Friday, February 29, 2008

Holocaust

The BBC reports:

Israeli leaders are warning of an imminent conflagration in Gaza after Palestinian militants aimed rockets at the southern city of Ashkelon.

The deputy defence minister said the stepped-up rocket fire would trigger what he called a "bigger holocaust" in the Hamas-controlled coastal strip.
The use of the word "holocaust" by an Israeli minister, in this context, is completely extraordinary, and will make every idiot who suggests Israel conducts a policy of "genocide" towards Palestinians feel vindicated.

It's a grotesque incident. If this is true, the minister should be sacked immediately.

1 comment:

Robert said...

It's also a lie (spread by Reuters, surprise surprise) - go to Melanie Phillips' Spectator blog. If I understand it correctly, the Hebrew word "Shoah" is only used in Hebrew to mean "disaster", which makes sense int he context. It is used to describe the Holocaust only outside Israel.

Link: http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/530786/the-mother-of-all-mistranslations.thtml with follow-up at http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/533256/the-war-against-the-jews.thtml