Love of the Land: Holocaust projection

Holocaust projection

Soccer Dad
Yourish.com
07 January '10

Posted before Shabbat

Genocide is a messy business. Usually it involves a lot of killing. Also, as evidence that genocide occurred there will be an extreme drop in population.

For example:

The Jewish communities of eastern Europe were devastated. In 1933, Poland had the largest Jewish population in Europe, numbering over three million. By 1950, the Jewish population of Poland was reduced to about 45,000.

However an increase in population would be proof that no genocide was taking place. For example:

The population of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has passed 1.4 million people, an increase of nearly 40 percent over the past 10 years, an official Palestinian census said.

While conditions for the Palestinians in Gaza may not be pleasant, there’s certainly no genocide going on there. Rather than a 90% drop in population, the Palestinian population has increased over the past decade.

However, math won’t stop some people from imputing the worst to the Jewish state. Helena Cobban, the new executive director of Council for the National Interest writes (CNI):

From the point of view of victims it may or may not matter too much. Being killed, or having the foundations of the life of the group you belong to quite systematically destroyed, is certainly bad enough, with or without the additional genocidal intention on the part of the perpetrator. (Ask the survivors of various horrendous massacres in the Democratic republic of Congo or elsewhere about that.)

Love of the Land: Holocaust projection