Remember them

YNet has a collection of comments by a widely diverse group of Knesset members on the occasion of Yom HaShoah -- Holocaust Memorial Day.

Israel’s Knesset members gathered together to mark Holocaust Day by attending the traditional “Every Person Has a Name” ceremony at the Knesset Monday morning.

Ynet asked the participants a question: Could the Holocaust happen again?

“It was the biggest crime against humanity, and its denial is something that must be rejected completely, both on a political level and a moral level,” said MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al).

“The very existence of the State of Israel and its power already constitutes a major obstacle, so that another Holocaust does not occur,” MK Ran Cohen (Meretz-Yahad) said during the ceremony.

“Still, the dangers Jews and the State of Israel face, such as Iran, are clear and known. I believe that Iran is a real threat to Israel – but I most definitely do not place it on the same level as the Holocaust,” Cohen continued.

MK Danny Yatom (Labor) said, “The danger of another Holocaust occurring is stronger than ever. In recent years, we’ve seen several incidents of genocide in the modern world, so the world has not internalized or learned the lessons of the Shoah, even though they can’t be compared to the Holocaust the Jewish people suffered.”

“It’s up to us whether we learned the lesson or not. At the end of the day, it’s in our power to prevent, God forbid, another Holocaust. Our stupidity could also lead to another Holocaust. It’s only up to us,” said MK Zvi Hendel (National Union-NRP)

Could it happen again? Is that really the question? The danger really isn't so much that the Holocaust might happen again as it is that something else might happen that wouldn't be recognized as another "Holocaust" until far too late. Something that might appear at first as innocuous, justifiable, well-intentioned, even. It begins with the poisoning of people's minds, with the substitution of words, with the pointing of fingers in one direction. It gains critical mass almost without notice. And then it quickly becomes a juggernaut.

Today's fast-paced, mass-media-addicted global community is far more vulnerable to this phenomenon than was the Europe of the 1930s. We need to be viligent. We need to be ever on our guard. All of us. It's the least we can do to honor their memory.