Book Review: The Holocausts We All Deny: Collective Trauma in the World Today
by Theo Horesh
Reviewed by Geof Bard
Few popular writers have greater scope and depth of insight into human rights tragedies than Theo Horesh. While he writes from left of center, he escapes much of the ideological baggage one often encounters in left-wing writing. This is refreshing, as the left is split between those who share a genuine concern about these ‘denied holocausts’ and those who paper them over when they proclaim themselves ‘anti-imperialist’. I am referring, of course, to that faction which broke off from the movement against the Bush wars on Iraq and started pimping for human rights violators and tyrants like Bashar Assad. This book by no means carries water for such dictators.
The writing is well-informed; it seems to straddle the fence between academic writing, journalism and general writing online about the topics covered in the book. He gets points for facing the potential criticism for stretching the word ‘holocaust’ beyond its usual proper noun association. Less controversially, he notably expands the usual consideration from the ‘big’ genocides and includes deplorable histories of places like Israel and Palestine, Syria and Iraq, Bosnia and Burma, Yemen and Nigeria.
He seems to have chosen which ‘holocausts’ he examines somewhat arbitrarily, and to stretch the definition of ‘holocaust’. Putting the definitional question aside, there is a vast history of ‘holocaust’ he overlooks. He seems to be uninterested in the massive ripoff, displacement and depopulation of the American Indian and similar issues throughout Latin America.
Much of his writing draws upon personal experience, almost like a memoir or travelogue. This may validate some of his observations, but a dispassionate analysis of the history would identify a different set of events than the ones he selects.
He overlooks the vast series of crusades and heresy expungement throughout history. An array of apologists who are pushing a religious agenda deny these, but much of what many critics characterize as “Christo-fascism” is the continuation of a long series of ‘holocausts’. Consider the witch trials, the Inquisition and the Protestant analogues, which are every bit as reprehensible as the events covered in this book.
The sheer number killed in the name of religion over the centuries probably exceeds that of the canonical Holocaust. Christianity is not the only religion with blood on its hands, of course. That is true both historically and in current events. Without going down the rabbit hole of what is or is not a ‘holocaust’, it should be born in mind that many of the holocausts that Theo denies, or overlooks, had body counts far over the ones that he highlights in the book.
The sheer number killed in the name of religion over the centuries probably exceeds that of the canonical Holocaust. Christianity is not the only religion with blood on its hands, of course. That is true both historically and in current events. Without going down the rabbit hole of what is or is not a ‘holocaust’, it should be born in mind that many of the holocausts that Theo denies, or overlooks, had body counts far over the ones that he highlights in the book.
To his credit, Theo discusses the collaboration of the Assad regime with its Russian underwriters, leading to the destruction we saw in Aleppo and other places. In vivid style, he proposes a turning point, a “summer of hate”, in which the west found excuses to look the other way while the regime enacted genocidal policies.
Another pertinent case he touches on is the matter of the Rohingya and in multiple jurisdictions where law and order either broke down entirely, or attained its own out-of-control demonic logic.
Theo Horesh can take credit for emphasis on the PTSD factor. He traces the effect of post-traumatic stress syndrome writ large across entire populations and generations and how the victims become perpetrators, bystanders…I hope that by reading this book, thousands will also become healers.
Horesh cautions it is difficult during the spiral of events to find out what is going on and what the proper corrective action may be, and that the few who perceive the needed strategy will often face a discouraging lack of understanding and support.
Each chapter has an extensive bibliography, often including many titles I also recommend, such as the books of Timothy Snyder and Ruth Ben-Giat.
Horesh is a courageous writer who will uplift your spirit and embolden you to act rather than merely sit and read. Importantly, he offers a vision of optimism: the very alarm which has brought us together to read and write about these topics is proof of his thesis that despite the alarming authoritarian trends in the world today, there are signs of hope: heightened awareness and millions of activists who are on alert and mobilizing to fight to preserve human rights and civility.
Technologies such as the internet have facilitated adverse political developments, crimes, even genocides. These very technologies also help us expose mischief that the power elites are up to and the foolishness of their followers.
I recommend this book for everyone concerned about mass casualty human rights catastrophes who wish to go the hand-wringing and platitudes that dominated much of the civil society discussion of these events.
Run, don’t walk to get this book in your hands. You will devour its’ pages — it reads like a novel, but the issues it deals with are real and urgent.
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