NINETY or so years ago, the Western liberal establishment largely ignored Nazi Germany`s pathway to genocide which targeted Jews, communists, socialists, the Roma, homosexuals, and those seen as intellectually or physically disabled.

Unknowingly or otherwise, it thereby facilitated the extermination camps and pogroms that stand out as the most reprehensible aspects of World War II.

The end of that war is celebrated as signifying the triumph of good over evil.

That`s not an absurd claim, but one wonders why the commitment to `never again` has frequently fallen short when tested albeit perhaps never so obviously than since Oct 2023, when the atrocities committed by Hamas served as a convenient excuse to fulfil the extreme Zionist dream of a purely Jewish territory from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River.

The means? A process of displacement and extermination that began in 1948. The genocidal goal now appears within reach, with the active collaboration of many of the powers that joined hands to defeat Nazism, as well as Germany, whose guilt as the primary perpetrator of the Holocaust apparently blinds its political elite to recognising an obvious repetition of recent history just because it is being committed by the descendants of its victims.

It is always moving to see those who survived the Holocaust as infants or children, or the succeeding generation, turn up at protests against the Gaza genocide. If only such voices could become the norm rather than the exception. Once upon a time it was possible to assume that the resistance to Zionist aims would emerge from within Israel. That remote prospect has now been reduced to a fantasy. Substantial numbers of Israelis demand a ceasefire to save the surviving hostages, but far fewer seem to be bothered about the daily toll in Gaza, where children lining up for food, water or medical aid are routinely targeted by the IDF.

One of the more original placards at last Sunday`s weekly rally for Palestine in Sydney read, `They`re so stupid, they think genocide is self-defence`. Several of the speeches focused on the report delivered by Jillian Segal, the Zionist lobbyist appointed by the Albanese government as its `antisemitism envoy`, which has been described by academics and journalists alike as an attempt to clamp down on criticism of Israel based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance`s widely discredited definition of antisemitism. PM Anthony Albanese stood by Segal`s side as she delivered her report, but it remains to be seen whether the government will accept its absurd recommendations on curbing freedom of expression.She has denied any involvement in a farright lobbying group co-directed by her husband.

The aforementioned rally where the best speaker was a young Jewish activist would not have been legal if Segal and her ilk had their way, just as the advent of the Trump administration has effectively relegated pro-Palestinian protests to the past via a series of authoritarian measures that even the proudly Zionist Joe Biden might have deemed an overreach. Like most of their US counterparts, Australian universities might not put up much resistance if they are accused of overlooking antisemitism based on Segal`s favoured definition. Various cultural institutions have already tied themselves up in knots over any possible criticism of Israel, and the mainstream media largely struggles to disassociate itself from the Israel lobby.

In Britain, Palestine Action rather than the IDF has been proscribed as a `terrorist organisation`, and anyone pub-licly opposing this ridiculous designation faces 14 years in prison.

Despicable curbs on freedom of expression when it comes to Palestine stretch pretty much across Europe, with the honourable exceptions of Irelandand Spain. In the so-called Global South, Israel`s chief ally is India, which was once proudly wedded to the Palestinian cause.

Pakistan is among the nations expected to be represented at the `emergency conference` summoned in Bogota this week by Colombia and South Africa. It will be attended by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, lately sanctioned by the wretched US after naming the commercial entities complicit in the current genocide. Unlike her Australian namesake, she stands out as an unbiased champion of human rights who has much to teach other influential Europeans about the disgusting brutality of their pro-Israeli inclinations.

The official Western efforts to silence opposition to Israeli fascism are neither new nor entirely surprising. Hopefully, one day they will be seen for what they are: cover for genocide, with little prospect that it can be halted. Just shut up and bearitistheresponse ofthe self-ordained paragons of virtue and free speech. Let`s see whether posterity upholds their prejudiced cowardice.

mahir.dawn @gmail.com