Israel: Rocket fire from Gaza will result in a Palestinian 'Holocaust'

As the article points out, Israeli officials quickly attempted to reinterpret Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Vilnai’s use of the word ‘Shoah’.

The argument hinges on the difference between the Hebrew words ‘Shoah’ and ‘HaShoah.’ ‘HaShoah’ literally translates to ‘The Holocaust’ (specifically referring to the atrocities committed during WWII), while ‘Shoah’ translates to ‘A Holocaust’ (or actually just ‘holocaust’, as there is no indefinite article ‘a’ in Hebrew). All in all, the difference is rather slight.

An Israeli government minister warned yesterday that increasing rocket fire from Gaza would bring Palestinians a Shoah – the Hebrew word normally used to denote the Nazi Holocaust inflicted on Jews during the Second World War.

The declaration by the Deputy Defence Minister, Matan Vilnai, came amid fresh calls from some Israeli politicians for a ground invasion of Gaza provoked by the launch of eight Soviet-designed Grad rockets into the southern city of Ashkelon during the lethal violence of the past three days.

Mr Vilnai declared: “As the rocket fire grows, and the range increases – and they haven’t yet said the last word on this – they are bringing upon themselves a greater Shoah because we will use all our strength in every way we deem appropriate, whether in air strikes or on the ground.”

Government spokesmen launched an immediate damage limitation exercise saying that Mr Vilnai was merely using the word to mean “disaster” and not in any way intending to convey the idea of genocide. But Shoah is rarely used in modern Hebrew parlance for events other than the Holocaust.

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Paolo Unger Dvorchik is a working photographer and video based artist currently living in Boston Massachusetts. If you're interested in political performance art and video I highly suggest you check out my portfolio at www.highimpactart.org.