Shoah is the Hebrew word for catastrophe. Al-Nakba is the Arabic word for the same thing. The Israelis use Shoah to mean the Holocaust. The Palestinians use al-Nakba to refer to their exodus caused by the creation of Israel. Shoah created al-Nakba; one catastrophe led to the other. The victims of one catastrophe created another catastrophe and its victims. 6 million Jews were the victims of Shoah and their relatives uprooted 700,000 Arabs from their homes in Palestine. The latter figure has kept on increasing since the Nakba has not ended. In the words of Anton La Guardia (whose book on the issue was the basis of a former blog of mine), “The wandering Jew found a home, while the homeless Palestinians still wander the Middle East.” La Guardia wrote that in 2002. Twelve years down the line, the Jews are so well settled in their homes that they are in a position to eliminate the remaining Palestinians. One catastrophe leads to another. The only difference is the way
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