A Conversation of the Deaf?

I received a mail that was sent out from Iraq that contained a horrific propaganda message in that it compared the Holocaust to what the Arabs of Eretz Yisrael experienced. Maybe you have seen it.

I wrote back to all the attached addresses and here is my reaction:-

The PowerPoint Presentation making a comparison between what was done to the Jews and what Arabs suffer as a result of the Arab-Israel conflict over the Palestine Mandate is, at first glance, horrifying.

But besides that, some people may presume that the message is genuine: what the Nazis did do the Jews, the Jews do to Arabs.

That, of course, is not only wrong but facile.

a) Jews have no ideology that Arabs are vermin like Nazis called the Jews or worse. The conflict, from a Jewish point-of-view is nationalist; not theological. And as always, there are a few who break that rule but we are still looking for an Arab "Peace Now" which would indicate there is someone on the other side for balance.

b) In Europe, Jews were herded up, killed and placed in concentration camps only because they were Jews. None of them bombed pizza parlors, supermarkets, blew themselves up in churches, on buses, on rail trains unlike what Arabs practice.

c) worse, the Grand Mufti Amin El-Husseini fled to Berlin after the pro-Nazi revolt in Iraq failed and made broadcasts on behalf of Nazis, mobilized Muslim Bosnians to the Waffen SS and successfully halted rescue efforts of Jews to flee Europe.

d) I guess someone could be clever and compare marriage to prostitution, or a doctor operating to a serial killer.

One person out of 30 responded:-

With all due respect, I did not ask for your opinion on this. So please refrain from sending me e-mails moving forward.

I replied:-

Sorry, I thought that an inquisitive mind and willingness to hear varied opinions is the basis of a human being, which permits dialogue, bettering each person's own personal worth and and contributing to an improved society.

You will not hear from me again.

VH then wrote:

You stated:

a) Jews have no ideology that Arabs are vermin like Nazis called the Jews or worse. The conflict, from a Jewish point-of-view is nationalist; not theological.

What about the claim of "the promised land" that is not theological? One reason I am not interested in your opinion. Furthermore, when I requested that you refrain from e-mailing me, you did not have the decency to consider my wishes; very indicative of your society.

I would appreciate you NOT/NOT writing me again.

I didn't.

But as my veteran readers know, one need not believe in a God or that he promised us a land. The Land of Israel for over 3000 years has been the residency, the homeland of the Jews. Non-Jewish source as well as archeology support this.

In fact, it was promised to us: by the League of Nations, following the Balfour Declaration, following the Versailles Peace Conference and the San Remo Conference. And the United Nations recommended it be established.

We, of course, refer to this "promise" as no more than a recognition of our historical, legal, natural, cultural and religious rights, as all other nations, to our homeland.

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