Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Holocaust inversion

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'''Holocaust inversion''' is antisemitic anti-Zionist discourse in which Zionists are cast as Nazis, and Palestinians as Jews. This discourse employs classic antisemitic tropes and images, but directs them towards the Jewish state.<ref>[https://ift.tt/2HJYpNd Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism: The Dynamics of Delegitimization], chapter by Alan Johnson, page 175-178</ref><ref name="Marcus_63_64">[https://ift.tt/2WkXRAu Jewish Identity and Civil Rights in America], Cambridge University Press, Kenneth L. Marcus, pages 63-64</ref>

According to [[Kenneth L. Marcus]], the aims of those who employ Holocaust inversion is to "shock, silence, threaten, insulate, and legitimize". Even when used frequently, the use of Holocaust inversion is still shocking, which facilitates its repeated use. The tying together of Nazi motifs with Jewish conspiracy stereotypes has a chilling effect designed to silence Jewish viewpoints sympathetic to Israel. Furthermore, by implying guilt this discourse is threatening as it implies a required punishment. As this antisemitic discourse is performed under a political guise of Israel criticism it insulates those who use it from the resistance most forms of racism face in post-WWII society. Finally, inversion legitimizes not only anti-Israel activities but also anti-Jewish activity that otherwise would be hard to conduct. According to [[Bernard-Henri Lévy]], this erodes societal safeguards allowing "people to feel once again the desire and, above all, the right to burn all the synagogues they want, to attack boys wearing yarmulkes, to harass large number of rabbis ... in order for anti-Semitism to be reborn on a large scale". <ref name="Marcus_63_64"/>

Extrapolating from a 2011 study that showed respondents agreed at high rate to the statement of "Israel is carrying out a war of extermination against the Palestinians", [[Manfred Gerstenfeld]] concluded that some 150 million, out of 400 million, EU citizens espouse a view that demonized Israel. According to Gerstenfeld, Holocaust inversion is a mainstream phenomena in the [[European Union]].<ref>[https://ift.tt/2HJYpNd Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism: The Dynamics of Delegitimization], chapter by Alan Johnson, page 176</ref>

In response to the phenomena of Holocaust inversion, the [[Working Definition of Antisemitism]] (adopted by the [[International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance]], the US state department, and others) includes several ways in which criticism of Israel may be antisemitic. In particular, the working definition includes the act of "drawing comparison of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis".<ref>[https://ift.tt/2HJYpNd Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism: The Dynamics of Delegitimization], chapter by Alan Johnson, page 177</ref>

Holocaust inversion may be see as a form of Holocaust revisionism, as it minimizes the Nazi crimes. According to [[Bernard Lewis]] the belief Nazis were no worse than Israel has: "brought welcome relief to many who had long borne a burden of guilt for the role which they, their families, their nations, or their churches had played in Hitler's crimes against the Jews, whether by participation or complicity, acquiescence or indifference".<ref>[https://ift.tt/2HI0HfK Jewish Identity and Civil Rights in America], Cambridge University Press, Kenneth L. Marcus, page 56</ref>

In Austria, while overt antisemitism has been limited following the Holocaust, functionally equivalent discourse was able to rise under a new guise. In particular, the [[Freedom Party of Austria]], has used Holocaust inversion to legitimize political opponents.<ref>Karin. "‘We are the new Jews!’and ‘The Jewish Lobby’–antisemitism and the construction of a national identity by the Austrian Freedom Party." Nations and Nationalism 22.3 (2016): 484-504.</ref>

== References ==



[[Category:New antisemitism]]
[[Category:Anti-Zionism]]
[[Category:Antisemitism]]
[[Category:Politics of Israel]]
[[Category:Racism]]


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