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The Dangers of Ignoring History

By Malcolm Hedding

02 Feb 2009

Given all the uproar over Israel’s justified incursion into Gaza, I have noted that through many years and many different conflicts pursued by various nations, there were always voices that called for disengagement and appeasement in the face of persistent and blatant aggression. For instance, there were those who thought that the Nazis had obviously improved the lives of millions of Germans at every level and therefore their warlike tones at mass rallies and in multiple propaganda organs were quite irrelevant and innocuous. Their threats, though oft repeated, would amount to nothing!

Even though the Nazi charter Mein Kampf clearly set out the ‘end game,’ it was ignored and Hitler’s sinister agenda calling for the destruction of the Jews and war on a mass scale was regarded as nothing more than rhetoric! In fact there were people in the United Kingdom and even the United States that fully supported the Nazis and even admired them. In the US, the Nazi Party flourished for a while and even held well-attended public meetings! The message was clear – there was no need to worry and all the anger and hatred aimed at the Jews was just a passing fad!

Just sixty odd years later, another like-minded organization arrived in Gaza with similar goals and rhetoric. It gave help to the Palestinian community there in the form of schools, clinics and social relief. But like Hitler, it murdered and exiled the opposition (Fatah) and demanded the support and allegiance of the people. Everyone ignored its violent, jihadist speeches at mass rallies, as well as its own “Mein Kampf” (the Hamas Charter) which enshrines the utter and complete destruction of Israel. Meanwhile, many in the international community have said very little about this dark obsession, choosing rather to dress up this Islamist terror militia as a legitimate partner to be engaged.

History now instructs us that to ignore the brutal reality embodied in such totalitarian documents, books, charters and speeches is to do so at great risk and peril. The Nazi experiment left 53 million people dead all across Europe and Russia. Over Six million were Jews! Hamas, through its phony benevolence and its consuming hatred of Israel, has led the Palestinians down the same deceptive path, but how amazing it is to hear the liberal Western media eulogizing the organization for its activities! They could hardly hide their glee when they assessed during the recent fighting that all of Israel’s actions were “counterproductive” since the Arab street was incensed and Hamas was still launching missiles.

All the while, the Charter of Hamas remains wholly intact with its vindictive vision of the total destruction of Israel. It also asserts that this is undoubtedly the will of Allah. So, in reality the nature of this struggle is not political but religious, just as the struggle against Nazism was not political but religious. Under the surface of this devilish movement was a religious theory based on “Norse God” belief systems that led them to think they were superior to all other peoples and destined to subdue and triumph over them. The Jewish people were, of course, the most under-developed race on the face of the earth and had to be removed.

How sad, then, that nothing has really changed. Hamas and their radical Islamic fellow travelers hold a similar belief system. They just live 60 odd years later and in a world that is not prepared to learn from history and that no longer knows or acknowledges the existence of good and evil! Hitler’s jihad against the Jews led to the death of millions of non-Jews. The world must recognize that this attack against Israel today could have similar repercussions if it is not acknowledged for what it is. But, who will listen?

Rev. Hedding is executive director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem; www.icej.org

This article was first published in the February 2009 issue of The Jerusalem Post Christian Edition; www.jpost.com/ce