The rewriting of history is a hallmark of dictators and the far right. It is, of course, accompanied by the destruction of all laws and instruments of control by those in power with the aim of establishing a dictatorship. Since Gramsci, we have known the importance of this process, which inspires would-be dictators and has become their bible.
Some current examples:
In Hungary, Orban is restoring the supporters of the dictator Horthy, who was responsible for collaborating with the Nazis and, incidentally, for the deportation and death of Hungarian Jews shortly before the end of the war.
In Russia, Putin is restoring the greatness of the USSR and Stalin with deportations and millions of deaths from starvation, particularly in the USSR and Ukraine.
In France, under the leadership of billionaires Bolloré and Servin, through TV, the media, shows like Puy du Fou and the help of the far right, history is being rewritten, the greatness of France is being glorified and bloody episodes are being erased.
In Israel, the messianic government is erasing all traces of the past that do not fit with the history accepted by Zionism.
The Nakba never happened; the 800,000 Palestinians left their country happily, attracted by the comforts of refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Gaza. The massacres in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila were allegedly carried out by Lebanese Christian militias, with no involvement from Israel. Moreover, Palestine never existed, according to the Zionist slogan ‘a land without a people for a people without a land’. Of course, there is no genocide or famine in Gaza! Moreover, in archaeology, the Israelis have become experts in rewriting ancient history based on myths written in the Bible. Real historians are ignored or even expelled from the country (see Ilan Pappe and others).
In Serbia and the Serbian Republic, there were no massacres in Sarajevo or Srebrenica. These were supposedly responses to attacks by Muslims, against whom Christianity and the Serbs were the last bastions of Europe in defence against Turkish and Muslim invasions. Moreover, Serbia must be the only country in the world that celebrates as a national holiday the great defeat in the 15th century against the Turks.
There are, of course, dozens of other examples, but there is one in the making that will have consequences for the whole world: Trump.
In the United States, history is being rewritten with Trump’s takeover of major institutions in Washington and elsewhere, including the famous Smithsonian Institute. I would like to make a few suggestions for rearrangements
1) the massacre of the Indians did not take place, they committed suicide and killed each other
2) black slavery never existed, they were delighted to be able to work in the cotton fields and to be so well housed and fed
3) the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan were not lost by the Yankees at all; they decided to withdraw because they had other concerns; the reports of the last helicopter leaving Saigon are fake news, just like the last plane leaving Kabul.
4) In Iraq, the US won a great victory because, by ridding the country of Hussein, who had weapons of mass destruction in his basement, the country became a great democracy after tens of thousands of deaths and billions of dollars,
5) In Latin America, the US has restored democracies everywhere, from Pinochet’s Chile to Brazil and Argentina and elsewhere, where benevolent dictatorial generals saved these countries from destruction.
6) Global warming does not exist. In fact, the meteorologists who advocate it have been fired, along with the meteorologists and statisticians who brought bad news, just like the bearers of bad news in Athens.
7) Supporters of Palestine are dangerous terrorists/communists, and universities are spreading a false image of the real America.
The list is long, but the recipe is the same: history is being rewritten to create a version more compatible with a takeover of institutions that will allow all progress in terms of freedoms and economic and social advances to be erased, a major step backwards. Unless a miracle happens – a few Mandelas and revolutions – the future does not look bright.
