Can we talk?

The Holocaust and Muslims

    I just didn't get it. The president of Iran swears the Holocaust never happened. I wrote him off as a crazy. He's old enough and educated enough to know better.

    Now, word has gotten out that Great Britain's education leaders are considering rewriting the history books and deleting the Holocaust from the history curriculum, because it is offensive to their growing Muslim population. Again it didn't make sense. How could a people who claim to be social-minded, caring, and peaceful (omitting the fringe elements) and who practice being good neighbors as the Koran directs be offended by knowledge of the Holocaust. The few Muslims I have known really tried to be good neighbors and practice charity. One man told me his religion directed him to practice the good deeds of Jesus.

    And if, as a people who are mostly Arab, they recall the atrocities inflicted upon them in the Crusades over 1000 years ago, why wouldn't they be the most sympathetic toward other groups under persecution and affliction? Most of the knights in the Crusades wanted to destroy the "infidels"-both Arabs and Jews in their view.

    So I posed that question this evening to a former Muslim, a retired Saudi Arabian politician, and was met with an intense response. I was cautioned that we should be careful how we discuss the Holocaust around Arabs. As terrible as that event was to humanity, it has been used in the Middle East as a control tactic. He talked a while in his slow precise English over my head, but eventually the light came on a little.

    Prior to World War II, the strongest military and political force in the Middle East was Great Britain. Then it was the US. America formed a strong Israeli tie, and we use the Bible to reinforce our position there. Most Arabs know that if any strike is made against Israel, within 24 hours the US will avenge Israel, although no American statesman will answer that question. This gentleman claims the Zionist movement began around 1920, before the Holocaust. His personal belief is that it would be a shame to erase the Holocaust from history and from textbooks.

    However, the Holocaust now is more than just a terrible page in history. It is a volatile weapon of propaganda against the Arabs living in the Middle East. It is a symbol of fear to the Arabs, because it reminds them of the strong allies Israel has in the US and Great Britain. Both countries have used the Holocaust to protect their own interests, more than the interests of the Jews. So the rebellious ones who don't want to be manipulated or shamed or blackmailed resist any way they can, even if it means ignoring an event or pretending it didn't happen. They do this in their own best interests.

    There aren't any easy answers. The questions aren't easy. It's very hard for those of us who haven't lived there, Jew or Arab, to understand either side. We can't assume our position is always right. It seems like everyone is wrong, and there's no way to work out a peaceful, honest solution. We can be open-minded and try to understand the other side. Maybe that will help someone else to be more willing to understand.