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Reposting my thread since I can’t rt the original post. A Yaqeen researcher made the argument that comparing Chinese oppression to the Holocaust “isn’t necessarily helpful and may be based on misinformation.” I disagree:
1: The first people I ever encountered who likened the tragedy underway in ET to the Holocaust were none other than Jews themselves. Jewish activists. This provides an idea around which other people, especially other Jews, may come to advocate for and support the Uyghur cause.
2: The Holocaust is a deeply deeply salient memory for the American people. Maybe because we have the second largest Jewish population in the world. Maybe because the predominant Christian population of America sees themselves as Judeo-Christian. I don’t know. But...
Invoking the Holocaust stirs up very visceral reactions in many Americans. If a church has the resources, it’s common for American church groups to visit Auschwitz. Mention of the Holocaust invokes immense overwhelming religious and moral ideals many Christian Americans hold.
Therefore the comparison to the Holocaust isn’t intended as some exaggeration. Nor is it Uyghurs playing oppression olympics with Jews.
It’s an appeal to a particular history that people of this country know well and care about.
It’s an appeal to a particular history that people of this country know well and care about.
Plus: Remember Uyghurs come from a context controlled by China. They don’t learn about the Holocaust like we do here in the US. For Uyghurs who left China’s grip and learn about this history, they are overwhelmed by the parallels.
They wonder how can people care so much about the Holocaust yet not care about what is happening to their home and their families.
3: all this on top of the fact that Islamophobia is rampant among Americans. Tell your average non Muslim American that millions of Muslims are being systematically tortured, enslaved, and deprived of their faith and they don’t care.
Compare it to the Holocaust and suddenly they’re second guessing their initial bigotry.
Anecdote: I come from a Christian, Islamophobic, far right family. I also care deeply about Uyghurs. Even with the cognitive dissonance of their Islamophobia, I’ve been able to get my family to care about Uyghurs. By mentioning the Holocaust.
The Holocaust was a human tragedy, in large part from its human toll, MORE SO from how the Nazis were able to industrialize death. It’s horror lies in its ruthless organization. In its ability to churn bodies into product and into the grave.
It is not an exaggeration in the least to compare the CCP’s calculated and strategic campaign of terror reigning down indiscriminately on a population as big as Australia to one of the largest industrialized death machines modern history has ever known: the Holocaust.
