"'NEVER AGAIN' OVER AGAIN" — on Holocaust Remembrance Day

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | other press

Friday May 13, 2005 12:11

by Joseph Anderson, Berkeley, California, USA

I thought that “Never again!” meant never again for all humanity — not just never again for European Jews.

-

The Daily Californian newspaper
University of California at Berkeley
Berkeley, California

Friday, May 6, 2005

Holocaust Remembrance Day

‘Never Again’ Over Again

- by Joseph Anderson

Berkeley city councilperson Kris Worthington’s letter to the Daily Californian (“Lurking Legacy of Discrimination,” May 3) deals with Holocaust Remembrance Day and the very profound tragedy European Jews suffered under the Nazi regime. We are called again to learn the lessons of history. But have we?

The primary lesson was supposed to be “Never again!” But, a very sad disappointment — and even for many Jews, including some Holocaust survivors — is that we really have not learned. For, as I grew up seeing the horrors revealed in Holocaust documentaries and movies, I thought that “Never again!” meant never again for all humanity — not just never again for European Jews. Where is remembrance day for the Native American, the black slave, the Filipino, the Armenian, in effect the Vietnamese, and the U.S. Vietnam war expansion-triggered Cambodian holocausts?

Blacks were also victims of Nazi Germany's holocaust machine that consumed other ethnic minorities like the Roma, in addition to the mentally handicapped, and before that blacks were genocidal victims of Germany's colonizations in Africa — as with genocidal Western European colonizers (there and in the Americas).

As a member myself of an often oppressed minority whose religious traditions have identified with the Biblical legend of the Jews’ oppression, it saddens me to see many pro-Israel Jews oppress others via a foreign state that would claim to embody Jewish values. For African American ideals, “The Promised Land” is not a land to be "reclaimed" after hundreds, or even thousands, of years, citing God as the real estate agent. The Promised Land doesn’t echo the injustices of the past by, in part, replicating them upon others. The Promised Land is the creation of a just society with an appreciation for the diversity of all humanity and equality for all.

I appreciate Worthington’s letter, but I object that it makes it seem like Berkeley has become a bastion of Jew-hatred: “In Berkeley itself, Jews have far too frequently been victims of hate crimes,” he wrote.

California criminal-justice statistics show that hate crimes for all minority groups have gone down — except for indigenous Middle Easterners and Muslims.

Kris writes that overt prejudice, discrimination and institutionalized exclusion are unacceptable. But, that’s exactly what Jews who commemorate the Holocaust — yet who also ideologically believe in an exclusionary Jewish state — support every day for Israel.

Others, like many of us, like “the good Germans” of another era, turn our heads away from this human rights catastrophe against, in turn, another 'despised' minority: the Palestinian people. Their resistance to brutal ethnic cleansing — something any people would resist from any other people — is, ironically, labeled “anti-Semitic.”

To paraphrase Worthington, Holocaust Remembrance Day should cause us to reflect, to learn that the horrors of all these catastrophes did in fact happen, to support the oppressed everywhere, and to join in the activism to say, “Never again!” — for all humanity.

__________________________________________________________________

Joseph Anderson is a Berkeley resident, an occasional
contributing columnist/essayist to various newspapers,
political and literary publications, a grassroots progressive
political activist, and an occasional interview guest on KPFA's
Hard Knock Radio in Berkeley.

(the above is the slightly longer, original version
of the word length-constrained version published at

http://dailycal.org/article.php?id=18630 )

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Comments (8 of 8)

Let's see if I understand, Joe

by Mike

Fri May 13, 2005 15:09

When you say "Where is remembrance day for the Native American, the black slave, the Filipino, the Armenian, in effect the Vietnamese, and the U.S. Vietnam war expansion-triggered Cambodian holocausts?" what do you mean exactly ---- are you trying to tell us that something prevents any of these people from designating a time when they mourn what ha shappened to them? Or are you just saying that you object tot the Jews remembering what happened to THEM -- feeling that the Jews should instead be mourning the dead Armenains, the American Indians, the Black Slaves, etc.

Are you perhaps objecting to the fact that the Jews DO "remember", make a point of remembering? That they don't forget? Isn't that the problem from your point of view? That they remember Tzion. That they don't foget who they are and join YOUR causes instead. That they have political clout in the US out of proportions to their numbers because they do not forget -- and a politican who has gone against them will find them opposed not just in the next election but for the rest of his or her career.

Who asked YOU to take part in their Rememberance Day that you feel it resonable to object. If you want to work for the establishment of a universal remeberance of all the wronged of the world, who is stopping you. Maybe you need to look in the mirror and think about WHY you object.

Never again? What?

by Rational

Fri May 13, 2005 17:23

Never again jewish bolskevik masacare of 20 Million ethnic Russians.
Never again international financiers wars?
Never again murder of palestinians?
Shooting of little girls by snipers?
Hungarian MAgyar Masacares?
Ukranian pogroms against christians?
Read the book of Esther!
"Religon is the opium of the people"
and communism is the worship of a chosen people!!

Your name's Rational

by Paul - adrift in Asia

Fri May 13, 2005 20:12

That's so funny....

rational eh?

by jack white

Fri May 13, 2005 20:30

Rational's obviously a fascist nutbag. 'jewish-bolshevik' and reference to the supposed 'international financiers wars' are enough to mark him out. Ya sorta wonder how these people can actually learn to read and write and still be so fucking stupid...

Hmmm

by Devil Dog

Sun May 15, 2005 17:34

The nutters are really coming out for this one....good to see that the extreme right can be even more vociferous in Jew hatred than the normal anti-Israel rantings of the left on this site.

The South was right

by isaiah14

Sun May 15, 2005 18:13

jeremiah10 at uatnow dot com

must correct you. The American Indians are not native american to North America. The white race was here first, in fact there is evidence that the North eastern Indians of the United States were actually white Indians. The Ojibwa, the Massachusetts, and other Indians of that area. There is archeological evidence of whites living in North America before the American Indians. Just south of Kenosha Wisconsin is an archeological site that is a site of a white settlement, and is estimated to be 13,000 years old. This pre-dates the American Indians. Also in Washingon state skeletal remains of a white man were found that is at least 9,600 years old. This also pre-dates the American Indians. There is proof that a horde of asian type people came across the Bering straights and slaughtered the whites that were already living in North America. These asians took their place as Native American. They are imposters. Another correction: Over 85% of the south did not have slavery. Slavery was actually more predominant in the North than in the South. The first slave state was Massachusetts. The first state to prohibit slavery was Virginia on October 5, 1778. The South was also the first to have payed labor, and the blacks that you see picking cotton in pictures were probably paid labor. Slavery was to costly for an agricultural and agrarian culture as the South. When you talk about slavery, you must look to Florida and West Florida. Florida was not admitted in the colonies because of their adherance to slavery (Spanish influence). West Florida was the area that now comprises Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and the eastern part of Texas. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia wanted to extended their territories to the Mississippi River but King George I of England denied them by sending troops and the creola's into the area. King George was making millions of dollars off the slave trade. Fredrick Douglas, for instance, would talk about his days as a slave on a plantation and how he ran a way for freedom. What he didn't tell you is that the plantation that he ran a way from was in Maryland. I don't think that Maryland was considered a slave state. David Hunt, known as King David Hunt, had something like 25 plantations that had over 1,700 slaves that maintained them. However, these plantations were up and down the Mississippi River. He was not allowed to establish any plantations in the Southern states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia because slavery was prohibited in these states. Another interesting fact is that more blacks fought for the South than for the North during the Civil War; and the majority of the people (North and South) favored the Southern position. Most of the desertions during the Civil War (1861 to late 1864) was from the Northern Armies to the Southern Armies. This is why Lincoln had to use mercenaries. The Zouves were Irish and English mercenaries that fought for the North for pay. There were others from German, Italy, and other countries. The North recruited blacks by force. These blacks were threatened by death of themselves as well as of their families. The blacks in the North were treated a lot worse than the blacks of the South. The South fought the war of independence (the Civil War) for states rights. One other thing that is interesting is that the very first all black regiment of the Civil War that fought for the North was the 1st. South Carolina Regiment, and it was formed in South Carolina in 1863. The South was actually right, and they were defeated because they wanted to maintain their states sovereignties and independence. However, there is evidence that the South is returning to its rightful place in history. They will come back to gain their independence.

'NEVER AGAIN' OVER AGAIN

by Geo

Sun May 15, 2005 18:36

Great article! Thanks!

Jews not always history's *only* -- or *worst* -- victims!

by ever hear of hypocrisy?

Tue May 17, 2005 10:47

Mike (Zionist): "When you say "Where is remembrance day for the Native American, the black slave, the Filipino, the Armenian, in effect the Vietnamese, and the U.S. Vietnam war expansion-triggered Cambodian holocausts?" what do you mean exactly ---- are you trying to tell us that something prevents any of these people from designating a time when they mourn what ha shappened to them?"

Yes. Nobody else in the U.S. would get the sheer major airtime that European Jews (who are, after all white, and therefore, apparently, still matter more) would get.

Mike (Zionist): "...feeling that the Jews should instead be mourning the dead Armenains, the American Indians, the Black Slaves, etc."

We should ALL be mourning them. We should ALL be mourning ALL victims of brutal oppression and genocide/semi-genocide.

Mike (Zionist): "...That they don't foget who they are and join YOUR causes instead."

Opposing or mourning genocide should be *EVERYONE'S* cause -- but Zionist/pro-Israel Jews are so damn narcissistically wrapped up in their *own* victimology (even though European Jews were hardly always history's only or worst victims) that you, Mike, wouldn't realize that.

Mike (Zionist): "...they have political clout in the US out of proportions to their numbers"

Nationally commemorating genocide shouldn't depend on "political clout", but, likewise (see just above), you wouldnt realize that.

Mike (Zionist): "...and a politican who has gone against them [Jews] will find them opposed not just in the next election but for the rest of his or her career."

Yes, we are all well-aware of these heavy-handed Zionist 'terrorist' tactics and not just against American politicians -- how did it get to be that way? -- especially against any American politician that calls for even any *slight* sense of balance/fairness in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

You Zionists once ousted congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia -- but she's *BACK* now, isn't she? The tide is slowly starting to turn in America. As MLK said, the arc of history may, at times, be slight, but it eventually bends toward justice.

Mike (Zionist): "...If you want to work for the establishment of a universal remeberance of all the wronged of the world"

And Jews should be *among the first* to help work to establish that.

In particular, unlike what Zionist/pro-Israel Jews seem to believe, the history of all the universe -- let alone that of all humankind -- does not revolve around Zionist Jews.

By the way, Mike, many Jews -- if still far from a majority yet -- *KNOW* this. But many of those Jews are harassed/'terrorized' by those like you.

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"'NEVER AGAIN' OVER AGAIN" — on Holocaust Remembrance Day

Comments (8 of 8)