Burg: Gaza is the very end of The Holocaust as Israel’s moral legitimacy

Aus dem (August-)Blog von Avrum Burg, harte Worte und schwere Kost …

The Holocaust will forever remain a black hole in human history. But the moral credit card it gave Israel has expired. From now on, Israel will be measured like any other state: by its actions in the present.

This is a painful realization for Israel. Perhaps the most painful since its founding. For the first time, it is asked for accountability and moral reckoning for its own deeds and wrongs. And yet this moment holds new possibility. The crimes of Hamas in October 2023 do not justify, let alone balance, Israel’s crimes since. Though it must repeatedly said: Jews never committed or attacked Germany, and the Final Solution had no justification, none whatsoever. Yet the post-2023 Israel must become Gaza’s Germany, Palestine’s Germany. Having destroyed, Israel must rebuild. Having denied, it must ensure an entire generation of Palestinian life in peace and hope.Since there is one more lesson from “our holocaust”. Not only the victims need healing and repairs. So does the criminal victimizer. This time it is us the Israelis.