Between the Holocaust and Slow Death

When we speak of genocide, the Nazi model during World War II immediately comes to mind The Hitler regime sought a "final solution" to the Jewish question through mass executions, burning bodies in crematoria, and stripping victims of their humanity with brutal speed It was a thoroughly mechanized genocide, driven by an explicit racist ideology, executed with an industrial mindset aimed at efficiently killing millions within a few short years.

But in Gaza, there is a different model of genocide—not carried out solely by bombs, but by siege, deprivation, impoverishment, and starvation This is not a genocide of hours, but of years It kills the person before they die; it crushes them with misery, burying them alive under the rubble of thirst, hunger, despair, and the ruins of their own homes.

The Nazis committed genocide against the Jews within an ideological framework that saw them as a biological threat that must be eradicated The killing tools included gas chambers, mass shootings, starvation in camps, and forced labor to the point of death In that Holocaust, approximately six million Jews were killed, as claimed, through a horrifyingly methodical process Trains would transport victims to camps like Auschwitz, where thousands were killed in mere hours and their bodies burned in massive furnaces built for this very purpose.

The speed of execution, ideological clarity, and total lack of human empathy made the Holocaust an industrial crime unparalleled in its horror—one that has haunted the world for decades.

But what about the slow-motion genocide in Gaza?

It does not come with Nazi salutes, nor is it carried out in gas chambers. Instead, it is cloaked in the language of "security,” "counterterrorism,” and "deterrence” For many years, Gaza has been under siege by land, air, and sea Electricity, medicine, clean water, fuel—even food—are systematically denied. Israel cuts off life from Gaza artery by artery, in full view of the world.

The sick are denied travel for treatment Fishermen are barred from fishing Children are forced to sleep thirsty Schools, hospitals, bakeries, and water stations are bombed. And when Gazans cry out for help, they are accused of extremism and met with a global indifference.

The fundamental difference between the Nazi genocide and the Gazan one is rhythm The former aimed to kill the individual swiftly, to eliminate their existence in months or a few years. In Gaza, the aim is to destroy life itself—without immediately ending the body: to let people die slowly, to lose hope, to see their children bent by malnutrition, to be forced to drink salty or sewage-tainted water.

Hunger kills, as does thirst But it kills slowly. It kills while the victim still appears alive, but is dead in every other detail This form of killing is no less horrific than gas chambers; it may even be more cruel—because it tortures the human being day after day, turning the silent world into a partner in the crime.

What makes the Palestinian death even more tragic is the lack of global recognition that what is happening in Gaza is a slow genocide After World War II, humanity stood in horror before the Nazi Holocaust, acknowledging it as a crime against humanity Museums were built, laws were enacted to prevent its recurrence.

But in Gaza, the world watches famine, siege, and children buried under rubble—and then goes about its day as if nothing happened Some of the world's major powers, who claim to uphold human rights, fund the machinery of siege and death, providing Israel with constant diplomatic cover Palestinians are urged to "show restraint"—even after their children are slaughtered.

The Jewish Holocaust was never forgotten; it became part of global consciousness—and, in some cases, politically exploited. Gaza’s tragedy, however, is at risk of being forgotten, despite being live-streamed, ongoing, and experienced by millions every moment.

But will Israel succeed in erasing the evidence of this crime? Or will history, as always, eventually hold it accountable as it did with the Nazis? Will a "Gaza Museum” someday be built in the heart of Europe to commemorate children who died of thirst and hunger? Or is the global memory too small for more than one tragedy per century?

Genocide is not only what is carried out through swift mass killing It is every systematic act intended to erase a people—robbing them of their dignity, stripping them of life’s essentials, and pushing them toward extinction—whether slowly or quickly What is happening in Gaza is genocide in every sense of the word, but it is of a different kind: more insidious, longer-lasting, and more painful.

It is the world's duty to recognize this—not only out of moral obligation but to preserve the very meaning of humanity. Just as swift genocide was condemned in the past, slow genocide must be condemned in the present. Gaza must not be allowed to die in silence while humanity watches on.