalm. The lesson of Iraq is that preemptive war does not bring peace, and the lesson of Iran is that interventionism has blowback effects and that when there are countries that have paternalistic and imperialistic ideas on how to run the world, the people of the world suffer.
The situation in Gaza right now is a tragedy, and not just for those living there, but for Jews all over the world. The Jewish identity is being dragged into a war that MANY do not support. By doing research, one can find countless groups of Jews who organize with each other and with Muslim groups to advocate for the end of the occupation. By doing even more research one can find evidence of the contraversy over the Zionist state in Israel. It was not supported by all Jews and a incredible propaganda movement was unleashed to convert American Jews to the idea that there had to be a Jewish state in the land of Israel.
The history of the modern world has unfolded often tragically, especially for the Jewish people. But now that Jews have a degree of political and economic power, it is time to show the world what good they can do for world peace.
May an era of forgiveness, justice, and peace be in our future.
Muppets and History 