Holocaust echoes in Gaza war

THE EDITOR: After watching the movie Out of the Ashes, which recalled the life and times of Dr Gisella Perl, a Jewish gynaecologist, it appears more and more that the current war in Palestine bears many similarities to the Holocaust.

The concentration camp at Auschwitz, where millions of people were ill-treated and deliberately slaughtered by their German captors, bears a stark resemblance to the herding of Palestinians in Rafah. The suffering and starvation of men, women and children in Gaza echoes that of the Jews in the concentration camps.

The Jews, during World War II, were taken out of their homes and transported to concentration camps, many never to return. Today, thousands of people in Gaza have been forced to the southern city (which has become an Auschwitz-like camp) where the world witnesses mass starvation while overheard, Israeli missiles pour down, massacring many thousands.

This time, it's not the killing of defenceless people by people whose faces the victims can see, but death by relentless missiles being launched and bombs dropped, especially in the dead of the night. A very cowardly act indeed by perpetrators who hide themselves and fire under the cover of darkness.

Incidentally, the over-30,000 people who have been massacred by the Israeli forces were mostly civilians who have nothing to do with the war and didn't even understand why they are being bombed. International media reports claim that over 50 per cent of the dead were innocent women and children.

In the movie, which is actually a true account of the horrible incidents in the life of Dr Perl, she asks an immigration panel, "And when our people were being slaughtered, where were you and what did you do?"

A similar question is being asked today. Where are the people who condemned the Holocaust and boldly declared it will never happen again? Where are they, now that Gaza is being bombed quickly towards oblivion?

The people of Gaza and the West Bank are being killed, not in gas chambers and in concentration camps but they are herded into one small area and prevented from accessing food, water, electricity and medicines to treat the injured and diseased. Isn't this an atrocity playing out before our very eyes?

For the people of Palestine, this is their World War II and their Auschwitz.

The powers that be need to stop this atrocity immediately and get help to the innocent people who are suffering in this horrible situation. If this is not done soon, there is no telling if similar incidents could happen elsewhere.

WAHID K HOSEIN

Chaguanas