Hajo Meyer was a Holocaust survivor, a political activist, and a German-born Dutch physicist. He became the director of A Different Jewish Voice. He wrote the book Het einde van het Jodendom (The End of Judaism) (2003), in which he argued that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is “almost identical [to] what was done to the German Jews even before the ‘Final Solution.’” Meyer built on Hans Keilson’s theory of “sequential traumatizing” to argue that Israel has re-traumatized Jews to indoctrinate them and foster loyalty to the state against its enemies. Meyer was among the 40 Holocaust survivors who signed a letter condemning the “massacre” of Palestinians and calling for a boycott against Israel.
The text of the letter read:
“Jewish survivors and descendants of survivors and victims of Nazi genocide unequivocally condemn the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza
“As Jewish survivors and descendants of survivors and victims of the Nazi genocide we unequivocally condemn the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and the ongoing occupation and colonization of historic Palestine. We further condemn the United States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out the attack, and Western states more generally for using their diplomatic muscle to protect Israel from condemnation. Genocide begins with the silence of the world.
“We are alarmed by the extreme, racist dehumanization of Palestinians in Israeli society, which has reached a fever-pitch. In Israel, politicians and pundits in The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post have called openly for genocide of Palestinians and right-wing Israelis are adopting Neo-Nazi insignia.
“Furthermore, we are disgusted and outraged by Elie Wiesel’s abuse of our history in these pages to justify the unjustifiable: Israel’s wholesale effort to destroy Gaza and the murder of more than 2,000 Palestinians, including many hundreds of children. Nothing can justify bombing UN shelters, homes, hospitals and universities. Nothing can justify depriving people of electricity and water.
“We must raise our collective voices and use our collective power to bring about an end to all forms of racism, including the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people. We call for an immediate end to the siege against and blockade of Gaza. We call for the full economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel. “Never again” must mean NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE!”
Meyer expressed the lesson of the Holocaust, NEVER AGAIN. Never again for Jews, never again for anyone. Mistreating other people is wrong and violates Jewish values. “No injustice ever experienced can be undone by any new injustice and certainly not if that injustice is done to people who had nothing to whatsoever to do with the Nazi crimes.”