40% of Israeli Arabs don't believe Holocaust happened

Startling numbers are not just in Iran

May 24, 2009

A new poll shows that 40 percent of Israeli Arabs, those who live in Israel with Israeli passports next door to Jewish neighbors, don't believe the Holocaust ever happened. The disturbing poll results mark a significant increase in Holocaust deniers and those who refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist as Jewish democratic state.

Professor Sami Samocha, who conducted the survey, said the poll results are usually related to current affairs. Ynet reports:

"The most moderate year was 1995 – the golden era of the Rabin government, the Oslo Accord, and the attitude to the Palestinian people," he said. "Four years later, the great disappointment with the Netanyahu government and the October events worsened the situation."

 

In 1995, only 7 percent of Arab-Israelis said the State had no right to exist. Meanwhile, the figure rose to 22 percent last year. Samocha said the Gaza blockade, the Second Lebanon War, and the aftermath of the October 2000 Riots are exacerbating factors in this poll.

The Associated Press jumped on that statement, qualifying in the first paragraph the news service's article that "the results were likely more statements of protest than belief." Using Samocha's own words, the AP downplays the startling rise in Holocaust denial among Israeli Arabs, blaming a rising frustration among the minority group. Recognizing the Holocaust justifies Israeli policies, Samochoa says.

"When they say 'there was no Holocaust,' they are protesting. They are saying 'I am not giving legitimacy to the Jewish state,'" he said. "It's an index of despair, frustration and protest."

Palestinians and Arabs in Middle Eastern countries deny the Holocaust occurred, usually blaming Jews for making it up to gain sympathy. The Holocaust is not taught to all Arabs in Israel. One student I met here said he didn't believe the Holocaust occurred until a German was able to convince him otherwise. Education is a major factor in this issue - whether it is taught at all that a genocide of 6 million Jews occurred, or whether it is taught that this is a lie. This young man only believed what he was taught until someone explained to him the truth.