The chain of events set in motion by Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7 reached a critical turning point when the Zionist Israeli rulers declared war on Palestine. Utilizing religious passages and prophecies, as well as exploiting Europe’s historical sense of guilt, they sought to sway public opinion in their favor.
Since then, the besieged Palestinian enclave has endured relentless Israeli attacks, resulting in a devastating toll of casualties. Tragically, these attacks have claimed the lives of 11,100 Palestinians, including over 8,000 children and women, while leaving at least 24,000 people injured.
In the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, Israeli forces and Jewish settlers have also been responsible for the deaths of 155 Palestinians over the past 31 days.
With the support of the Western superpowers and amplified by media outlets, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to deliver speeches, attempting to rally the international community behind his cause. In these speeches, he has gone so far as to liken Hamas to the Nazis, urging the world to unite in support of Israel’s efforts to defeat them.
The portrayal of the enemy as Nazis, a tactic often employed by the Israeli far-right and its supporters when discussing the Palestine issue, serves a rhetorical purpose: It paves the way for the indiscriminate elimination of Palestinians.
This portrayal justifies any action taken to eliminate this so-called “great threat,” including targeting hospitals, schools, refugee camps and even killing children. It suggests that wiping out an entire people (which, if I’m not mistaken, is referred to as genocide) is permissible because there is a supposedly “valid” excuse.
However, this approach taken by Israeli officials and their Western supporters, who frequently draw comparisons between Hamas, Gazans and the Nazis, defies logic and lacks substantial evidence. In fact, it completely misses the crucial lesson that should be learned from the Holocaust: the memory of the genocide should serve as a universal lesson against oppression in any form, regardless of where or when it occurs. The phrase “never again” should truly mean “never again for everyone.”
Unfortunately, instead of upholding this lesson, the memory of the Holocaust is being exploited to justify unimaginable brutality and to perpetuate mass punishment. In Gaza, it is used to imprison, starve and deprive 2.3 million Palestinians, half of whom are children, by dehumanizing them as “beasts walking on two legs.”
Meanwhile, Western powers turn a blind eye to these atrocities, even disregarding calls for violence and massive retaliatory campaigns.
Does this scenario sound familiar?
If not, let me draw a parallel for you:
In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power in Germany and began pursuing expansionist goals. One of their early actions was the militarization of the Rhineland in 1936, a violation of the terms outlined in the Treaty of Versailles. At that time, certain European powers, particularly Britain and France, adopted an appeasement policy, hoping to prevent a major war by accommodating Hitler’s demands.
The appeasement policy, adopted by some European powers in the 1930s, aimed to prevent further aggression by accommodating Hitler’s demands and maintaining peace. This approach culminated in the signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, where Britain and France agreed to Germany’s annexation of Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia.
However, as Hitler continued to violate international agreements and expand German territory, it became clear that appeasement had failed. It was only after the invasion of Poland in September 1939 that Britain and France declared war on Germany, triggering the start of World War II. This tragic sequence of events highlights that Europe took action only when it was too late, despite the close proximity of Hitler’s atrocities and the millions of Jews slaughtered in the horrifying camps.
Human rights have never been on the brink of such destruction, and the world has never been in such desperate need of change.
Finally, the nations of the world came together to establish the United Nations, reaffirming their belief in “fundamental human rights.”
And everyone lived happily ever after. Or did they?
Regrettably, humans possess a remarkable aptitude for forgetting, and not everyone heeded the crucial lessons that need to be learned.
This, unfortunately, brings us to another shameful chapter in history: the Srebrenica genocide. Occurring in July 1995 during the Bosnian War, it involved the brutal murder of over 8,000 Bosnian Muslims by Bosnian Serb forces. This massacre is widely regarded as one of Europe’s worst since World War II.
Although Europe did not wholly ignore the massacre, the initial international response was slow and inadequate, resulting in a significant loss of life.
The international community, including Europe and the U.N., faced extensive criticism for their failure to prevent or respond to the Srebrenica genocide effectively.
In recent years, European leaders and institutions have acknowledged their failure to prevent the Srebrenica genocide and have issued apologies. The European Union and individual European countries have recognized the need to learn from past mistakes and expressed remorse to take action to prevent similar atrocities in the future.
Unfortunately, even after years have passed since these genocides, we still find ourselves having to fight for the most fundamental human rights today.
It should be understood that human rights, especially in the West, are not just about PR campaigns, history lessons or speeches at the U.N.; in reality, they are a choice we should make every day at the most basic level.
The horrific events of the past, including genocides, serve as a stark reminder of the international community’s responsibility to protect civilians during conflicts. They should prompt reflection and action to address and rectify past errors. If we fail to learn this crucial lesson, the meaning of these atrocities becomes tragically lost.
The asymmetry in military capabilities between Israel and the Palestinians, coupled with the support of global superpowers, highlights that the threat of genocide in this equation applies primarily to the Palestinians.
Hamas’s latest attack was horrific, of course, but it is not an indication that Jews are subjected to the mass, state-sponsored violence that Palestinians have been subjected to for decades.
Suppose Western countries continue to ignore Israel’s relentless attacks and even support its use of violence against Palestinians. In that case, there is a genuine concern that the Palestinian population could face complete devastation. History shows us that genocide unfolds when people dismiss the situation as “complicated” or try to present both sides as equally responsible. Perpetrators manipulate propaganda to justify their actions due to having “no choice,” framing the choice as existential. This propaganda influences public perception, and just like that, an entire population has been subjected to a horrific genocide.
One day, this event will be remembered as a shameful massacre in history. As often seen in Western nations, apologies may be offered and international courts may be established to hold the perpetrators accountable.
The apologies for what is happening right now in Gaza could come perhaps two centuries from now. Following the established Western pattern, they might even designate a day in their memory. During these apologies, they’ll likely assert that they are now peaceful and virtuous, shifting blame onto their power-hungry ancestors.
Throughout history, Western nations have had a record of atrocities, including slavery, human trafficking, ethnic cleansing, colonialism, the use of atomic bombs and the heart-wrenching loss of thousands of children in Afghanistan. After each war crime, they tend to apologize and continue to fly the flag of peace, portraying themselves as the epitome of civilized “first world” nations.
