Introduction.
The question of whether the historical memory of the Holocaust weighs on Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip has no simple answer and provokes fierce debate both within Israeli society and beyond. On one hand, the trauma of the destruction of European Jewry is deeply embedded in the national identity of the Jewish state and its citizens. The principle of "never again" has become a cornerstone of Israeli security policy, justifying the need for a strong army capable of protecting the Jewish people from any threat. On the other hand, the unprecedented scale of destruction in Gaza, the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians, and the humanitarian catastrophe lead many to ask: does the memory of suffering become a justification for the suffering of others? Analysis of this problem requires examination of both the Israeli narrative strategy and the critical voices warning against the danger of instrumentalizing history.
I. Historical Context: From the Oslo Accords to October 7th.
The roots of the current conflict lie in decades of unresolved Arab-Israeli confrontation. Following the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, there was hope for a peaceful settlement. Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people, and the Palestinians recognized Israel's right to exist and renounced terrorist methods of struggle.
However, the peace process was thwarted by radicals on both sides. The Palestinian group Hamas, which emerged during the First Intifada, continued to insist on the destruction of the Jewish state and carried out attacks against Israelis. In Israel, right-wing forces, including the Likud party led by a young Benjamin Netanyahu, opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The culmination of Israeli attempts to break the vicious cycle was the "unilateral disengagement" of 2005, when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the evacuation of all Jewish settlements and th ...
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