Since the terror attack by Hamas, numerous media outlets across the Arab world, including from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Bahrain, have compared the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza to the Holocaust, sparking a renewed focus on the nature of Holocaust narratives in Arab discourse. One prominent example: on October 19, the Egyptian daily newspaper al-Youm a-Sabi – a publication affiliated with the regime – described the war in Gaza as “the Gaza Holocaust,” encapsulating a comparison pervasive in media circles.
While not new, this trend underscores the inherent contradictions within Holocaust narratives prevalent in Arab and Muslim countries. Academic research has shown that Arab discourse on Holocaust denial began as early as 1945, escalating in the subsequent decades of Israeli-Arab conflict. This discourse is fraught with dissonances, simultaneously denying, justifying, and employing the Holocaust to depict Israeli actions against Palestinians.
These narratives are reflected in contemporary attitudes toward the Holocaust in the MENA region. Data from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for 2014-2015 paint a grim picture of Holocaust perceptions in the MENA region: 59% of respondents reported being unaware of the Holocaust; 52% believed that the atrocities and the death toll of Jews cited have been greatly exaggerated;11% regarded the Holocaust as a myth; and only 22% felt the historical accounts are accurate. Significantly, these perceptions are not limited to the MENA region, but are also prevalent in Arab and Muslim diasporas in the West.
An op-ed in Akhbar al-Khaleej, a Bahraini newspaper known for maintaining a relatively independent stance from the regime, exemplifies these discrepancies, stating: “What the Palestinian people have endured for the past 75 years is a Holocaust of their own…surpassing the Zionist narratives and legends about the Jewish Holocaust. The Zionist entity has perpetrated severe crimes beyond anything seen worldwide, which makes the Palestinian Holocaust an atrocity a thousand times greater.”
This emphasizes the urgency of confronting antisemitism and Holocaust denial within Arab and Muslim communities, both in the MENA region and in diasporas in the West. To be sure, certain shifts in these attitudes are already underway, particularly in the Abraham Accords states. Countries like Morocco and the UAE, which champion religious tolerance and the fight against extremism, have taken substantial measures to grapple with antisemitism. This includes the integration of Holocaust education into school curricula, demonstrating a commitment to counter historical distortions.
Since the terror attack by Hamas, numerous media outlets across the Arab world, including from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Bahrain, have compared the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza to the Holocaust, sparking a renewed focus on the nature of Holocaust narratives in Arab discourse. One prominent example: on October 19, the Egyptian daily newspaper al-Youm a-Sabi – a publication affiliated with the regime – described the war in Gaza as “the Gaza Holocaust,” encapsulating a comparison pervasive in media circles.
While not new, this trend underscores the inherent contradictions within Holocaust narratives prevalent in Arab and Muslim countries. Academic research has shown that Arab discourse on Holocaust denial began as early as 1945, escalating in the subsequent decades of Israeli-Arab conflict. This discourse is fraught with dissonances, simultaneously denying, justifying, and employing the Holocaust to depict Israeli actions against Palestinians.
These narratives are reflected in contemporary attitudes toward the Holocaust in the MENA region. Data from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for 2014-2015 paint a grim picture of Holocaust perceptions in the MENA region: 59% of respondents reported being unaware of the Holocaust; 52% believed that the atrocities and the death toll of Jews cited have been greatly exaggerated;11% regarded the Holocaust as a myth; and only 22% felt the historical accounts are accurate. Significantly, these perceptions are not limited to the MENA region, but are also prevalent in Arab and Muslim diasporas in the West.
An op-ed in Akhbar al-Khaleej, a Bahraini newspaper known for maintaining a relatively independent stance from the regime, exemplifies these discrepancies, stating: “What the Palestinian people have endured for the past 75 years is a Holocaust of their own…surpassing the Zionist narratives and legends about the Jewish Holocaust. The Zionist entity has perpetrated severe crimes beyond anything seen worldwide, which makes the Palestinian Holocaust an atrocity a thousand times greater.”
This emphasizes the urgency of confronting antisemitism and Holocaust denial within Arab and Muslim communities, both in the MENA region and in diasporas in the West. To be sure, certain shifts in these attitudes are already underway, particularly in the Abraham Accords states. Countries like Morocco and the UAE, which champion religious tolerance and the fight against extremism, have taken substantial measures to grapple with antisemitism. This includes the integration of Holocaust education into school curricula, demonstrating a commitment to counter historical distortions.