Sir, – We have run out of words to describe the horror of what happened on October 7th in Israel and what has happened since then in Gaza. The words we repeat no longer shock. Those who are responsible for these heinous actions and their supporters ignore what we say. The EU cannot even agree on words that might bring an end to the carnage.
There is one word, however, that has not been used so far: “holocaust”.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “holocaust” may be defined as “a mass slaughter”; Collins English Dictionary defines “holocaust” as “an event in which there is a lot of destruction and many people are killed, especially one caused by war”.
There is an obvious reason why this word has been avoided.
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Preceded by “the” and with a capital “H”, this word specifically refers to the systematic mass murder of more than six million Jews under the Nazi German regime – the most deplorable atrocity in the history of humankind.
This, however, is not a reason to avoid using “holocaust” to describe other heinous acts of mass killing. Written thus, it is also a word that evokes a visceral disgust and a moral judgment. It’s time we used it.
Both Hamas and the Israeli government have been responsible for a holocaust in which thousands of innocent civilians have been slaughtered.
If using this word evokes the memory of a horrific historic event that resulted in the deaths of millions, then we are warned about what can happen when killing spirals out of control and our sense of common humanity is lost.
If the word shocks, then, that’s what it’s supposed to do. – Yours, etc,
CHRIS FITZPATRICK,
Dublin 6.
