Jewish Moroccan scholar: ‘Israel uses Holocaust as a justification of occupation’

The Moroccan Jewish scholar, Jacob Cohen, who is known for his anti-Zionist ideas, stated that “Israel is still employing the cause of the Holocaust to justify the occupation and gain the sympathy of global public opinion.”

Cohen’s statement came during a seminar entitled: “The Holocaust and the Zionist Agenda,” which was organised by the non-governmental National Working Group for Palestine in Rabat.

Cohen, who is a human rights activist and an author, added: “Israel has been trying to invest in this cause since the 1970s in order redeem its public image and distract the world from the violations committed against the Palestinian people.”

“Israelis are always trying to raise this issue to suggest that Israel is threatened,” he noted.

Cohen continued: “At the domestic level, all the Israeli governments are trying to root the Holocaust issue in the consciousness of the Israeli citizens to continue spreading fear and violence and create a state of permanent aptness for war.”

The Israeli authorities claim that Israel needs security, so it must keep the Golan Heights and other Arab territories in a state of occupation. Thus, they are always trying to convince foreign diplomats to believe in such a narrative

he said.

Cohen pointed out that after some EU countries boycotted some of the Israeli products, which are manufactured in settlements in the West Bank, “Israel’s answer was to publish several pictures showing Jewish merchants being boycotted by the Nazis, claiming that there is an attempt to reproduce the same scenario of the Holocaust. Such propaganda forced many countries to reconsider the idea of boycotting Israeli products.”

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Cohen also indicated that “the Jewish lobby is working to transform the Holocaust into an unquestionable historical event which should not be placed under scrutiny as other historical narratives. Likewise, this lobby is attempting to block all kinds of research regarding this issue.”

He indicated: “The Jewish lobby forbids the use of the term “Holocaust” to describe the suffering of persecuted Indians or Africans, consecrating all possible efforts to reserve the use of such term exclusively for Jews.”

Cohen considered that “there are many types of repressive acts that can be referred to as a Holocaust and not just the ones related to the Jews.”

Cohen, who was born in the Moroccan city of Meknes, confirmed that “Israel does not want peace and relies on a system that cannot give up the use of weaponry.”

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