What’s relevant here, however, are the specific facts about the current situation in Gaza—the details and realities that transcend glib (and in some ways, come-hither) comparisons. And while there have been arguments for and against the idea of proportionality in the coverage of the current conflict (for every article that cites the disproportionate number of Gazans versus Israelis dead, there’s been an op-ed rejecting such comparisons as misleading and not context-driven), it’s ironic that some of the critics of the proportionality argument are just as willing to embrace language that conveniently forgets that there’s a bigger sphere of proportionality as well—not just concerning death tolls on opposite sides, but also with respect to historical accuracy. Hamas, the political entity, doesn’t correspond in size, degree or intensity with the Nazis; in this context—with a distorted characterization that seeks to qualify as well as quantify—proportionality does matter. And a headline like “Who are the real Nazis?,” with its bombastic sense of rectitude, does a disservice to the critical discourse about both the Gaza conflict and the events that engendered it—and irresponsibly turns a painful historic event into an attention-seeking label.
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03:38 PM - January 16, 2009
Hamas ≠ Nazis (or Hamas = Nazis?)
In some equations, proportionality does matter
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Excellent clarification and I hope that all agenda-laden pundits & commentators take note.
#1 Posted by Hrag, CJR on Fri 16 Jan 2009 at 03:54 PM
A bit of background would have helped put this in perspective: Goldberg's accusing Hamas of being as bad as Nazis is no surprise, as he just published an entire book this past year equating liberalism with fascism and saying that vegetarians are just like Hitler. Compared with that magnum dopus, his column about Hamas is much closer to proportionality.
#2 Posted by Reid S., CJR on Fri 16 Jan 2009 at 04:00 PM
What a load of rubbish.
Hamas is comparable to the Nazi Party, both in its explicit goals, i.e. extermination of each and every Jew, and the means it's using to procure that goal.
The fact that they haven't been quite as successful in their attempts at making the Middle East Judenrein is irrelevant to this discussion.
No wonder the lamestream media is dying, justly, on the vine.
#3 Posted by Gerard, CJR on Fri 16 Jan 2009 at 05:28 PM
Ms. Kim would seem to have committed a historical error, or at least exaggeration. She writes:
"The acts of Hamas, an extremist but isolated group, are simply not comparable to the mass murder of six million Jews, which embroiled the world in war for the better part of a decade."
As horrific as the Nazi genocide campaign was, it was hardly the only reason the world became embroiled in that war. Indeed, some might well argue that the Nazi pogrom against the Jews was largely overlooked by much of the rest of the world, including the United States (consider, for instance, the Evian Conference). Just as the popular notion that America's Civil War was fought to end slavery is erroneous, so too, I think, is the suggestion that World War II was fought to end the Holocaust.
#4 Posted by Thomas Shapley, CJR on Fri 16 Jan 2009 at 07:37 PM
Considering that had the Germans actually been able to break through in Egypt and drive the British out of Palestine during WWII, they would have found very willing partners in guys like the Grand Mufti al-Husseini (a longtime ally of Hitler) for the continuing eradication of the Jews from the planet, this analogy seems rather apt.
And given the lefts willingness to label anyone and everything they don’t like either fascists or Nazis (Naomi Wolf and Gore Vidal just to name a few) I am a bit suspicious to see another attempt by this bullshit leftwing rag to slam a conservative, Goldberg, who actually makes a cogent argument. Does he scare you? Is it uncomfortable to see that mantle of “anti-fascist” that the left has worked so hard to claim (naturally after allying with the Fascists during the early days of WWII) being challenged?
#5 Posted by Stan Lorman, CJR on Sat 17 Jan 2009 at 12:39 AM
I don't think many people believe the Civil War was fought in order to abolish slavery-in contrast to the central cause, i.e. preserving the Union-but slavery, and its extension into unincorporated territories, was its chief catalyst. In other words, the disputes between North and South would have been resolved without recourse to violence if slavery's continued existence was not at issue.
#6 Posted by Gerard, CJR on Sat 17 Jan 2009 at 01:28 AM
An outstanding piece of totally unbiased journalism. Hamas must be delighted.
#7 Posted by Bradley J. Fikes, CJR on Sun 18 Jan 2009 at 01:11 PM
I've got two complaints here. The first is that the author sought a comment from Pajamas Media, a lunatic fringe site full of people straight out of Hofstadter's Paranoid Style. The second is that no one has invoked Godwin's Law, which clearly applies here.
#8 Posted by surlybastard, CJR on Mon 19 Jan 2009 at 03:33 PM
As a holocoust revisionist I coulden't agree more with Goldberg.
#9 Posted by john, CJR on Sat 23 May 2009 at 08:13 AM