It was refreshing and hope generating to read the well put words of my friend, Mohamad.
I can't say that I agree with everything that was said below, nor do I agree that I chose Mr. Hafid as the Representative of the Arabs with regards to the atrocities of the Holocaust and having me and Mohammed in the spectrum of other opinions is a proof that there are other thought in what we call "The Arab world".
My point, by bringing Hafid's words to the blog is to show the unfortunate fact that Hafid's voice seems louder than the one of Mohammed below.
Here are Mohamad Ismail's respond as was sent to me:
Hi Farhan,
Hope you're well too. Thank you.
I commented, however the length was too long. Is there a way that you can post it. If not, here is what I wrote in response:
I do know this, seek the truth and you shall find it. Seek hatred, racism, and ignorance and one will always find that too. However, a great teacher once said, judge not, that ye be judged. Accordingly, my first inclination after reading Mr. Hafid's response is that he lacks a though understanding of European history, doesn't speak, write, or spell English well since it's probably not his first language, and that he is emotionally attached to the issues pertaining to Palestine and Israel. My other thought is that using him as somewhat of a representation to ask why there exists a phenomena of Holocaust denial in 'Arab society", one in which exists 360 million breathing souls, seems to me, as a very weak argument and association. Furthermore, and more importantly to me as a fellow Arabi, his opinion doesn't affect, or represent me, or produce any emotional response. The reason being is that he didn't express himself or anything worthy to learn. Therefore, and not in a judgmental way, it seems like an ignorant closed-minded opinion of an asshole. However, there are no real assholes in life, more so confused, frustrated, and ill-informed and/or ill-intentioned people. But at everyone's essence is a beating heart and consciousness that is understanding his or her path in life. And that goes for everyone, from Buddah, Ghandi, all the way to people like Hitler.
What this man represents to me, however, is what the deeper point that I believe you are trying to make with your post, titled: Holocaust Deniers Thrive In The Arab Word, Why?
A very valid question indeed, and one that should in my opinion be understood and addressed. Why? Why does anyone deny anything, even if it is documented truth? That is the fundamental question. And more importantly is, how does somebody overcome that in order to educate and reach people such as Mr. Hafid. Along those similar lines, one must also ask why does a large segment of pro-Israeli society deny the atrocities that happened in 48 to create the Israeli regime? How do some believe that Israel doesn't even commit atrocities and that its acts purely in selfdefense? Why do some believe that the holocaust never happened and that anything associated with Israel is evil?
Why, why, why..
Well, here is how I understand it. For Israelis, there is an existential threat of sorts to coming to terms with the historical events of the founding of Israel and their relationship with Israel as well as there personal identity. For the Arab world's denial of the atrocities of what happened to Jews during WWII, there is also an existential issue, however it's not as strongly tied to one's personal identity, it is rather, more directly tied to a lacking of a more thorough understanding of European, Zionist, and Arabic history. Something that non-hostile education will help with. For instance, something like this, a man like Mr. Hafid, will have a hard time denying:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdu5KcEb_xs
What all this means exactly is basically this. Pro-Israeli types have a hard time coming to terms with the history of the founding of Israel and some of its current actions like the Gaza blockade, political prisons, assassinations, arbitrary detainments, checkpoints, the wall, settlements, international law, status of Jerusalem, and Palestinian refugees to name a few, because to do would mean that Israel was born in sin and continues to commit human right violations. Meaning that some Holocaust survivors, after suffering horrible oppression, are directly and indirectly related cause of suffering and displacement of roughly 800,000 thousand Palestinians in 48 in order to create Israel and establishing the mechanism of the current issued mentioned above, hence the Palestinian refugees "problem." And this, for some, simply can't be the case because much of Jewish history and identity is built upon being victimized, not oppressing other people. It's only recently that the Jews have managed to become powerful and competitive as a people on the world stage. So it's rationalized on many planes as being a necessity, they had no where else to go, the Arabs attacked the Jews, the Jews came in peace, ect. Essentially though, nobody wants to connected to the displacement of 800,000 people, so they consciously and/or unconsciously deny or rationalize historical facts, or play with, dispute and place them in the context of wars and natural outcomes. Thus avoiding sympathizing with the "other's" historical pain.
For the Arabs, people who have in some regard suffered from the creation of Israel, they for the most part don't want to sympathize with the Jew's historical pains. It's partly something like this, don't come crying over older history to us, when Israel and "the Jews" are creating atrocities and injustices currently, today, against the Palestinian people, then expect me to cry for your historical pains? They don't want to hear it, either consciously or unconsciously, because to do so, would mean that, yes, the Jews also did suffer at one point like "us", the Arabs. But then why, again the question why, would they being do this to us. "It doesn't make sense, it couldn't happen, the Holocaust must be fabricated, no one who suffered in the Holocaust would being doing this to us!" That is part of the rationale. There is more to it of course. There is hatred towards Israel, and accordingly, one doesn't want to feel sympathy for his perceived and defined enemy also.
Now two points need to be interjected, and that is that Holocaust denial is unjustifiable, and I am by no means trying to rationalize or justify these views, I'm simply stating that this is my current understanding of how some holocaust deniers come to terms with the Holocaust's history. And two, the Holocaust is a human tragedy, not exclusively a Jewish one, and therefore humanity as a whole needs to understand it and its context.
In more basic terms, it can be explained that we all have an ideological foundations that we base our thoughts and opinions on and from. Certain facts and experiences have the potential to shatter these foundations. If growing up, your environment is one of contempt for Israel or Arabs or Palestine, then learning and re-humanizing the "other" is not done easily. So therefore, denial becomes a way to cope, because to do otherwise would mean that your "hated enemy" suffers and is human like you, and that you have more in common with the 'Terrorist' or "Zionist" than one might think before, and then what you have learned and have been taught is a lie, and accordingly, then you are potentially wrong, and most people tend to think that they are right and don't want to believe that they are 'wrong." And within their own context of life and life experiences, they just might be right, because we all have a different perception of everything stemming from our different experiences and education paths. This video is a nice explanation of the underlying fundamental topic discussed in a way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBC6vIGb40Q
To truly understand why two people have divergent opinions on a fundamental truth, read; Naive Realism: Implications for Social Conflict and Misunderstanding
by Lee Ross and Andrew Ward Working Paper No. 48 May 1995
If you would like a copy, feel welcomed to email me at: mcohor@gmail.com
All the best..
I can't say that I agree with everything that was said below, nor do I agree that I chose Mr. Hafid as the Representative of the Arabs with regards to the atrocities of the Holocaust and having me and Mohammed in the spectrum of other opinions is a proof that there are other thought in what we call "The Arab world".
My point, by bringing Hafid's words to the blog is to show the unfortunate fact that Hafid's voice seems louder than the one of Mohammed below.
Here are Mohamad Ismail's respond as was sent to me:
Hi Farhan,
Hope you're well too. Thank you.
I commented, however the length was too long. Is there a way that you can post it. If not, here is what I wrote in response:
I do know this, seek the truth and you shall find it. Seek hatred, racism, and ignorance and one will always find that too. However, a great teacher once said, judge not, that ye be judged. Accordingly, my first inclination after reading Mr. Hafid's response is that he lacks a though understanding of European history, doesn't speak, write, or spell English well since it's probably not his first language, and that he is emotionally attached to the issues pertaining to Palestine and Israel. My other thought is that using him as somewhat of a representation to ask why there exists a phenomena of Holocaust denial in 'Arab society", one in which exists 360 million breathing souls, seems to me, as a very weak argument and association. Furthermore, and more importantly to me as a fellow Arabi, his opinion doesn't affect, or represent me, or produce any emotional response. The reason being is that he didn't express himself or anything worthy to learn. Therefore, and not in a judgmental way, it seems like an ignorant closed-minded opinion of an asshole. However, there are no real assholes in life, more so confused, frustrated, and ill-informed and/or ill-intentioned people. But at everyone's essence is a beating heart and consciousness that is understanding his or her path in life. And that goes for everyone, from Buddah, Ghandi, all the way to people like Hitler.
What this man represents to me, however, is what the deeper point that I believe you are trying to make with your post, titled: Holocaust Deniers Thrive In The Arab Word, Why?
A very valid question indeed, and one that should in my opinion be understood and addressed. Why? Why does anyone deny anything, even if it is documented truth? That is the fundamental question. And more importantly is, how does somebody overcome that in order to educate and reach people such as Mr. Hafid. Along those similar lines, one must also ask why does a large segment of pro-Israeli society deny the atrocities that happened in 48 to create the Israeli regime? How do some believe that Israel doesn't even commit atrocities and that its acts purely in selfdefense? Why do some believe that the holocaust never happened and that anything associated with Israel is evil?
Why, why, why..
Well, here is how I understand it. For Israelis, there is an existential threat of sorts to coming to terms with the historical events of the founding of Israel and their relationship with Israel as well as there personal identity. For the Arab world's denial of the atrocities of what happened to Jews during WWII, there is also an existential issue, however it's not as strongly tied to one's personal identity, it is rather, more directly tied to a lacking of a more thorough understanding of European, Zionist, and Arabic history. Something that non-hostile education will help with. For instance, something like this, a man like Mr. Hafid, will have a hard time denying:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdu5KcEb_xs
What all this means exactly is basically this. Pro-Israeli types have a hard time coming to terms with the history of the founding of Israel and some of its current actions like the Gaza blockade, political prisons, assassinations, arbitrary detainments, checkpoints, the wall, settlements, international law, status of Jerusalem, and Palestinian refugees to name a few, because to do would mean that Israel was born in sin and continues to commit human right violations. Meaning that some Holocaust survivors, after suffering horrible oppression, are directly and indirectly related cause of suffering and displacement of roughly 800,000 thousand Palestinians in 48 in order to create Israel and establishing the mechanism of the current issued mentioned above, hence the Palestinian refugees "problem." And this, for some, simply can't be the case because much of Jewish history and identity is built upon being victimized, not oppressing other people. It's only recently that the Jews have managed to become powerful and competitive as a people on the world stage. So it's rationalized on many planes as being a necessity, they had no where else to go, the Arabs attacked the Jews, the Jews came in peace, ect. Essentially though, nobody wants to connected to the displacement of 800,000 people, so they consciously and/or unconsciously deny or rationalize historical facts, or play with, dispute and place them in the context of wars and natural outcomes. Thus avoiding sympathizing with the "other's" historical pain.
For the Arabs, people who have in some regard suffered from the creation of Israel, they for the most part don't want to sympathize with the Jew's historical pains. It's partly something like this, don't come crying over older history to us, when Israel and "the Jews" are creating atrocities and injustices currently, today, against the Palestinian people, then expect me to cry for your historical pains? They don't want to hear it, either consciously or unconsciously, because to do so, would mean that, yes, the Jews also did suffer at one point like "us", the Arabs. But then why, again the question why, would they being do this to us. "It doesn't make sense, it couldn't happen, the Holocaust must be fabricated, no one who suffered in the Holocaust would being doing this to us!" That is part of the rationale. There is more to it of course. There is hatred towards Israel, and accordingly, one doesn't want to feel sympathy for his perceived and defined enemy also.
Now two points need to be interjected, and that is that Holocaust denial is unjustifiable, and I am by no means trying to rationalize or justify these views, I'm simply stating that this is my current understanding of how some holocaust deniers come to terms with the Holocaust's history. And two, the Holocaust is a human tragedy, not exclusively a Jewish one, and therefore humanity as a whole needs to understand it and its context.
In more basic terms, it can be explained that we all have an ideological foundations that we base our thoughts and opinions on and from. Certain facts and experiences have the potential to shatter these foundations. If growing up, your environment is one of contempt for Israel or Arabs or Palestine, then learning and re-humanizing the "other" is not done easily. So therefore, denial becomes a way to cope, because to do otherwise would mean that your "hated enemy" suffers and is human like you, and that you have more in common with the 'Terrorist' or "Zionist" than one might think before, and then what you have learned and have been taught is a lie, and accordingly, then you are potentially wrong, and most people tend to think that they are right and don't want to believe that they are 'wrong." And within their own context of life and life experiences, they just might be right, because we all have a different perception of everything stemming from our different experiences and education paths. This video is a nice explanation of the underlying fundamental topic discussed in a way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBC6vIGb40Q
To truly understand why two people have divergent opinions on a fundamental truth, read; Naive Realism: Implications for Social Conflict and Misunderstanding
by Lee Ross and Andrew Ward Working Paper No. 48 May 1995
If you would like a copy, feel welcomed to email me at: mcohor@gmail.com
All the best..
Stretching from the Atlantic Ocean at the west, into the highlands of Iran and the Arabian Sea in the East, the Middle East’s political, social and economic activities impact upon the rest of the world on ever-increasing scale. Oil, ethnic diversity, religion and politics all come into play in this conflicted area.
ReplyDelete