Israel Weaponises Holocaust to Justify Genocide

In today’s world where information has never been more accessible is the ability to contest state power with enormous vigour. Yet Irael consistently weaponises a sacred chapter of history to deflect criticism, criminalise dissent, and suppress accountability for its war crimes.

The exploitation of the Holocaust by Zionist ideology to silence critics of Israel’s criminality—particularly in Gaza and the occupied West Bank—has become a disturbing global pattern.

The accusation of antisemitism is increasingly used not to combat genuine bigotry, but to delegitimise any condemnation of Israeli violence, apartheid, and occupation. It’s not just intellectually dishonest it’s an abusive strategy—an affront to the memory of the Jews murdered by the Nazi regime and a profound misuse of a tragedy that should unite the world in its fight against hate, not be used to protect a state’s impunity.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, controversially adopted by dozens of Western governments, includes “claiming the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour” as an example of antisemitism. The clause has been the centre of a global debate, especially among Jewish academics, Holocaust survivors, and progressive Jewish groups, who argue equating criticism of Israel with hatred of Jews dangerously conflates political critique with racial hatred.

Jewish voices—like Holocaust survivor and political activist Hajo Meyer—have repeatedly drawn a line between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Before his passing Meyer said: “Zionism has nothing to do with Judaism... it is a political ideology. Criticising Israel’s crimes is not antisemitic; it is our moral duty.”

Since October 7, 2023, over 250,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocide of Gaza. Entire neighbourhoods have been razed to the ground. Medical infrastructure, schools, bakeries, and refugee shelters have been repeatedly bombed. International legal scholars and UN experts have all said Israel’s actions meet the criteria of genocide under the Genocide Convention.

Yet calls for ceasefires, sanctions, and investigations into war crimes have been whitewashed with a predictable chorus: “antisemitism.”

When UN rapporteurs, the ICC or human rights organisations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch document systematic abuses by Israeli forces, they’re often accused of harbouring antisemitic bias.

The strategy serves to conflate and muddy the waters—protecting a powerful state from scrutiny, while trivialising the very real threat of antisemitism in the world today.

The tragedy of the Holocaust—one of the most brutal examples of dehumanisation and extermination in human history—has rightfully become a cornerstone of collective memory and education across generations. But invoking it to justify or excuse state violence isn’t just offensive—it is dangerous.

Benjamin Netanyahu frequently references the Holocaust in political speeches when defending military action. In 2015, Netanyahu lied and falsely claimed a Palestinian cleric gave Hitler the idea for the Final Solution, a claim widely condemned by historians and Jewish groups.

Using the Holocaust as a rhetorical shield distorts history. It shifts the conversation away from present-day atrocities and dehumanises Palestinian lives, suggesting their suffering is less legitimate. It positions Israel not as a powerful occupying but as a perpetual victim—a narrative that’s simply incompatible with the facts on the ground.

Many Jewish thinkers, activists, and survivors have long challenged the notion Zionism and Judaism are synonymous. Groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow, and the Israeli organisation B’Tselem argue the Zionist project—defined by ethnic supremacy and territorial conquest—stands in direct contradiction to the Jewish values of justice, compassion, and human dignity.

Holocaust survivor Vera Sharav, founder of the Alliance for Human Research Protection, warned: “Never again is for everyone.” The phrase is not meant to sanctify a single group’s pain but to create a global moral imperative to oppose genocide wherever it occurs—whether its in Rwanda, Bosnia, Myanmar, or Palestine.

The greatest threat posed by conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism is that it obscures real antisemitism. Hate crimes against Jewish communities in the diaspora are on the rise, and demand real, targeted strategies—education, social reform, and solidarity.

Falsely labelling criticism of Israel as antisemitic, Zionist institutions erode the public’s understanding of what antisemitism actually is. It weakens global efforts to combat bigotry and leaves Jewish communities more vulnerable, not less.

Israel’s impunity can’t continue unchecked. Palestinians deserve to live in freedom, dignity, and peace. The international community must hold Israel accountable for its actions not despite the horrors of the Holocaust, but because of them.

If “Never Again” is to mean anything, it has to apply to all people. To use the Holocaust to justify occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing isn’t just a betrayal of history—it is a betrayal of humanity itself.