The Warped Mirror: Indebted to the Nazis

It's becoming rather fashionable in some circles to accuse Israel of behaving like the Nazis - and the Nazis probably wouldn't mind this kind of "legacy": they killed one third of world Jewry, but they didn't achieve the "Final Solution" they had planned for. The Jews survived as a people and even managed to build their own state among hostile neighbors, most of whom have never clearly distanced themselves from the hatred preached by one of their political leaders, Amin al-Husseini  - and there is good reason why al-Husseini is sometimes referred to as "Hitler's Mufti."

Yet, those whose views barely differ from the ones held by al-Husseini, have today the support of activists like Lauren Booth, who found it appropriate to lecture Israelis in a recent interview from Gaza: "You were in the concentration camps, and I can't believe that you are allowing the creation of such a camp yourselves." In another interview, conducted by a like-minded activist and British politician on Press TV, an Iranian English-language 24-hour news channel based in London, she was asked: "Why are they keeping you cooped up in the concentration camp called Gaza?" To which she responded enthusiastically: "I want to say thank you for using the word concentration camp because the word prison has been applied in the last few years and that's a lie."

In the Jerusalem Post, the report about Lauren Booth's stay in the Gaza "concentration camp" was accompanied by two photos, one showing Ms. Booth cheerfully planting a tree, the other showing a large gathering of Islamic Jihad members in Gaza enjoying a rich Iftar meal to break the Ramadan fast (this was, of course, a men only event). For an even more drastic visual illustration, it is worthwhile to visit Harry's Place, where the blog entry on "Lauren Booth in Gaza" features photos of Ms. Booth doing some shopping in a well-stocked supermarket in Gaza, chatting on the cell phone in a lush, well-tended garden, meeting the rather well-fed Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh to receive a special Hamastan "diplomatic passport" - and then, a rather shocking contrast: a photo from Darfur, and a photo from a Nazi concentration camp.

Since there is no reason to think that Ms. Booth is capable of feeling embarrassed, it's quite safe to assume that she didn't mind at all that she wasn't the only one who made headlines last week by comparing Israel to the Nazis - indeed, it is more likely that she was flattered when Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Israel of "perpetrating a holocaust on the Palestinian people."

Rather unsurprisingly, Ahmadinejad also told his listeners that the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis was a "fake." It is noteworthy that Ahmadinejad made these statements during a press conference ahead of his visit to New York where he will address the United Nations General Assembly and enjoy being treated by many as a respected leader of a UN member country.

But there was yet another report last week that evoked memories of Nazi crimes in connection with Israel: quite coincidentally, on the same day as the Iranian president denied the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis while accusing Israel of perpetrating a holocaust against the Palestinians, the South African Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu claimed that because of the Holocaust, the West was too hesitant to criticize Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians. Reportedly, Tutu said: "I think the West, quite rightly, is feeling contrite, penitent, for its awful connivance with the Holocaust. The penance is being paid by the Palestinians. I just hope again that ordinary citizens in the West will wake up and say 'we refuse to be part of this'."

It is not the first time that Tutu has made remarks about Israel that are rather ambiguous. This statement can easily be read as drawing a parallel between the Holocaust and the situation of the Palestinians. It is not only because Tutu clearly suggests that in both cases, silence amounts to connivance, it is also because Tutu feels that there is not enough criticism of Israel. Does he never open a newspaper, and are we to believe that he did not get a copy of the recent best-seller authored by fellow Nobel Peace laureate Jimmy Carter?

And when it comes to keeping silent and risking connivance, does Tutu worry about the many people who find excuses for Ahmadinejad's incitement against Israel? Does Tutu worry about people like Lauren Booth, who compares Israelis to the Nazis while being comfortably hosted by representatives of an organization that preaches the vilest anti-Semitism in its charter?