The Taboo Quality of the Holocaust

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Editorial:  The Taboo Quality of the Holocaust


The Jewish Holocaust is one of the few remaining taboos of western 
society, on par with incest and paedophilia. Most people will react 
with very strong feelings ranging from anger to fear, shock and 
disgust, when exposed to any perceived threat to beliefs relating to 
the Holocaust. Even discussing its taboo nature causes considerable 
levels of discomfort. Unbeknown to most people, its continued 
existence serves a number of powerful interests and comes at a 
terrible cost to society.

The taboo quality of the Jewish Holocaust in Western society is being 
enforced no differently from taboos in Polynesia: failure to comply 
results in social and economic ruin, incarceration, physical attack, 
sometimes even loss of life. Believing that the Jewish Holocaust as 
we know it - as the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored 
persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi 
regime and its collaborators through the use of gas and other methods 
- actually occurred, determines whether a person is considered a Nazi 
and Anti-Semite (in other words utterly evil and a danger to society) 
or not.

A political/historical taboo like this wouldn't exist if it didn't 
serve very powerful interests. The most obvious is support for 
Israel. Reports of the murder of six million Jews understandably 
generated considerable sympathy and support for the idea of the 
foundation of a Jewish state in Palestine and still helps deflecting 
criticism of Israel's treatment of the Palestine people and its 
neighbours. Less obvious is the interest of the political left in 
gaining moral superiority over the political right. And last, but not 
least, there is the interest of the Allied powers, especially the US 
and the UK, of justifying their war crimes committed against the 
German people during World War II. Who worries about the deliberate 
destruction of 90% of German civilian buildings resulting in the 
killing of 600,000 civilians when hearing about the gassing of six 
millions Jews?

The continued existence of the Holocaust taboo, 60 years after the 
end of World War II, comes at a terrible price. For one, it makes it 
virtually impossible for world opinion to hold Israel responsible for 
its treatment of the Palestine people. Any criticism of Israel's 
policies is stifled by wholesale claims of Anti-Semitism, implying 
that the critic is trying to 'finish off' Hitler's job of 
exterminating the Jewish people. This doesn't necessarily occur 
intentionally. In many cases it's simply the result of a Holocaust 
induced paranoia. For two, it makes it easier for the US government 
to continue its use of aerial bombing against civilians as a means of 
warfare. The killing of more than 3000-4000 civilians per month in 
Iraq pre-dominantly through US air strikes wouldn't be possible 
without the belief in US military and political circles that the 
killing of civilians in air warfare ('collateral damage') is not a 
war crime, a belief that has its roots in the unpunished strategic 
bombing of Germany and Japan during World War II.

Historical revisionism is not about denying the truth. It's about 
establishing the truth, regardless of the outcome. The failure of the 
political left to embrace Holocaust revisionism is depriving it of 
the potentially most powerful weapon against its political enemies. 
It should stop fighting against its political enemy of 60 years ago 
and start using all available means to fight today's battles.

[Andrew Winkler is the Editor/Publisher of The Rebel Media Group. He 
can be contacted on editor at TheRebel.Org]
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