Mamma Mia! Mamilla and Auschwitz

On several occasions I did comment on the strange wording used by the Israeli leadership in its enlightened discourses. Most recently it was regarding an unfortunate interview of Major Major General Benny Gantz,, the actual IDF Deputy Chief of Staff. Apparently, he was appointed because he was in Washington – as the IDF Military Attaché – when the recent atrocities in Gaza were committed, and thus clean of blame. In the interview, he claimed the IDF acted in an ethical way in Gaza. That means Major General Benny Gantz claims that firing white phosphorous artillery on a hospital is an ethic action, or that he cannot differentiate between good and evil (or that he himself is evil).

Most probably, he was attempting to manipulate the Israeli public opinion, who treats words by a general – pardon me, a Major General – as sacred. These manipulations are aimed at creating a double moral code, one for “us” and another for “them,” they justify the path of destruction chosen by the Israeli Administration. Manipulations and double morality have deep roots within the Jewish culture, those can be traced back to the apparition of the Pharisaic party, modernly known as “rabbis.”

Satan works in banal ways. Its slow, bureaucratic action may sometimes erode the highest walls. One such example is a crime ongoing in Mamilla for years.

Mamilla

Mamilla was one of the first neighbourhoods in Jerusalem built outside the Old City, just west of the Jaffa Gate. Between 1948 and 1967 it was on the armistice line between the Israeli and Jordanian sector of the city. After 1967, the Israeli Administration confiscated the land and began the longest and most costly development project in the history of modern Jerusalem. The small neighborhood extends from the Jaffa Gate westwards to the Mamilla Cemetery, an old Muslim burial place, and includes the probably most upmarket shopping mall in Israel.

The neighborhood offers awesome views of thew Old City, probably the best available ones due to its proximity and the fact it is slightly lower than the Old City. Unluckily for the sensitive Pharisaic tastes, the Muslim Cemetery is at its west end. Something had to be done.

Simon Wiesenthal Center

The Simon Wiesenthal Center was established in 1977 as "an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to repairing the world one step at a time. The Center’s multifaceted mission generates changes through the Snider Social Action Institute and education by confronting antisemitism, hate and terrorism, promoting human rights and dignity, standing with Israel, defending the safety of Jews worldwide, and teaching the lessons of the Holocaust for future generations."

As an example of its "humanitarian principles based on tolerance," the center decided to destroy the Muslim Cemetery and to build “The Center for Human Dignity” and the “Museum of Tolerance” over it. Since they are capable of saying this mega-irony without blinking, they should be given the Nobel Peace Prize at the first opportunity.

The construction of the center began in June 2005 and was frozen by an Israeli Supreme Court order on February 2006. However, in November 2008, the same court allowed the construction to proceed, noting that this corner of the cemetery had been transformed into a parking lot as long ago as the 1960s, and that Jerusalem has been inhabited for roughly 4000 years, and thus many ancient sites have been built over.

Moral Principles

Thus the Israeli establishment – in the form of the Supreme Court – and Jewish international organizations – in the form of the Simon Wiesenthal Center – agreed that building on a cemetery is acceptable. Does that apply to any cemetery or memorial?

Auschwitz

In 1998, a Polish developer was granted permission to build a car-park near the Auschwitz concentration camp. The developer, Janusz Marszalek, originally wanted to build a shopping centre and fast food outlet, but was forced to change his plans after a wave of international protest, mainly by Jewish organizations.

Ever since the topic re-appears on the news after developments on the area are approved or rejected. It is important to understand that the development was not in Auschwitz, but outside the complex.

Would the Israeli and Jewish leaders be kind enough to explain me in a logical way, in a moral way, in a Godly way, what’s the difference between the buried corpses, between two memorial sites to dead humans? Do they claim Jews are better and thus worth of special treatment? Or do they claim that Muslims are worse and thus can be ignored? At the same opportunity, would the Simon Wiesenthal Center be kind enough to investigate (after all it claims to be against hate and terrorism and to promote human rights) the War Crimes committed under the orders of Lieutenant General Beni Ashkenazi in Gaza? Or also here double moral standards apply? More