Holocaust never happened???

June 8th, 2009 •
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JERUSALEM - More than 40 percent of Israel’s Arab citizens say the Holocaust never happened, and barely one half think Israel has a right to exist, according to a survey published Monday. But the academic who directed it said the results were likely more statements of protest than belief.

Sammy Smooha believes the numbers, which have shown a significant shift in the past few years, signal a rising frustration among minority Arabs in the Jewish state. He said the growing Holocaust denial is fueled by a belief that recognizing the World War II genocide, in which German Nazis and their collaborators murdered 6 million Jews, gives justification to Israeli policies.

“When they say ‘there was no Holocaust,’ they are protesting. They are saying ‘I am not giving legitimacy to the Jewish state,’” said Smooha, a Haifa University sociologist. “It’s an index of despair, frustration and protest.”
Recent polls also indicated that 54% of all Israelis are not satisfied with the government!
These surveys have received a great deal of attentions in the press. The primary goal of this column is to promote, positive,fact based based, negotiations to solve interfaith issues. Stereotypes, generalizations, slogans, and intentions slurs only can promote continued divisions.

This week was the celebration of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.Shavuot (help·info)

(or Shavuos (help·info), in Ashkenazi usage; Hebrew: שבועות‎, lit. “Weeks”) is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (late May or early June). Shavuot commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai. It is one of the shalosh regalim, the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals. It marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer.

The date of Shavuot is directly linked to that of Passover. The Torah mandates the seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover and immediately followed by Shavuot. This counting of days and weeks is understood to express anticipation and desire for the Giving of the Torah. On Passover, the Jewish people were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.

In the Bible, Shavuot is called the Festival of Weeks (Hebrew: חג השבועות, Ḥag ha-Shavuot, Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10); Festival of Reaping (Hebrew: חג הקציר, Ḥag ha-Katsir, Exodus 23:16), and Day of the First Fruits (Hebrew יום הבכורים, Yom ha-Bikkurim, Numbers 28:26). The Mishnah and Talmud refer to Shavuot as Atzeret (Hebrew: עצרת, a solemn assembly), as it provides closure for the festival activities during and following the holiday of Passover. Since Shavuot occurs 50 days after Passover, Christians gave it the name Pentecost (πεντηκόστη, “fiftieth day“).

Shavuot is especially important in Israel as this Holiday represents the wanderings of members of the Jewish faith and the sense of hopelessness that went along with it. Many Palsetinian  Mulsims now feel the sense of frustration from not feeling a sense of spiritual and national belonging.

Let us all hope that the coming years will bring peace and justice for all faiths in this region!

There Is 1 Response So Far. »

  1. Comment by Richard on 9 June 2009:

    “Deniers” of the NAZI holocaust against jews, gypsys, Jahovah’s witnesses, homosexuals and criminals rely on teh same sort of hate and hatefulness that allowed it in the first place.

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