A letter signed by 40 survivors of the Nazi genocide and 287 descendants of survivors and victims ran as a half-page ad in the Saturday, August 23rd New York Times. The letter has been getting an overwhelming response. See below for news coverage and other responses.

 

Raphael Cohen interviewed on Al Jazeera

 

In Ha'aretz--This article has been recommended on Facebook more than 50,000 times and tweeted more than 10,000 times: "Holocaust survivors condemn Israel for 'Gaza Massacre,' call for boycott"

Hundreds of Holocaust survivors and descendants of survivors have signed a letter, published as an advertisement in Saturday's New York Times, condemning "the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza" and calling for a complete boycott of Israel.

According to the letter, the condemnation was prompted by an advertisement written by Elie Wiesel and published in major news outlets worldwide, accusing Hamas of "child sacrifice" and comparing the group to the Nazis.

In the New York Observer: NY Times Runs Ad From Holocaust Survivors Condemning Israel, Attacking Elie Wiesel

...Raphael Cohen, a signatory of the letter and a member of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, said in an interview that Mr. Wiesel’s high profile was a motivating factor behind the publication of the letter.

“We wanted to make it clear that he does not speak for all survivors of the Nazi genocide and that he doesn’t speak for all Jews,” Mr. Cohen said, referring to Mr. Wiesel. “And we wanted to make clear that there is a huge number of survivors who are outraged by what Israel is doing in the Gaza Strip.”

Deutsche Welle: Holocaust survivor: No killing in Gaza in my name ; Bell: "Sie sollen nicht in meinem Namen töten"

Chancellor Angela Merkel from Germany strongly supports Israel and its right of self-defense. Do you think she should change her policy?

Israel's self-defense is very lopsided. Israel is the most powerful nation in the Middle East right now. Gaza, Palestinians have no army, no air force, no navy, no weapons to compare with those of Israel. Gazans are a population living in a constant state of siege. They've been driven from their homes, into decades-long refugee camps, where they've been denied sufficient food, potable water, electricity, medical supplies, et cetera. They're now driven even from those homes, from where they have no other place to go.

As a survivor of the Holocaust, how have your experiences shaped your view of what is happening in Gaza

I grew up in Hamburg and moved to Amsterdam, and then the Germans took my parents. My father died in Theresienstadt; my mother died in Auschwitz. I survived several concentration camps by sheer luck. And as I said before, we were treated as sub-human. Your conscience didn't bother you when you mistreated these creatures because they were not regarded as human, and so I feel very strongly that that should never happen again through any other human being.

In Mondoweiss: 40 Holocaust survivors condemn ‘massacre’ of Palestinians, call for BDS against Israel

Participants in the press call included Edith Bell, whose parents died in concentration camps and who was taken to four camps herself; Suzanne Weiss, whose mother was murdered in Auschwitz and who was hidden by French peasants; and Liliane Kaczerginski, whose father Schmerke was a Jewish fighter against the Nazis in Lithuania. Also joining the call were Monadel Herzallah and Hani Jamah, two Palestinians with family in Gaza who expressed appreciation at the descendants’ and survivors’ efforts.

“I resent anybody who will use those events as an excuse to exterminate Palestinians,” said Bell, who said she survived concentration camps by “pure luck.”

“I applaud your courage for doing such a statement like that, that speaks from the heart,” said Herzallah, a member of the US Palestinian Community Network whose family was expelled from what is now Israel into Gaza. “I’m not surprised when I see these courageous statements by Holocaust survivors and their families…Our children and grandchildren will learn together in Gaza and all over Palestine that never again truly means never again for anyone.

The impetus for the letter came from Holocaust survivors and descendants of victims of the Nazis who were outraged that Israel used their histories to justify assaults on Palestinians. One of the signatories who helped organize the letter was Dr. Hajo Meyer, a German-Dutch physicist who survived Auschwitz and who died the day before the letter was printed in the Times. Meyer was an outspoken critic of Israel, telling the Electronic Intifada that he “had to quit grammar school in Bielefeld after the Kristallnacht…Therefore, I can fully identify with the Palestinian youth that are hampered in their education. And I can in no way identify with the criminals who make it impossible for Palestinian youth to be educated.”

The letter calls out Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who was the author of another advertisement that ran in the New York Times calling on Hamas to reject “child sacrifice” and casting the Israel/Palestine conflict as a “battle of civilization against barbarism.”

“Reading the Elie Wiesel ad made me literally sick to my stomach,” said Maia Ettinger, whose mother and grandmother survived the Holocaust by escaping the Warsaw ghetto. “The ad is an act of towering and transparent projection because what is barbaric is collective punishment, and what is barbaric is indiscriminate bombing.”

On Democracy Now!: Holocaust Survivors Condemn "Genocide of Palestinian People"

More than 300 people affected by the Nazi Holocaust have published a letter condemning "the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people." The signatories include 40 Jewish Holocaust survivors, as well as descendants of both survivors and victims. In their letter published in Saturday’s New York Times, they condemned the United States for its financial support of Israel, writing, "Genocide begins with the silence of the world."

In the Independent (UK): "Israel-Gaza conflict: Holocaust survivors accuse Israel of 'genocide'"

“Genocide begins with the silence of the world,” the statement reads, “We must raise our collective voices and use our collective power to bring about an end to all forms of racism, including the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people.”

The statement also condemns the United States for its financial and diplomatic support of Israel.

The signatories express alarm at “the extreme, racist dehumanization of Palestinians in Israeli society, which has reached a fever pitch.”

In Telesur: "100 More Holocaust Survivors Condemn Israeli 'Massacre of Palestinians'"

Over 300 Holocaust survivors and descendents of survivors have signed a letter condemning Israel's “genocide of the Palestinian people,” which they published as an advertisement in Saturday's New York Times.  The same article was published last week with only 225 signatures.

The statement - which this week has 327 signatures - was released by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, expressing concern over the “extreme, racist dehumanization” of Palestinians, adding that “[R]ight wing Israelis are adopting Neo-Nazi insignia.”

The group's condemnation comes in response to a recent advertisement written by Nobel Prize-winning Jewish-American author Elie Wiesel, which was published in several major news networks, that likened Hamas to Nazism.  Wiesel wrote, “Jews rejected child sacrifice 3,500 years ago.  Now it's Hamas' turn.”

In Global Voices Online: "Over 300 Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendents Condemn Israel's 'Massacre of Palestinians in Gaza'"

The letter was written in response to Holocaust survivor, author and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel’s “manipulation of the Nazi Genocide to attempt to justify the attacks on Gaza.” The accusation that Elie Wiesel manipulates the memory of the Holocaust is an old one. In this case, it refers to his New York Times advertisement in which he claimed that “Jews rejected child sacrifice 3,500 years ago. Now it’s Hamas’ turn,” using biblical imagery by comparing Gazan parents to the Molochites (ancient Canaanites who sacrificed children to their God, Moloch).

Besides his controversial positions supporting Israel's illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, Wiesel was chairman of the IR David Foundation, which aims to “strengthen the Jewish connection to Jerusalem” (Hebrew) and create a Jewish majority in Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. He was notably accused by Jewish scholar Norman Finkelstein in his book “The Holocaust Industry” of promoting the “uniqueness doctrines” whereas all genocides besides the Jewish Holocaust are downplayed.

In Al Arabiya: Holocaust families blast Israel over Gaza conflict

Israel’s attacks on Gaza have been condemned by more than 300 Holocaust survivors and their descendants as a “massacre,” the BBC reported on Sunday.

The statement has been posted as an advert in the New York Times by left-wing organization, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.

The ad, calling for the Gaza blockade to be lifted and Israel to be boycotted, was signed by 40 Holocaust survivors and 287 descendants and other relatives.

In the Guardian-Nigeria: "Gaza Conflict: Mahmoud Abbas Urges Fresh Talks in Egypt"

In a separate development, more than 300 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust and descendants of survivors have issued a public statement condemning Israel's action in Gaza.

In the Tikkun Daily: "40 Holocaust Survivors Condemn Gaza Assault & Call for Boycott of Israel in NYT Letter"

As the death toll in Gaza continues to rise – nearly 2,100 people have died, mostly civilians – a growing number of diaspora Jews, from prominent journalists to community members, are finding themselves pained by Israel’s actions and conflicted by their simultaneous support for and critiques of Israel.

These 40 survivors of one of the worst atrocities in human history have gone a step further, placing themselves in the post-Zionist camp due to what they see in Israel. Such voices have always been looked upon as a moral conscience within the Jewish community. That Holocaust survivors are speaking out in such an extreme way represents something profound taking place amidst the profoundly troubling history being created in the region.