“Never Again”: A Slogan, Not a Solution

“Never Again.” The words echo through time like a self-congratulatory pat on the back, a phrase we cling to in the vain hope it absolves us of complicity. We love to trot it out whenever a historical documentary airs, as though repeating it is enough to ward off future atrocities. But in reality, it’s become little more than a hollow mantra, one that sounds noble but requires no actual effort.

Israel, a nation born from the ashes of the Holocaust, should know better than most the cost of dehumanization. Yet, here we are, watching it justify bombings, blockades, and human rights violations under the banner of “defence.” Criticise these actions, and you’re immediately branded antisemitic—as if holding a government accountable means you’re prejudiced against an entire religion. It’s a masterstroke of moral judo, turning legitimate critique into a taboo.

World Leaders: Masters of Inaction

What about the rest of the world? Our so-called leaders, who endlessly talk about justice and human rights, are astonishingly good at doing… absolutely nothing. Sure, they’ll release a carefully worded statement, maybe even a tweet, but action? Perish the thought. Calling out atrocities might upset powerful allies or jeopardise trade agreements, and we wouldn’t want to inconvenience anyone with principles, would we?

But maybe it’s not just cowardice. Maybe it’s denial. Humanity has an extraordinary ability to ignore inconvenient truths. We see the bombs drop, the hospitals burn, the families displaced—and yet, we convince ourselves it’s “too complicated” or “not our problem.” The Holocaust taught us the importance of vigilance, but it seems we’re more interested in commemorating the past than confronting the present.

History on Repeat: The Bitter Irony of “Never Again”

The ultimate irony is that these atrocities aren’t happening in the shadows—they’re livestreamed for all to see. The Holocaust was supposed to be a moral wake-up call, but instead, we’ve hit the snooze button. “Never Again” was meant to mean something, but now it’s just another comfortable lie we tell ourselves while the world burns.

If there’s one thing humanity excels at, it’s selective memory. We remember the Holocaust as a singular horror, a “glitch” in history. But the truth is, it wasn’t a glitch—it was a preview. And now, as war crimes and atrocities unfold in real-time, we act as though we’ve forgotten everything we learned.

Have We Learnt Nothing? Apparently Not

“Never Again” is supposed to be a promise, but we’ve turned it into a slogan. Leaders look the other way, citizens retreat into denial, and history repeats itself while we claim it’s all “too complex” to fix. If this is what learning from the past looks like, perhaps we’ve finally hit the greatest joke of all: humanity is brilliant at forgetting. And that, in itself, is the real tragedy.