International law does not classify “ethnic cleansing” as a crime. Genocide is a crime, defined by the United Nations in 1948 as “the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.”

The current war by Israel against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is hotly controverted. Some say it is genocide; but if the aim is only removal and occupation, that is not genocide. If Netanyahu’s aim is to retain power, and thousands of people die, is that genocide, or merely ordinary political strategy?

Klaus Mann (The Turning Point) described his attempts to warn people about Hitler and the Third Reich, after leaving Germany in 1933 to save his life. There was too much complacency. There was a widespread attitude that Hitler was an absurd little man, not capable of wreaking havoc on European civilization. Many secretly (or openly) approved of “getting rid of” the Jews. Removal plans advanced to mass extermination, while appeasement policies utterly failed.

For those in the camps (Primo Levi, Jorge Semprun), the reality was devastating. While countries were being invaded, many thousands were shipped to camps, where they were summarily executed, or held as prison labor.

Starvation is a form of torture, and a slow death. Palestinians receive little sympathy. Their suffering does not seem to be getting the reaction they deserve. Claims of anti-Semitism are used to deflect any and all criticism. The results of Israel’s policies will be harshly judged by history, in ten or twenty years. History is slow to catch up.

What can be done about ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip? We watch and wait, and sometimes, speak out. But let’s not be ignorant, or complacent. Mass extermination can happen again. All it takes is the devaluation of human life, to subhuman status. This is the lesson we must apparently learn, again and again.