• In a recent address, PM Keir Starmer said that Holocaust studies will be mandatory in the National Curriculum, “not just studying it, but learning from it and acting on its lessons” he said.
• It would be enlightening to understand what he has personally learned from it, especially in light of his ongoing involvement in the atrocities in Gaza.
During our GCSE history lessons, we delved into the atrocities perpetrated by the bloodthirsty, xenophobic dictator, Adolf Hitler, and the abhorrent crimes of the Nazi party. We examined the pivotal role of Joseph Goebbels in the Nazis’ adept use of propaganda, blending modern media avenues such as film and radio with traditional campaigning tools such as posters and newspapers to disseminate their message to the widest possible audience.
In our academic pursuits, we examined the roles played by the SA and the SS in the use of propaganda in Nazi Germany. As teenagers, seated in our classrooms, we harboured the belief that our visiting of Nazi Germany through our educational journey, was a solemn endeavour designed to ensure that the errors of history would not be revisited.
Some of our History teachers even arranged for us to watch ‘Schindler’s List,’ a film that vividly depicted the horrors of the Holocaust, leaving an indelible mark on our young minds.
However, we have of course borne witness to an unsettling sense of history’s repetition. The intensity of the Zionist propaganda apparatus employing analogous tactics for instance, the propagation of disinformation and fear-mongering strategies. The very same strategies we learnt about with Mrs Bartlett in Year 10.
Educators are always taught to teach holistically, to teach ‘beyond the exam paper.’ However, for those who were higher in echelons, perhaps those lessons were merely about an exam paper, given Britain’s involvement in Gaza. After all, the Palestinians are not as European and as white as the Ukrainians to be worthy of any care and concern.
As the future rushes towards us, we see how Year 10 students will no longer be asked to write essays about the Führer. They will instead be asked to write essays about the bloodthirsty, xenophobic, colonialist murderer Bibi Netanyahu and the abhorrent crimes of Knesset members. They will study the Holocaust of 2024, live-streamed in 4K resolution.
However, I am skeptical that it will be studied in the UK or the West, as suggested in the impactful video below. It will, certainly be addressed in other parts of the world, but Allah knows best.
Despite all of this, as Muslims, we hold steadfast to the belief that ultimate triumph is destined for those who believe.
Last month, PM Keir Starmer told us how Holocaust studies will be mandatory in the National Curriculum, “not just studying it, but learning from it and acting on its lessons” he said.
We are left questioning what lessons Great Britain has truly internalised from history, especially in light of its ongoing support for the genocide and brutal massacre of Palestinians.
At this critical juncture, shouldn’t it be ‘mandatory’ for those in government and positions of authority to not only ‘learn from it’ but ‘act on its lessons,’ as opposed to KS3 and KS4 pupils who demonstrate greater humanity.
In 2014, the New York Times and the Independent published an open letter released by the International Jewish Anti Zionist network. The letter consisted of the signatures of 40 survivors of the Nazi Holocaust, condemning the ‘massacre of Palestinians’ and drawing parallels between their own experiences and the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.
Hajo Meyer (Auschwitz survivor)
Mr Meyer’s full statement reads:
‘I am pained by the parallels I observe between my experiences in Germany prior to 1939 and those suffered by Palestinians today. I cannot help but hear echoes of the Nazi mythos of 'blood and soil' in the rhetoric of settler fundamentalism which claims a sacred right to all the lands of biblical Judea and Samaria. The various forms of collective punishment visited upon the Palestinian people - coerced ghettoization behind a ‘security wall'; the bulldozing of homes and destruction of fields; the bombing of schools, mosques, and government buildings; an economic blockade that deprives people of the water, food, medicine, education and the basic necessities for dignified survival - force me to recall the deprivations and humiliations that I experienced in my youth. This century-long process of oppression means unimaginable suffering for Palestinians.’
Dr.Gabor Mate (survivor of Budapest Ghetto)
Dr.Gabor Mate‘s full statement: The Palestinians use tunnels? So did my heroes, the poorly armed fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto. Unlike Israel, Palestinians lack Apache helicopters, guided drones, jet fighters with bombs, laser-guided artillery. Out of impotent defiance, they fire inept rockets, causing terror for innocent Israelis but rarely physical harm. With such a gross imbalance of power, there is no equivalence of culpability.... And what shall we do, we ordinary people? I pray we can listen to our hearts. My heart tells me that 'never again' is not a tribal slogan, that the murder of my grandparents in Auschwitz does not justify the ongoing dispossession of Palestinians, that justice, truth, peace are not tribal prerogatives. That Israel's 'right to defend itself,' unarguable in principle, does not validate mass killing.
Norman Finkelstein- political scientist and activist (descendant of a family wiped out in the Nazi Holocaust)
During a public lecture at the University of Waterloo, Dr Finkelstein engaged with a Jewish student who expressed offence at his remarks comparing “Jews to Nazis,” leading the student to tears. Being a Jew himself, Finkelstein was in fact comparing Zionists to Nazi’s.
Dr Finkelstein responded with the following: I don’t respect that any more, I really don't. I don't like and I don't respect the crocodile tears. I don't like to play to a foreign audience the Holocaust part but since now I feel compelled to - my late father was in Auschwitz, my late mother ... please shut-up (applause) my late father was in Auschwitz my late mother was in Mgdonevice concentration camp - every single member of my family on both sides were exterminated, both my parents were in the Warsaw Ghetto. They taught me and my two siblings that I will not be silenced by Israel over their crimes against Palestinians. I consider nothing more despicable than to use their suffering and their martyrdom to try to justify the torture the brutalization and the demolition of homes commits against the Palestinians. I refuse any more to be intimidated to be browbeaten by the tears, if you had any heart in you, you would be crying for the Palestinians.
Letter bearing the signatures of 40 survivors of the Nazi Holocaust and their descendants, condemning the ‘massacre of the Palestinians’
The letter reads as follows:
‘As Jewish survivors and descendants of survivors of the Nazi genocide we unequivocally condemn the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and the ongoing occupation and colonisation of historic Palestine. We further condemn the United States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out the attack and Western states more general for using their diplomatic muscle to protect Israel from condemnation. Genocide begins with the silence of the world.
We are alarmed by the extreme, racist, dehumanisation of Palestinians in Israeli society which has reached a fever-pitch. In Israel, politicians, politicians and pundits in the The Times of Israel and Jerusalem Post have called openly for genocide of Palestinians and right-wing Israelis are adopting Neo-Nazi insignia.
Furthermore, we are disgusted and outraged by Elle Wiesels abuse of our history in other media to promote blatant falsehoods used to justify the unjustifiable. wholesale effort to destroy Gaza and the murder of nearly 2,000 Palestinians, including many hundreds of children. Nothing can justify bombing UN shelters, homes, hospitals and universities. Nothing can justify depriving people of electricity and water.
We must raise our collective voices and use our collective power to bring about an end to all forms of racism, including the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people.We call for an immediate end to the siege of and blockade of Gaza. We call for the full economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel. "Never again" must mean NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE!”
The entire ummah is currently in mourning, yet we must remain steadfast, persist in our efforts to raise awareness by disseminating the truth, provide aid, and never stop making dua for the safety of our brothers and sisters in Palestine. May Allah shield the Muslims from harm….Ameen.
