How do Arabs view the Holocaust? Authors Meir Litvak and Esther Webman try to answer that question with a detailed analysis in “From Empathy to Denial: Arab Responses to the Holocaust,” a scholarly study of Arab-Muslim discourse from World War II to the present.
Using newspapers and magazines, official government reports and academic studies by Arab-Muslim authors, the authors note that much of the discourse was in the context of emerging Arab nationalism, fed by dissatisfaction with Western values and Arab colonial experiences under European powers.
They conclude that while Holocaust denial or minimization is not dead, the discussion seems to be turning toward a greater understanding of the Holocaust as a way to link Jewish suffering to Palestinian suffering.
The authors begin with key case studies in the evolution of the discourse:
• 1945-1948, in which the main themes were Arabs paying the price for Jewish suffering and minimizing the effects of Holocaust.
• The 1952 Germany-Israel reparations agreement, in which Jews allegedly used guilt with Germany in exchange for millions in aid.
• The Eichmann affair and the beginning of the international campaign against Israel.
• How Arabs viewed changing Catholic attitudes toward Jews.
The book also analyzes several important themes, including Holocaust denial and justification (how Jews allegedly were responsible for what befell them), the equating of Zionism with Nazism (racial superiority and imperialism), the 1948 war and resulting Arab “nakba” (disaster), peace efforts beginning in the 1990s, and the suffering of Palestinians in “occupied” land.
Arab views on the Holocaust ranged from outright denial to passive acceptance. A main argument was that Jews were just one of many groups that suffered during World War II and should not have been singled out for anything special — such as being granted a Jewish nation on land that Arabs considered theirs.
Arab writings also pointed out how no one seemed to have the kind of sympathy for Palestinians that they did for Holocaust victims, and noted that Arabs had nothing to do with the Holocaust but paid a price for it. Another Arab argument focused on the German war reparations to Israel and the fact that no such payments were ever considered for Palestinians displaced by Israel’s formation.
Some of the more extreme Arab writings even tried to justify the Holocaust.
A committed Zionist and Israel supporter will cringe over some of this material. They may want to hurl the book out the window or stomp on it. They may want to yell at the Arabs, “Get a therapist for your delusions.”
Anti-Zionists will revel in what this book reveals. They may say, “This is what we’ve been trying to tell you for 60 years!”
Readers should not blame the messengers; the authors (both affiliated with Tel Aviv University) are only reporting what they read and translated. It’s to their credit that the material is presented mostly without value judgments.
However, words sprinkled throughout the second half of the book may reveal the authors’ views, when they describe the Arab discourse as “pseudo-historical,” “pseudo-academic,” “alleged,” “superficial” and “distorted” or say the writings “twist,” “overlook,” “ignore,” “disregard” and “misconstrue” information.
This reference work sheds light on Arabs thinking about the Holocaust, often in mind-numbing detail. The writing often is tedious and repetitious. Perhaps this is the authors’ way of driving their points home.
“From Empathy to Denial: Arab Responses to the Holocaust” by Meir Litvak and Esther Webman (443 pages, Columbia University Press, $30)