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We cannot allow the memory of the Holocaust to be misused The co-founder of Human Rights Watch, Aryeh Neier, has recently said that Israel is engaged in genocide in Gaza. He's also siad that using accusations of antisemitism to attack Israel's critics "debases the whole concept of antisemitism". As Holocaust survivors, we are writing to agree wholeheartedly with Neier - who himself only survived the Holocaust by escaping Nazi Germany as a child in 1939. At a recent Holocaust memorial, Benjamin Netanyahu declared "We'll defeat our genocidal enemies. Never again is now." Meanwhile, at another memorial, Joe Biden warned of a "ferocious surge of antisemitism" on college campuses. In our opinion, to use the memory of the Holocaust like this to justify either genocide in Gaza or repression on college campuses is a complete insult. The dehumanisation of Palestinians, the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, indiscriminate bombing, the destruction of universities and hospitals, and the use of mass starvation - are clearly stages of ethnic cleansing and genocide. They cannot be defended, any more than sending weapons to commit this genocide or refusing funding to UNRWA can be defended. [see para in main post] As Holocaust survivors, we have no special authority on the Middle East, but we do know about antisemitism. it's simply wrong to claim that it's antisemitic to oppose Israeli genocide.