OpEd: Why they deny the Holocaust

[Zoomie]

Why they deny the Holocaust

On top of nearly constant anti-Semitic propaganda, much of the Muslim world hasn't even heard of it.


By Ayaan Hirsi Ali, AYAAN HIRSI ALI, a Somali immigrant who served in the parliament of the Netherlands until earlier this year, is the author of "Infidel," an autobiography to be published in February.
December 16, 2006

ONE DAY IN 1994, when I was living in Ede, a small town in Holland, I got a visit from my half-sister. She and I were both immigrants from Somalia and had both applied for asylum in Holland. I was granted it; she was denied. The fact that I got asylum gave me the opportunity to study. My half-sister couldn't.

In order for me to be admitted to the university I wanted to attend, I needed to pass three courses: a language course, a civics course and a history course. It was in the preparatory history course that I, for the first time, heard of the Holocaust. I was 24 years old at that time, and my half-sister was 21.

In those days, the daily news was filled with the Rwandan genocide and ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia. On the day that my half-sister visited me, my head was reeling from what happened to 6 million Jews in Germany, Holland, France and Eastern Europe.

I learned that innocent men, women and children were separated from each other. Stars pinned to their shoulders, transported by train to camps, they were gassed for no other reason than for being Jewish.

I saw pictures of masses of skeletons, even of kids. I heard horrifying accounts of some of the people who had survived the terror of Auschwitz and Sobibor. I told my half-sister all this and showed her the pictures in my history book. What she said was as awful as the information in my book.

With great conviction, my half-sister cried: "It's a lie! Jews have a way of blinding people. They were not killed, gassed or massacred. But I pray to Allah that one day all the Jews in the world will be destroyed."

She was not saying anything new. As a child growing up in Saudi Arabia, I remember my teachers, my mom and our neighbors telling us practically on a daily basis that Jews are evil, the sworn enemies of Muslims, and that their only goal was to destroy Islam. We were never informed about the Holocaust.

Later, as a teenager in Kenya, when Saudi and other Persian Gulf philanthropy reached us, I remember that the building of mosques and donations to hospitals and the poor went hand in hand with the cursing of Jews. Jews were said to be responsible for the deaths of babies and for epidemics such as AIDS, and they were believed to be the cause of wars. They were greedy and would do absolutely anything to kill us Muslims. If we ever wanted to know peace and stability, and if we didn't want to be wiped out, we would have to destroy the Jews. For those of us who were not in a position to take up arms against them, it was enough for us to cup our hands, raise our eyes heavenward and pray to Allah to destroy them.

Western leaders today who say they are shocked by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's conference this week denying the Holocaust need to wake up to that reality. For the majority of Muslims in the world, the Holocaust is not a major historical event that they deny. We simply do not know it ever happened because we were never informed of it.

The total number of Jews in the world today is estimated to be about 15 million, certainly no more than 20 million. On the other hand, the world's Muslim population is estimated to be between 1.2 billion and 1.5 billion. And not only is this population rapidly growing, it is also very young.

What's striking about Ahmadinejad's conference is the (silent) acquiescence of mainstream Muslims. I cannot help but wonder: Why is there no counter-conference in Riyadh, Cairo, Lahore, Khartoum or Jakarta condemning Ahmadinejad? Why are the 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference silent on this?

Could the answer be as simple as it is horrifying: For generations, the leaders of these so-called Muslim countries have been spoon-feeding their populations a constant diet of propaganda similar to the one that generations of Germans (and other Europeans) were fed — that Jews are vermin and should be dealt with as such? In Europe, the logical conclusion was the Holocaust. If Ahmadinejad has his way, he shall not want for compliant Muslims ready to act on his wish.

The world needs to be informed again and again about the Holocaust — not only in the interest of the Jews who survived and their offspring but in the interest of humanity. Source (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-ali16dec16,0,2351518.story?coll=la-home-commentary)

[vinny_121_ND]

a lot of muslims have died as well in past and current wars. Death is everywhere, and I don't think they want to be reminded about another 6 million jews who died, and also in the koran, jews are regarded as dirty apes, ... so we can draw a conclusion from that.


It's a sad reality.

[Saranof]

and also in the koran, jews are regarded as dirty apes



Where? 1234567

[Ghostryder]

Where? 1234567

Ya seriously, passage and verse

[fantomas]

20 bad things about the jews, taken from the Koran


Saqr then lists the following 20 "bad traits" of the Jews, as they appear in the Qur'an:
1. "They used to fabricate things and falsely ascribe them to Allah. Allah Almighty says: 'That is because they say: We have no duty to the Gentiles. They knowingly speak a lie concerning Allah.' (Al-'Imran: 75) Also: 'The Jews say: Allah's hand is fettered. [But it is] their hands that are fettered and they are accursed for saying [Allah's hands are fettered]. Nay, but both His hands are spread out wide in bounty. He bestoweth as He will' (Al-Ma'idah: 64) In another verse, Almighty Allah says: 'Verily, Allah heard the words of those who said, (when asked for contributions to the war): 'Allah, forsooth, is poor, and we are rich! We shall record their words with their wrongful slaying of the Prophets and we shall say: Taste ye the punishment of burning!' (Al-'Imran: 181)
2. "They love to listen to lies. Concerning this Allah says: 'And of the Jews: listeners for the sake of falsehood, listeners on behalf of other folk.' (Al-Ma'idah: 41)
3. "Disobeying Almighty Allah and never observing His commands. Allah says: 'And because they broke their covenant, We have cursed them and hardened their hearts.' (Al-Ma'idah: 13)
4. "Disputing and quarreling. This is clear in the verse that reads: 'Their Prophet said unto them: Lo! Allah hath raised up Saul to be a king for you. They said: How can he have kingdom over us when we are more deserving of the kingdom than he is, since he hath not been given wealth enough?' (Al-Baqarah: 247)
5. "Hiding the truth and supporting deception. This can be understood from the verse that reads: '… [They] distort the Scripture with their tongues, that ye may think that what they say is from the Scripture, when it is not from the Scripture.' (Al-'Imran: 78)
6. "Rebelling against the Prophets and rejecting their guidance. This is clear in the verse: 'And when ye said: O Moses! We will not believe in thee till we see Allah plainly.' (Al-Baqarah: 55)
7. "Hypocrisy. In a verse, we read: 'And when they fall in with those who believe, they say: We believe; but when they go apart to their devils they declare: Lo! we are with you; verily we did but mock.' (Al-Baqarah: 14) In another verse, we read: 'Enjoin ye righteousness upon mankind while ye yourselves forget (to practice it)? And ye are readers of the Scripture! Have ye then no sense?' (Al-Baqarah: 44)
8. "Giving preference to their own interests over the rulings of religion and the dictates of truth. Allah says [to the Jews]: '… When there cometh unto you a messenger (from Allah) with that which ye yourselves desire not, ye grow arrogant, and some ye disbelieve and some ye slay?' (Al-Baqarah: 87)
9. "Wishing evil for people and trying to mislead them. This is clear in the verse that reads: 'Many of the People of the Book long to make you disbelievers after your belief, through envy on their own account, after the truth hath become manifest unto them.' (Al-Baqarah: 109)
10. "They feel pain to see others in happiness and are gleeful when others are afflicted with a calamity. This is clear in the verse that reads: 'If a lucky chance befall you, it is evil unto them, and if disaster strike you they rejoice thereat.' (Al-'Imran: 120)
11. "They are known for their arrogance and haughtiness. They claim to be the sons and of Allah and His beloved ones. Allah tells us about this in the verse that reads: 'The Jews and Christians say: We are sons of Allah and His loved ones.' (Al-Ma'idah: 18)
12. "Utilitarianism and opportunism are among their innate traits. This is clear in the verse that reads: 'And of their taking usury when they were forbidden it, and of their devouring people's wealth by false pretences.' (An-Nisa': 161)
13. "Their rudeness and vulgarity is beyond description. Referring to this, the Qur'anic verse reads: 'Some of those who are Jews change words from their context and say: We hear and disobey; hear thou as one who heareth not, and Listen to us!, distorting with their tongues and slandering religion. If they had said: We hear and we obey; hear thou, and look at us, it had been better for them, and more upright. But Allah hath cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save for a few.' (An-Nisa':46)
14. "It is easy for them to slay people and kill innocents. Nothing in the world is dearer to their hearts than shedding blood and murdering human beings. They never give up this trait even with the Messengers and the Prophets. Allah says: '… And [they] slew the prophets wrongfully.' (Al-Baqarah: 61)
15. "They are merciless and heartless. In this meaning, the Qur'anic verse explains: 'Then, even after that, your hearts were hardened and became as rocks, or worse than rocks, for hardness.' (Al-Baqarah: 74)
16. "They never keep their promises or fulfill their words. Almighty Allah says: Is it ever so that when ye make a covenant, a party of you violates it?' The truth is, most of them believe not.' (Al-Baqarah: 100)
17. "They rush hurriedly to sin and compete in transgression. Allah says: 'They restrained not one another from the wickedness they did. Verily, evil was what they used to do!' (Al-Ma'idah: 79)
18. "Cowardice and love for this worldly life are undisputable traits [of the Jews]. It is to this that the Qur'an refers when saying: 'Ye [Muslims] are more awful as fear in their [the Jews'] bosoms than Allah. That is because they are people who understand not. They will not fight against you in a group save in fortified villages or from behind walls. Their adversity among themselves is very great. Ye think of them as a whole whereas their hearts are diverse.' (Al-Hashr: 13-14) Allah Almighty also says: 'And thou wilt find them greediest of mankind for life and (greedier) than the idolaters.' (Al-Baqarah: 96)
19. "Miserliness runs deep in their hearts. Describing this, the Qur'an states: 'Or have they even a share in the Sovereignty? Then in that case, they would not give mankind even the speck on a date stone.' (An-Nisa': 53)
20. "Distorting Divine Revelation and Allah's Sacred Books. Allah says in this regard: 'Therefore woe be unto those who write the Scripture with their hands and say, 'This is from Allah,' that they may purchase a small gain therewith. Woe unto them for what their hands have written, and woe unto them for what they earn thereby.' (Al-Baqara: 79)
Endnotes:
(1) April 15, 2002.
(2) IslamOnline.com, March 22, 2004.
(3) According to Sheikh 'Atiyyah Saqr: "The Qur'an has specified a considerable deal of its verses to talking about Jews, their personal qualities and characteristics. The Qur'anic description of Jews is quite impartial; praising them in some occasions where they deserve praise and condemning them in other occasions where they practice blameworthy acts. Yet, the latter occasions outnumbered the former, due to their bad qualities and the heinous acts they used to commit. The Qur'an praises them on the verse that reads: 'And verily We gave the Children of Israel the Scripture and the Command and the Prophethood, and provided them with good things and favored them above (all) peoples.' (Al-Jathiyah:16) i.e. the peoples of their time."






http://mideastoutpost.com/archives/000022.html

[Laworkerbee]

and also in the koran, jews are regarded as dirty apes, ... so we can draw a conclusion from that.

I can point you to several references in the Quron regarding jews, I however would not be able to find the passage your writing about as it doesnt exist.

I believe your confusing perhaps a Hadith with a passage in the Quron, a Hadith Vinny is a whole other matter.

[vinny_121_ND]

,


I can point you to several references in the Quron regarding jews, I however would not be able to find the passage your writing about as it doesnt exist.

I believe your confusing perhaps a Hadith with a passage in the Quron, a Hadith Vinny is a whole other matter.

Ok, hhmm, I'm sorry then, the Islamic religion is like a boat, it keeps rocking back and forth of what's really true, and what's blended in as propaganda.

K, back to the story, it's sad how school children in the middle east and some parts of Africa aren't taught about the holocaust in their history lessons (not sure which countries exactly though). Everywhere else, it's a big part of history. World war 2 was like taught to us in grade 9 for 2 staight months every day. History and geography are my favourite subjects.

[Laworkerbee]

,

Ok, hhmm, I'm sorry then, the Islamic religion is like a boat, it keeps rocking back and forth of what's really true, and what's blended in as propaganda.

The same could be said of many sects of Christianity. You have no need to be sorry, it's common to find "quotes" from the Quron that are actually Hadiths twisted into propaganda.

I agree the situation is deplorable but I see articles like this as a point of light. I believe the only way to win this war is education, you can fill body bags for generations and nothing will change. What drives our enemies? what are his ideals? for this is a battle of ideals in which ours will prevail that I have no doubt.

[XShipRider]

With all this talk of the Holocaust I've often wondered what could have
been done differently to halt that planned massacre. Would it have done
any good to make clear to Hitler, a man bent on total European domination,
this was a crime against humanity? I think not.

This 'denying the Holocaust' schtick seems to be some sort of litmus test
in today's diplomatic circles. In reality it's a divergence. It allows
attention to be focussed on matters of yesteryear rather than matters of
today. As long as Iran and others don't buy into the 'you must decry the
Holocaust existed' hoopla we can demonize rather than talk to them.

Yes, I understand 6M innocents died for no other reason than their
religious ancestry. Okay. But who cares if Ahmad' and Co. don't believe
it? What real difference does it make? Why is it being made the
cornerstone of talks with Iran and others?

Denial does not negate the fact that it happened!

I just don't see the relevance of a 60-years past horrendous event to
today. The Islamists of yesteryear too stood idly by, if they were even
aware, while the Jews were systematically slaughtered. So did the
Americans, British, Russians, Italians, French, Danes, Dutch, Swedes,
Spanish, Swiss!, Belgians, Lithuanians, Turks, (fill in the rest of the
world here), and The Vatican stand idly by while the Germans, by the
trainload, shipped the Jews to their demise. Point is, we all openly
recognized it ex post facto but essentially denied it as it was
happening. Does that make us any more or less 'deniers' by default
to some degree?

You'll find few speeches, if any, decrying the mass slaughter of
Jews specifically. Roosevelt certainly did not make too many
mentions of it during his fireside chats. Why? Because that was
not the main issue for fighting the Germans. Roosevelt, Churchill and
all the rest essentialy denied by default, through utter silence, it
was happening at all.

[tanks_alot]

In my opinion there are two reasons why the iranians are obsessed with the holocaust.

the first reason is that in their eyes Israel was created because of the holocaust (while in fact it only hastend a process that began long before Hitler was even born), so if they "prove" the holocaust is a hoax, they think they are sapping at the reasons for the existence of Israel.

the second reason is in order to test the water, maybe they check the world's response to the denay of a past massacre in order to try and determine the response to a future massacre, how the world will react if they'll nuke Israel.

[mailmannz]

You'll find few speeches, if any, decrying the mass slaughter of
Jews specifically. Roosevelt certainly did not make too many
mentions of it during his fireside chats. Why? Because that was
not the main issue for fighting the Germans. Roosevelt, Churchill and
all the rest essentialy denied by default, through utter silence, it
was happening at all.

I think you will find that Roosevert, Chirchill and co had "more" important things on their minds in winning the war against Germany on their hands.

The fact that they may not have "officially" said anything in no way justifies todays loonies who live in laalaa land denying and in most cases blatantly lieing about the halocaust and how evil the joooooooooos are.

Mailman

[Bandeirante]

Why they deny the Holocaust ?

Ignorance, shallow interests.

You can't deny History.

Are we going to deny the frequent times when Muslims were massacred throughout History ?

Let's face every World massacre and genocide as a compromise with truth.

[Hollis]

In my opinion there are two reasons why the iranians are obsessed with the holocaust.

the first reason is that in their eyes Israel was created because of the holocaust (while in fact it only hastend a process that began long before Hitler was even born), so if they "prove" the holocaust is a hoax, they think they are sapping at the reasons for the existence of Israel.

the second reason is in order to test the water, maybe they check the world's response to the denay of a past massacre in order to try and determine the response to a future massacre, how the world will react if they'll nuke Israel.

Tanks, I think that is a big part of it. Also when Israel was Re-formed It cause excitement in the Judaism and Christianity societies, Maybe the "messiah" is near, fulfillment to their respective religious prophecies. Islam considers itself the last and final word of the "all mighty", other words it supersedes Judaism and Christianity and those two religions are no longer valid. One might conclude that Israel is saying that Judaism or Christianity is not passé which creates a paradox for Islam. If Islam can destroy Israel then it can say, "see those propharies were false as those other religions are."

[AZRON]

Yes, I understand 6M innocents died for no other reason than their
religious ancestry. Okay. But who cares if Ahmad' and Co. don't believe
it? What real difference does it make? Why is it being made the
cornerstone of talks with Iran and others?



As a result of WWII and the genocide of 6M Euro Jews the drive for a Jewish homeland was given a boost. This homeland is historic Palestine.
The driving factor was called the Zionist movement which was around from the 1870s or so .

The Muslim world is attacking this decision from two directions .

1; Did it really happen or just a hoax ?

2; If it did happen and Germans and Euros are responsible why give them a homeland in the ME , why not a partition of Germany with a Jewish state being carved out .

If you believe something that happened 60 years ago is irrelevant then what about the 1400 year old Shia-Sunni battle still going on .

If your an American you don't have to dig to deep to still hear anger about the American Civil War in some locations , from something that happened 145 years ago.

Memories are long.

[sethen]

Has anyone besides me thought that the reasons singled out Jews for extermination was because of what they read in the "Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion." They were leaked form the World Zionist Convention in Basil 1896. They were also required reading for the S.S.! I will tell you that I KNOW without a doubt that Freemasons and Jews work hand in hand. They (Jews) work confidence games with southern fundalmentalist Christians against the rest of the population (The spread of circumcision, The Civil War etc.etc.),(South Carolina is the Home of Reform Judaism) Anybody with a clue (THe Germans in this case) put 2+2 together and figured out there was a criminal element having it way globally. (At Germanys exspense) Freemasons are Criminals and so are those that ally themselves with them! I don't deny the holocaust, I can't scream that loud above all the rabble. But I would like to say Germany didn't waste valuable resources to persecute "Jews" for nothing. They made a concetrated effort to eradicate a truly dangerous criminal element.
Therefore Islam is only fighting in self defense and America is fighting Israels enemies for them AGAIN. You know what P.T. Barnum said, " A sucker is born everyday."

[Ghostryder]

Has anyone besides me thought that the reasons singled out Jews for extermination was because of what they read in the "Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion." They were leaked form the World Zionist Convention in Basil 1896. They were also required reading for the S.S.! I will tell you that I KNOW without a doubt that Freemasons and Jews work hand in hand. They (Jews) work confidence games with southern fundalmentalist Christians against the rest of the population (The spread of circumcision, The Civil War etc.etc.),(South Carolina is the Home of Reform Judaism) Anybody with a clue (THe Germans in this case) put 2+2 together and figured out there was a criminal element having it way globally. (At Germanys exspense) Freemasons are Criminals and so are those that ally themselves with them! I don't deny the holocaust, I can't scream that loud above all the rabble. But I would like to say Germany didn't waste valuable resources to persecute "Jews" for nothing. They made a concetrated effort to eradicate a truly dangerous criminal element.
Therefore Islam is only fighting in self defense and America is fighting Israels enemies for them AGAIN. You know what P.T. Barnum said, " A sucker is born everyday."


Haha, wow dude, I'm surprised you managed to survive 500 posts here, congrats!

Anywho, I just happen to be a rich Jew who lives in the US, maybe I could come over to your place, discuss the "Protocols of Zion" (or PoZ as I call 'em), martyr your firstborn, and drink his blood; just like the book says!

Please, accusing the Jews of world domination and using The Protocols as proof is like accusing the Masons of world domination and quoting Dan Brown as evidence.

For an antisemite, you could do better than that Sethen.

I'm gonna request the mods don't ban you, only so that you can be nominated for Dumbarse of the week.

Looking forward to your next post, horned and forked tongue,

Ghost

[Hollis]

Not to demean the murder of anyone, 13 Million people where slaughtered in the Camps. The Jews were the largest group singled out, 6 million were murdered. The rest were, Liberals, Leftist, communist, Unionist, people with disabilities, anti-nazis, etc.

Hitler used antisemitism to create the rage in side of the nazis. He used that paranoia (unreasonable fear) to murder anyone that disagreed with him.

[LaoSexMachine]

So typical of Sethen. Bet he has an account at stormfront.

[block52]

I can point you to several references in the Quron regarding jews, I however would not be able to find the passage your writing about as it doesnt exist.

I believe your confusing perhaps a Hadith with a passage in the Quron, a Hadith Vinny is a whole other matter.



2:62 Lo! Those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad), and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans - whoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right - surely their reward is with their Lord, and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.

2:63 And (remember, O Children of Israel) when We made a covenant with you and caused the mount to tower above you, (saying): Hold fast that which We have given you, and remember that which is therein, that ye may ward off (evil).

2:64 Then, even after that, ye turned away, and if it had not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy ye had been among the losers.

2:65 And ye know of those of you who broke the Sabbath, how We said unto them: Be ye apes, despised and hated!




5:59 Say: O People of the Scripture! Do ye blame us for aught else than that we believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed aforetime, and because most of you are evil-livers ?

5:60 Shall I tell thee of a worse (case) than theirs for retribution with Allah ? (Worse is the case of him) whom Allah hath cursed, him on whom His wrath hath fallen and of whose sort Allah hath turned some to apes and swine, and who serveth idols. Such are in worse plight and further astray from the plain road



7:166 So when they took pride in that which they had been forbidden, We said unto them: Be ye apes despised and loathed!