Author Reference (Introduction to the Lesson):
Orit Kamir is an Israeli professor of law, renowned for drafting Israel’s sexual harassment and anti-bullying laws. She is the author of Betraying Dignity: The Toxic Seduction of Social Media, Shaming and Radicalization (2020) and is widely recognized for her advocacy for human rights and ethical responsibility in Israeli public life. Her recent opinion piece in Haaretz takes a forceful stance on the Gaza conflict, explicitly drawing links between historical trauma and present-day policy.
Content Note:
This lesson addresses topics of war, genocide, mass suffering, and national trauma. Students may find this emotionally challenging. Participation in discussions is encouraged but not required if the content becomes overwhelming. Please speak privately to the teacher if you’d prefer an alternative activity.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the use of Holocaust memory in Israeli and global public discourse.
- Evaluate the moral arguments made by Kamir about collective responsibility and human rights.
- Understand multiple perspectives on the ethical responsibilities of states and individuals in wartime.
- Develop critical discussion skills around controversial and emotionally charged topics.
- Reflect on the relationship between historical trauma and contemporary moral reasoning.
Lesson Outline
1. Warm-Up & Context
Set Norms for Discussion:
Establish a class contract for respectful dialogue:
- Speak from your own experience (“I” statements).
- Disagree with ideas, not people.
- Give others the space to speak.
- Assume good intentions, but be willing to clarify harm.
Historical and Political Context (Brief Presentation):
- Ongoing war in Gaza, including international allegations of war crimes and a humanitarian crisis.
- Background on the use of Holocaust memory in Israeli civic and political culture.
- The role of historical trauma in shaping contemporary Israeli identity and policy debates.
Prompt:
“Why do societies invoke historical tragedies during current crises? What are the potential benefits and dangers of doing so?”
Text for Initial Engagement:
From Kamir’s article, “A Betrayal of the Victims of the Holocaust”:
“In her childhood, my mother was starved by a dark regime. When the Nazi army occupied Poland and Jews were pushed into ghettos, they were forced to make do with less and less food. Eventually, food disappeared almost entirely.”
2. Reading & Comprehension
Activity:
Divide students into small groups. Distribute selected passages from Kamir’s article. Each group summarizes her key arguments and highlights one phrase they find emotionally or morally powerful.
Key Extracts:
“Who would have believed that eighty years after they were starved to death, my country, the Jewish state, would decree that I bear real guilt for the starvation and extermination of tens of thousands of children like them… The state that arose from the ruins of that destruction has brought a hundred thousand children in Gaza to the danger of death from starvation.”
“And the one commandment the victims left us, all of us, is simple: never again. Because every person, as a human being, has absolute and inviolable value, ‘human dignity,’ and our supreme duty is to recognize and ensure it.”
Clarification for Students:
These statements are Kamir’s personal and moral interpretation of current events and have sparked significant controversy in Israel. Some critics argue her comparisons constitute Holocaust distortion. Others defend her for using memory ethically.
Discussion Questions:
- What moral lesson does Kamir draw from her family history?
- How does she apply it to the current Gaza crisis?
- How does her tone influence the reader’s emotional response?
- Are historical analogies ethically effective in political argument?
3. Additional Perspectives
Multimedia Component:
Watch video testimony from Jewish actor Mandy Patinkin and his wife, Kathryn Grody. Patinkin criticizes current Israeli policy in Gaza from a humanitarian and Jewish ethical standpoint.
“The Jewish tradition is rooted in the value of compassion for every human life. If we lose that, we risk losing our moral clarity—and perhaps our safety in the world.”
Opposing Viewpoints:
Introduce a contrasting statement from Yad Vashem or an Israeli historian.
From Yad Vashem (paraphrased):
“Comparisons between the Holocaust and other conflicts, including the Gaza war, distort the unique historical nature of the Shoah and risk trivializing its horrors.”
Prompt:
How do different people—scholars, victims’ descendants, and activists—disagree over how Holocaust memory should be used in public debates?
4. Historical & Ethical Context
Brief Mini-Lecture or Handout:
- Israeli Holocaust Denial Law and the legal protections surrounding Holocaust memory.
- The “Never Again” principle as both a national and universal moral imperative.
- Past controversies: uses of Holocaust rhetoric in Israeli and global politics (e.g., Rwanda, Armenia, Bosnia).
Key Extract from Kamir (Controversial Language):
“But in 2025, the Israeli army, on orders from the political echelon, is destroying Gaza and exterminating its population… Like then.”
Instructional Note:
This language is intentionally provocative and forms the basis of intense public debate in Israel. Discuss this as rhetoric—not necessarily factual reporting—and consider both its emotional power and ethical implications.
Prompt:
Should comparisons between the Holocaust and other conflicts ever be made? Under what conditions might they help or hinder moral clarity?
5. Personal Reflection & Synthesis
Individual Writing Prompt:
“Does the use of Holocaust memory in contemporary moral debates clarify, or cloud, our judgment of current events?”
Additional Prompts with Extract:
“What value does our freedom have if we don’t use it to stop dispossession, killing, and starvation? What do we need the rule of law for if not to ensure human dignity?”
- What does Kamir believe “Never Again” should mean today?
- What do you believe it should mean?
Optional Extension:
Students may reflect on other historical traumas (e.g., slavery, apartheid, colonization) and how they are—or are not—ethically invoked in modern debates.
6. Closure & Wrap-Up
Group Debrief:
- Review the range of views encountered: Kamir’s moral critique, Patinkin’s testimony, Yad Vashem’s institutional concerns, and historical/legal background.
- Emphasize the complexity of collective memory and ethical responsibility.
- Revisit discussion norms and give students the chance to share if their views shifted.
Follow-Up Reading Suggestions:
- Orit Kamir’s full article in Haaretz (if available).
- Avishai Margalit’s The Ethics of Memory.
- Public debates around Holocaust memory legislation in Europe and Israel.
- UN and human rights reports on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
- Essay Questions
-
Evaluate the ethical implications of invoking Holocaust memory in contemporary political debates about the Gaza conflict, using Orit Kamir’s article as a case study. To what extent does this comparison help or hinder understanding and resolution?
-
Discuss the concept of collective responsibility as presented by Orit Kamir, especially in the context of state actions and historical memory. How should citizens and leaders balance historical trauma with present political realities?
-
Compare Kamir’s ethical reasoning with that of an opposing viewpoint (e.g., Yad Vashem, Israeli political leaders, or Holocaust historians). What are the moral risks and rewards of drawing analogies between genocide and war?