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Haaretz: What is happening in Gaza brings to mind the Auschwitz Holocaust

In two separate articles, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz linked the spread of violence and brutality in the Israeli army to the hate speech and revenge adopted by its government, and compared what is happening in Gaza to the Nazi concentration camp for Jews, Auschwitz, and regretted the absence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the Holocaust memorial because his country has become a pariah, and because he is wanted by the International Criminal Court for committing war crimes.

In the first article, Gideon Levy regrets that Netanyahu will not travel to Poland next month to attend the main ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, due to fears that he may be arrested on the basis of the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The writer saw in this a bitter irony, because of all the figures and countries, the Prime Minister of Israel alone is prevented from attending the memorial to his people, because of the threat of international law looming over his head, and the German Chancellor is accepted to attend. Israeli writer Gideon Levy said : “The bitter historical irony” of what could happen, if Netanyahu decided to attend the ceremony commemorating the liberation of “Auschwitz”, is that Netanyahu’s plane would land in Krakow, Poland, he would arrive at the gate of the “Auschwitz” camp, and then the Polish authorities would arrest him at the gate.

Auschwitz and Gaza

The fact that Auschwitz was the first place Netanyahu avoided going after the arrest warrant was issued is a fact that resonates with symbolism, as well as “historical justice.”

Netanyahu is wanted by a court established in the wake of Auschwitz for war crimes that “increasingly resemble” those committed in the Nazi camp. He said that the distance between Auschwitz and Gaza is still great, but after reading the Haaretz report on what is happening in the "death corridor" in Netzarim in the middle of the Gaza Strip, this distance is "shrinking day by day."

The comparison between Auschwitz and Gaza is no longer "unreasonable."

Holocaust memories

The writer said that there are many events in Gaza that “recall what happened in the Holocaust” at the hands of Nazi Germany. When Palestinians in Gaza know that where stray dogs roam, there will be human corpses for these dogs to feed on, “memories of the Holocaust begin to return.” When there is an imaginary death line inside Gaza, and anyone who passes through it is killed, even if he is a hungry child, “the memory of the Holocaust begins to whisper.” When “ethnic cleansing is practiced in the northern Gaza Strip,” followed by clear signs of “extermination” throughout the Strip, “the memory of the Holocaust also resounds in our ears.” “Israel lost its modesty after the 1967 war, and after October 7, Israel lost its humanity,” he said. In both cases, “irreparable damage” was done.

The seat of the Israeli prime minister will be vacant at the Auschwitz memorial service because his country has become a “pariah” and because he is wanted by the most respected court that tries war criminals. This is a historic occasion “whose significance we must grasp.”

inflammatory speech

In the second article, Honorary Psychiatrist Yoel Elizur described the psychological state of the Israeli army in its ongoing war, saying that he is horrified by the mass killing of civilians in Gaza, and disturbed by the impact of the brutality they are practicing on the mental health of soldiers who are endangered by the government’s inflammatory rhetoric and the weakening of the civil and military justice systems.

Elizur explained his purpose for this article as a grandfather and a psychologist who has researched soldiers’ experiences with brutality. He said he wanted to protect his grandson and everyone who serves in the IDF, and to let them know how difficult it is to stand up to a harsh commander and resist peer pressure that encourages brutality.

5 groups

The author classified five groups of soldiers based on personality traits: the first group was tough, consisting of tough soldiers who committed most of the most severe atrocities; the second group was ideologically violent, who supported brutality without participating; the third group opposed the influence of both tough and ideological groups on the culture of the division; the fourth group consisted of soldiers who had no predisposition to violence, but whose behavior was greatly influenced by junior officer models and division norms; and the fifth group included soldiers who did not commit atrocities. The writer noted the documentation of shooting Palestinian civilians waving white flags, the mistreatment of prisoners and corpses, the burning of homes without legal approval, and the retaliatory destruction of property and looting, with few investigations. Source: Haaretz - Gulf Post and Al Jazeera Net