Monday, December 18, 2006

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Holocaust Denial

Ayaan Hirsi Ali wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times this weekend, entitled, 'Why They Deny the Holocaust.' I have written about her before, as I am completely in awe of the strength, brilliance and reach of influence of this woman.

Exerpt from the article:
In order for me to be admitted to the university I wanted to attend, I needed to pass three courses: a language course, a civics course and a history course. It was in the preparatory history course that I, for the first time, heard of the Holocaust. I was 24 years old at that time, and my half-sister was 21.
In those days, the daily news was filled with the Rwandan genocide and ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia. On the day that my half-sister visited me, my head was reeling from what happened to 6 million Jews in Germany, Holland, France and Eastern Europe.
I learned that innocent men, women and children were separated from each other. Stars pinned to their shoulders, transported by train to camps, they were gassed for no other reason than for being Jewish.
I saw pictures of masses of skeletons, even of kids. I heard horrifying accounts of some of the people who had survived the terror of Auschwitz and Sobibor. I told my half-sister all this and showed her the pictures in my history book. What she said was as awful as the information in my book.
With great conviction, my half-sister cried: “It’s a lie! Jews have a way of blinding people. They were not killed, gassed or massacred. But I pray to Allah that one day all the Jews in the world will be destroyed.”
She was not saying anything new. As a child growing up in Saudi Arabia, I remember my teachers, my mom and our neighbors telling us practically on a daily basis that Jews are evil, the sworn enemies of Muslims, and that their only goal was to destroy Islam. We were never informed about the Holocaust.
Later, as a teenager in Kenya, when Saudi and other Persian Gulf philanthropy reached us, I remember that the building of mosques and donations to hospitals and the poor went hand in hand with the cursing of Jews. Jews were said to be responsible for the deaths of babies and for epidemics such as AIDS, and they were believed to be the cause of wars. They were greedy and would do absolutely anything to kill us Muslims. If we ever wanted to know peace and stability, and if we didn’t want to be wiped out, we would have to destroy the Jews. For those of us who were not in a position to take up arms against them, it was enough for us to cup our hands, raise our eyes heavenward and pray to Allah to destroy them.
Western leaders today who say they are shocked by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s conference this week denying the Holocaust need to wake up to that reality. For the majority of Muslims in the world, the Holocaust is not a major historical event that they deny. We simply do not know it ever happened because we were never informed of it.


Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali immigrant who served in the parliament of the Netherlands until earlier this year wrote the script for Submission, the infamous short film directed by Theo van Gogh. She is also the author of "Infidel," an autobiography to be published in February.

Her upcoming book is at the top of my reading list.

15 Comments:

Blogger Always On Watch said...

I saw pictures of masses of skeletons, even of kids. I heard horrifying accounts of some of the people who had survived the terror of Auschwitz and Sobibor. I told my half-sister all this and showed her the pictures in my history book. What she said was as awful as the information in my book.
With great conviction, my half-sister cried: “It’s a lie! Jews have a way of blinding people. They were not killed, gassed or massacred. But I pray to Allah that one day all the Jews in the world will be destroyed.”...

For the majority of Muslims in the world, the Holocaust is not a major historical event that they deny. We simply do not know it ever happened because we were never informed of it.


No wonder the educated Muslims are still so anti-Semitic! They don't get the facts as to history. Therefore, Muslims continue their victims' mindset. They don't know that anyone else has suffered beyond anything they know of!

BTW, I posted a video at my site. Be sure to watch it.

December 18, 2006 12:55 PM  
Blogger Eric said...

This one lady has more courage than any 10 European politicians combined.

December 18, 2006 1:08 PM  
Blogger Urban Infidel said...

Always On Watch Two,

Just watched the video on your site. It never fails to disturb me to my core.

Thankfully, I've met many muslims are not anti-Semitic in the least, but it is still a big problem in the middle east.

What good does denying the Holocaust do anyway?

Even the Foreign Minister of Turkey is displeased with Ahmadinejihad now.

December 18, 2006 1:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

More curious is the Iranians seem to be lifting their material from the evil Dr Norman Finkelstein. One knows that one is dealing with a pathological anti-semite when one sees quotes from Finkelstein.

December 18, 2006 2:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Irshad Manji
Nonie Darwish
Ayaan Hirsi

There is hope that it will be Muslim women that save Islam from itself.

'Infidel' has been added to my reading list, which grows daily.

December 18, 2006 8:25 PM  
Blogger Always On Watch said...

Skye,
Irshad Manji
Nonie Darwish
Ayaan Hirsi

There is hope that it will be Muslim women that save Islam from itself.


Or, former muslimas. Aren't Hirsi Ali and Darwish former Muslims? I can't recall at the moment.

I doubt that Irshad Manji will have much influence, however. As a woman, she has little impact on the male-centered tenets of Islam. Plus, she's a lesbian.

That said, I admire her no-nonsense criticism of Islam. Those who are or have been on the "inside" of Islam have knowledge not easily obtained by us infidels.

December 19, 2006 12:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just love Ayaan,it's so great to find an African woman with such courage and even more a Muslim woman,I have read a lot about her and saw the movie,She does a great work,i guess all people will be waiting for her upcoming book,i just hope she will be safe and all other activists,as murdering is the easiest solution for muslims

December 19, 2006 1:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Most of the westerns think that Muslims deny the Holocaust. Hitler killed many people ( Russians, Eastern Europeans, Gipsy, Arabs and Jews) so why western concentrate on Jews only?!
I belief (and many Muslims have the same point of view) that the number of Jews who killed on Holocaust is not true. It has been exaggerated, by Jewish politicians
To blackmailing Europe after war.
And why western media concentrate on Jews only?
By all this films, newspapers, broadcasts and books the ordinary man think the Hitler came to live just to kill Jews only.

And there is a question.
What we can call heroshima and nagazaki?
What we can call the Korean war?
What wee can call Vietnam war? ( USA used all kind of weapons at this war)

I need an answer.

December 19, 2006 6:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Most of the westerns think that Muslims deny the Holocaust. Hitler killed many people ( Russians, Eastern Europeans, Gipsy, Arabs and Jews) so why western concentrate on Jews only?!
I belief (and many Muslims have the same point of view) that the number of Jews who killed on Holocaust is not true. It has been exaggerated, by Jewish politicians
To blackmailing Europe after war.
And why western media concentrate on Jews only?
By all this films, newspapers, broadcasts and books the ordinary man think the Hitler came to live just to kill Jews only.

And there is a question.
What we can call heroshima and nagazaki?
What we can call the Korean war?
What wee can call Vietnam war? ( USA used all kind of weapons at this war)

I need an answer.

December 19, 2006 6:26 PM  
Blogger JammieWearingFool said...

Nice piece from Ayaan Hirsi. A shame the lunatics get more attention than she does.

December 19, 2006 10:00 PM  
Blogger Urban Infidel said...

anonymous,

Hitler's main focus was the Jews. History speaks for itself. Americans honor all of the people killed in World War 2, as do all of the nations affected honor and remember their dead. But how would you know that? You don't live in the West. My guess is that you are fed a steady diet of state-controlled 'news' and information. I am sorry for you, really.

Why do you focus on Jews? That is really the question. Why aren't you questioning the number of American dead, or the British, German, Polish, Russian, Czech, French, Dutch, Italian, or Japanese? Did you know that Hitler caused the death of 50 MILLION human beings?

December 19, 2006 10:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nazism is aback page in the history of mankind, no one can deny this.
And about the Hitler responsibility for 50milion human being is also cannot be denied.
I was in Frankfort a few years ago and saw many books that attack Nazism and Hitler and with all thus books the Nazism rise in all Europe and USA also.
And I know many Americans hate Jews many Europeans hate Jews also.

And now u didn’t answer my Questions?
Why all western media concentrate on the Jews only.
Why Jews?

And you said that
Hitler's main focus was the Jews.
How told you that? Where you read it?
Do you know any thing about the secret relationships between the Nazism and Zionism during WW2?
Do you read any thing about it ?

Do you now that Adolf eichmann had many relationships with Zionism movement and he offered that he can liberate 1 million Jews from camps if the Zionism movement give Germany ( 200 tones of tea- 800 tines of coffees- 1000000 soap- 10000 van) for German army. Do you know any thing about that?

Do you know that Adolf eichmann with help of a Zionist from Israel called ( Pargilard) the two of them made many camps on the German land for Jews to prepare them for immigration to Palestine. And Eichmann helped them for a lot of money for German army at the war.
And Hitler himself agreed for this immigration.
And the first group of Jews traveled from Germany was on Mars 1939.

Hitler main focus was Germany, German people
He dreamed of great powerful Germany and try to read ( main kampf) to know his theory.

And you said the America honored all of the people killed in World War 2
I know that but I asked you about
What we can call heroshima and nagazaki?
What we can call the Korean war?
What wee can call Vietnam war? ( USA used all kind of weapons at this war)

What we can called all this massacres?
And I tell you again I don’t hate Jews, and I am not deny the holocaust
But I think that the number of 6million Jews is exaggerate.

I am sorry for you, really.
Couse you think you know history very well
Wanna tell you something

( History is written by the victorious)
and USA, Britain, France and Russia was the victorious.
Please read before you wanna talk

thanks

December 22, 2006 7:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...And the first group of Jews traveled from Germany was on Mars 1939.

On Mars? Really?! And where did you get such insightful information from? Perhaps Rense.com?!

Also, if the Zionist made deals with Nazis to free Jews from certain death I say they did the right thing and save many lives in a very difficult time and brought those poor souls back to their rightful homeland.

December 23, 2006 9:12 AM  
Blogger Red Tulips said...

Well, I thought these people were informed of the Holocaust - that it was a lie and Jews were liars.

I wrote a post about Holocaust denial, myself - right here.

December 27, 2006 12:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If 6 million Jews is an exageration then I guess next you will say that the number of 20 million+ Russians, reported by RUSSIA and Germany, is an overstatement too... If you recall, much like Hitler did with the Jews he also did with the Russians. The Jews signed such a pact in order to preserve at least some sort of securtity from the Nazi war machine. The same for Russia who realized that the last thing in post WWI that Britain, France and the U.S. wanted was a squable with the HUGE Nazi Blitz Force. Nazi Germany was a decietful society (much like a Trojan Horse) they lured their neighbors in with promises of peace and amnisty and then once the defenses went down, Germany set on them. HINCE POLAND!!

As for why the West focuses on Jews, I think you are really not looking at the whole picture. Honestly, I am not blasting you are anyone else Throughout history 6 million Jews, majority of which were non-comabtants, were exterminated. You can't say the same for Korea and Vietnam since women and children were used as martyrs and the enemy was unknown. The West focuses on the Holocaust because it is one of the largest non-combat related exterminations of a single group of people in "modern times."

People claim the West focuses more on this than that but why not look at why the East focuses more on the horrible West and in the same breath defends the destruction of civil life in their own countries...Killing innocent people because of a perverted explanation of Jihad is not a justified action by any means. The east historically has been just as aggressive as the West. Mainly towards their own countrymen and twice as greedy and manipulative. If you don't agree, look at the tribal wars over land and political power...How does this differ from anything else happening in the world? The problem is that both the West and the East attempt to make excuses for their own attrocities and defend them by using "heartfelt" stories about the goodness of their cause and the evilness of their opponents.

The U.S. although spearheaded many wars and conflicts, were mostly not the only ones urging these wars to occur. And the Countries involved in these discission to wage war were not only Western Countries but everyone involved knows that the only country capable of taking on such missions is the U.S. which is why they spearheaded. Most of the blame is pushed on the U.S. for such wars when there is much more to it than people understand and many more countries invlolved than people choose to believe.

September 14, 2007 7:33 PM  

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