Letter: Memory of holocaust victims is being abused by supporters of Israel and fears of denial are being exaggerated

It said: “The holocaust is still marked because it was so horrifying as to be almost hard to believe - and there are no shortage of bad people who try to pretend that it did not happen.” (Remembering the horror of the Nazi holocaust, January 28)

During my entire life, I have never encountered anyone who claimed the holocaust did not happen; I have talked to people who claimed the moon landing was staged and did not happen, but I have never met anyone who denied the extent of wholesale murder carried out almost 80 years ago by the Nazis.

That does not mean a few such people do not exist in this world, but they are a tiny minority.

The holocaust is a fact of history and that cannot be changed. Jewish people, Roma people, gays etc suffered and died eight decades ago.

So why is remembering the facts of the holocaust contentious?

Today, the semitic people of Palestine are slowly being forced out of their homeland, with 70,000 killed in the 28 months by Israel.

The war crimes have been visible on our screens in a way that the holocaust was not, but the ‘Never Again’ slogan has been ignored and many of our political leaders seemed to be cheering on the atrocities.

Every time someone like me speaks out against the antisemitism that has allowed the Israel Defense Forces to kill 70,000 of the semitic people of Palestine, we are accused of being ‘antisemitic’ and reminded of the holocaust. Even my use of the term ‘antisemitic’ to describe the murder of the semitic people of Palestine will attract disapproval.

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the memory of the victims of the holocaust is being abused by supporters of Israel and that fears of holocaust denial are being exaggerated to distract from today’s war crimes.

An insistence on focusing on the unchangeable past is being used to prevent us changing the future and making ‘Never Again’ a reality.

Arnold Carton, Belfast BT6