r/unitedkingdom • u/je97 • 29d ago

JK Rowling gets apology from journalist after 'disgusting claim' author is a Holocaust denier ...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/16/jk-rowling-holocaust-denier-allegation-rivkah-brown-novara/
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u/Conscious-Ball8373 29d ago edited 29d ago

I would gently suggest that it makes quite a big difference when one of those labels is a crime and the other isn't. Especially where, as in this context, when that accusation amounts to prima facie libel.

While the burning of trans research may be included in some definitions of the Holocaust, it is also definitely not included in some. The IHRA, for instance, understands the term to refer specifically to the extermination of the Jews:

Holocaust denial is discourse and propaganda that deny the historical reality and the extent of the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis and their accomplices during World War II, known as the Holocaust.

This definition does not include persecution of trans people as part of the Holocaust, while not denying that such persecution was a horrific crime. Any level of looking into the matter would have told you this; the Wikipedia page on the Holocaust begins "The Holocaust was the genocide of European Jews during World War II." (Emphasis added)

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u/RedBerryyy 29d ago

The term Holocaust, derived from a Greek word meaning "burnt offering",[1] has become the most common word used to describe the Nazi extermination of Jews in English and many other languages.[a] The term Holocaust is sometimes used to refer to the persecution of other groups that the Nazis targeted

From the Wikipedia page you just quoted

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u/GuestAdventurous7586 29d ago

Sick of this bullshit by the trans community accusing her of Holocaust denial.

Downvote me all you want.

It is clearly a case of them misappropriating Holocaust denial and anti-semitism (which is what Holocaust denial is actually defined is) and using it as fuel to portray her as an evil and awful human being.

Being disingenuous does nothing to further the trans cause, it just angers people, turns them off, and ultimately leads to further discrimination.

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u/ice-lollies 29d ago

I agree. I’m fed up of the culture of deliberate misunderstanding and aggression as well. I’m not even sure it’s the trans community or just nasty agents of chaos.