Netanyahu, Hams and the Holocaust

Benjamin Netanyahu alleged that EU, by removing Hamas from a list of terrorist organisations 'learned nothing from the Holocaust'. I wish, I hope, he hadn't said that. Israeli politicians should not use the Holocaust as a propaganda tool. The conditions and circumstances in Europe now, despite the increased prevalence of anti-Semitism, is nothing like it was in the Europe of the 1930s, when the seeds of the Holocaust were sowed, and certainly nothing like it was in the period between 1941 and 1945, in the middle of a very brutal war. when the mass murders took place. Hamas is a corrupt, ruthless, autocratic regime, but describing it as a terrorist organisation cast doubts on the meaning of the term 'terrorist'. Whether there is some benefit in having Hamas on the list of bad guys, or a downside to removing them from that list I don't know. But using the memory of the Holocaust to influence such a political decision is harmful, and outright dishonest. The memory of the Holocaust has a profound impact on the narrative that shaped Israel, and underlies the 'Jews will never again be helpless, defenceless victims' policies pursued by governments of whatever shades on the political spectrum since well before the establishment of the state. But trotting out the Holocaust as justification for whatever politically expedient argument some politician wants to hammer home is simply shameful.