The Jewish Holocaust is one of the few remaining taboos of western society, on par with incest and pedophilia. Most people will react with very strong feelings ranging from anger to fear, shock and disgust, when exposed to any perceived threat to beliefs relating to the Holocaust. Even discussing its taboo nature causes considerable levels of discomfort. Unbeknown to most people, its continued existence serves a number of powerful interests and comes at a terrible cost to society.
The taboo quality of the Jewish Holocaust in Western society is being enforced no differently from taboos in Polynesia: failure to comply results in social and economic ruin, incarceration, physical attack, sometimes even loss of life. Believing that the Jewish Holocaust as we know it - as the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators through the use of gas and other methods - actually occurred, determines whether a person is considered a Nazi and Anti-Semite (in other words utterly evil and a danger to society) or not.
A political/historical taboo like this wouldn't exist if it didn't serve very powerful interests. The most obvious is support for Israel. Reports of the murder of six million Jews understandably generated considerable sympathy and support for the idea of the foundation of a Jewish state in Palestine and still helps deflecting criticism of Israel's treatment of the Palestine people and its neighbors. Less obvious is the interest of the political left in gaining moral superiority over the political right. And last, but not least, there is the interest of the Allied powers, especially the US and the UK, of justifying their war crimes committed against the German people during World War II. Who worries about the deliberate destruction of 90% of German civilian buildings resulting in the killing of 600,000 civilians when hearing about the gassing of six millions Jews?
The continued existence of the Holocaust taboo, 60 years after the end of World War II, comes at a terrible price. For one, it makes it virtually impossible for world opinion to hold Israel responsible for its treatment of the Palestine people. Any criticism of Israel's policies is stifled by wholesale claims of Anti-Semitism, implying that the critic is trying to 'finish off' Hitler's job of exterminating the Jewish people. This doesn't necessarily occur intentionally. In many cases it's simply the result of a Holocaust induced paranoia. For two, it makes it easier for the US government to continue its use of aerial bombing against civilians as a means of warfare. The killing of more than 3000-4000 civilians per month in Iraq pre-dominantly through US air strikes wouldn't be possible without the belief in US military and political circles that the killing of civilians in air warfare ('collateral damage') is not a war crime, a belief that has its roots in the unpunished strategic bombing of Germany and Japan during World War II.
Historical revisionism is not about denying the truth. It's about establishing the truth, regardless of the outcome. The failure of the political left to embrace Holocaust revisionism is depriving it of the potentially most powerful weapon against its political enemies. It should stop fighting against its political enemy of 60 years ago and start using all available means to fight today's battles.
