AMSTERDAM — A Dutch Muslim group plans to commemorate the victims of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians on Holland’s memorial day for victims of Nazism have sparked media criticism for linking Israeli aggressions in Palestine to the Nazi Holocaust.
“We did not intent to provoke anybody by using the term ‘shadow holocaust’,” Abou Hafs, a 31 years old Muslim from Moroccan decent and one of the main speakers at the event, told OnIslam.net.
“We didn’t even contact the media to get all this attention. We did however choose this term for a reason: as our aim is to spread the idea that the word holocaust should not be used uniquely for one historical episode of ethnic cleansing, especially if that term is later used to safeguard its victims from any criticism on their actions in the decades after the occurrence of this European holocaust,” he added
The controversy erupted after a Dutch Muslim group, the “Platform Bewust Moslim”, announced its plans to commemorate Holland’s memorial day for victims of Nazism next May 4 by organizing a ceremony under the banner “Palestine, the Shadow Holocaust”.
Using social media, the Muslim group shared the invitation for their event to be held on Sunday, May 4, afternoon on Memorial Day in a mosque in Hilversum.
Quickly after that, both local and national media put their spotlights on the event, raising criticism over both the date and the title of the event.
Over forty complaints were sent to the mayor of the city, demanding him to obstruct the event because it was ‘insensitive’ and ‘provocative’ to use the word ‘holocaust’ for anything other than the second world war, especially on this date.
Although Abou Hafs is aware of the widespread criticism he doesn’t consider changing the events description.
“When Shimon Peres was still an Israeli minister, he himself used the term ‘holocaust’ to describe the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan,” he said.
“Like him, we use this term to describe organized mass killing, in this case of Palestinians. And yes, if you look at death counts, the European holocaust was much bigger, but that doesn’t mean the mechanism of ethnic cleansing is different.”
Under pressure of the mayor of Hilversum city, the mosque decided to discontinue hosting the event as they feared not being able to host the amount of expected visitors, which grew due to all the media attention.
“We did find an alternative location but will not state upfront which one, as we don’t want the mayor to add pressure on them to cancel our event,” Abou Hafs said.
Shame
Facing pressures to cancel their event, Dutch Muslims expressed their discontent over their government’s double standards.
“It is a shame that the government is so inconsistent with its approach to Muslims,” Abou Hafs told OnIslam.net.
“When we feel insulted – for instance due to anti-Islamic cartoons – the Dutch government states that our subjective arguments are less important that the objective conclusion that within the boundaries of the law everybody has the right to speak his mind.
“However, when we use our freedom of speech, which is objectively within those legal boundaries, they put pressure on us to cancel it due to the subjective arguments of people who feel insulted.”
Abou Hafs added, “From our perspective, we have a memorial for those who have died on a date on which this country has a memorial for those who have died. We consider our event to be in accordance with this custom, not conflicting with it. We just add a dimension by also looking at Palestinian victims.”
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the Holocaust refers to “systematic state-sponsored killing of Jewish men, women, and children and others by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II.”
The commonly used figure for the number of Jewish victims is six million.
But the figure has been questioned by many European historians and intellectuals, chiefly French author Roger Garaudy.
Around 760,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes in the Nakba, which marks the creation of Israel on the rubble of Palestine.
On April 18, 1948, Palestinian Tiberius was captured by Menachem Begin’s Irgun group, putting its 5,500 Palestinian residents in flight. On April 22, Haifa fell to the Zionist mobs and 70,000 Palestinians fled.
On April 25, Irgun began bombarding civilian sectors of the Palestinian city of Jaffa – the largest city in Palestine at that time, terrifying the 750,000 inhabitants into panicky flight.
On May 14, the day before the creation of Israel, Jaffa completely surrendered to the much better-equipped Zionist gangs and only about 4,500 of its population remained.
Millions of Palestinians are still living in neighboring countries since the creation of Israel.
Despite criticism, a growing number of visitors were expected to pour to attend Sunday’s memorial.
“I expect it to be a day with good and interesting lectures, but also a sense of brotherhood,” Abou Maariya, a 26 years old convert to Islam, explains.
“After hearing all the criticism, I was even more motivated to attend the meeting.
“At first, I wanted to go for my own personal interests, now I also want to support my brothers who worked to make this event happen.”
“It blew up in the media after I had already decided to attend. I think the criticism on the event is a bit childish and overreacted. Nobody is trying to block the nationwide Memorial Day.
“We just want to get together inside our own mosque to also remember Palestinian victims,” he concluded.
During Holocaust, thousands of Jewish women and little girls were paraded naked and then shot in public. At least, 6 million Jews were killed and many were never found. Thanks to Nazis.
What Jews went through due to Nazis is horrible beyond imagination.
So, please have some respect for Jews.
BE HUMAN.
So u think Palestine people should not have respect. Read this and try understanding respect means.
“Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs… Surely it would be a crime against humanity to reduce the proud Arabs so that Palestine can be restored to the Jews partly or wholly as their national home” — Gandhi
“You cannot continue to victimize someone else just because you yourself were a victim once—there has to be a limit”
? Edward W. Said