Anne Frank was 15 years old when she died in a Nazi concentration camp. Yet her words outlived her body. Words scribbled in a diary from a secret attic in Amsterdam became one of the world’s most powerful mirrors.
This summer, I found myself in Amsterdam for Mindvalley U. By chance, my Airbnb was on the street next to Anne Frank’s house. Each morning, I’d step outside and see the same canals, the same cobblestones, and the same rooftops Anne may have glimpsed in stolen moments when she dared peek out from her hiding place.
A few mornings later, I opened the news and froze. The Diary of Anne Frank had just been banned in Florida schools under new book-ban laws. Imagine that. In 2025, one of the most important human documents ever written—the testimony of a teenage Jewish girl hiding from Nazi genocide—was deemed “inappropriate” for children to read.
The synchronicity hit me hard. I was standing before the building where those words were written. Words that survived Anne, even though she did not. Words that outlived war, genocide, and cruelty—only to be silenced again today by politicians who fear truth more than hatred.
And this got me thinking.
If Anne Frank were alive today, what would she say about America? About Israel & Gaza?
What I’m about to share may feel uncomfortable—but Anne’s words demand we face discomfort.
Who was Anne Frank
Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt in 1929. When the Nazis rose to power, her family fled to Amsterdam, hoping to escape persecution. In 1942, when deportations began, they went into hiding in a small annex behind her father’s office. For over two years, Anne, her sister Margot, her parents Otto and Edith, and four others lived in silence, relying on the courage of Dutch friends who smuggled them food and news.
Anne wasn’t just a symbol. She was a teenager—funny, sharp, sometimes rebellious, and always observant. She dreamed of being a journalist. She once wrote, “I want to go on living even after my death.” And, tragically, she did—not through her life, but through her words.
In August 1944, they were betrayed. The Gestapo stormed the annex. The Franks were deported to Westerbork, then Auschwitz, and finally Anne and Margot to Bergen-Belsen. In early 1945, both sisters died of typhus—just weeks before liberation. Anne was 15.
Only Otto Frank survived. After the war, Miep Gies, one of the helpers, handed him Anne’s diary. He published it, fulfilling her dream. Today, it has sold over 30 million copies and been translated into more than 70 languages.
Anne’s body was silenced. But her voice became immortal.
Anne’s words in today’s world
Anne once wrote:
“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor, helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”
She was describing Nazi roundups in Amsterdam.
But doesn’t that sound eerily like ICE raids in America today? Parents taken in the middle of the night. Children left crying, bewildered, abandoned. Different time, different uniforms—but the same cruelty.
Anne also wrote:
“We are chained to one spot, without rights, a thousand obligations… waiting for the inevitable end.”
That could be the voice of Gaza today. Entire families locked in. Starved. Bombed. Denied freedom of movement. Children asking, “Why must we suffer simply because of who we are?”
Her words, written 80 years ago, read like dispatches from the present. History is not past. It is a loop—unless we break it.
A hard, controversial mirror
Anne’s diary teaches us to look at cruelty honestly, no matter where it comes from. And one thing history proves: atrocities don’t start with bullets. They start with words.
Dehumanizing language always comes first.
So let’s talk about Gaza, as uncomfortable as this may seem.
Consider the echoes:
- Nazi leadership (1943): Heinrich Himmler at Posen: “I am referring here to the evacuation of the Jews, the extermination of the Jewish people….”
- Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (2023): On the Palestinian town of Huwara: “[Huwara] should be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it.”
- Hitler, Mein Kampf: Jews as “the typical parasite, a sponger who, like an infectious bacillus, keeps spreading.” Nazi propaganda routinely cast Jews as vermin.
- Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (2023): Announcing a siege of Gaza: “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel… We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”
- Nazi propaganda (Goebbels echoing Hitler): Jews blamed collectively for war, threatened with “extermination.”
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog (2023): “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible….” — words widely criticized as endorsing collective punishment.
- Nazi euphemisms: “Evacuation” as code for extermination.
- Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (2023): Suggesting a nuclear strike on Gaza was “one of the options.”
Different contexts. Different scales. But the same pattern.
Dehumanize → Justify → Destroy.
Anne Frank’s words remind us: when we hear this language, it is never “just rhetoric.” It is the runway to cruelty.
You see, cruelty always begins the same way: when leaders tell us to fear “the other.”
Fear the immigrant.
Fear the refugee.
Fear the neighbor who looks different.
Fear the people beyond your border.
That is the oldest political trick in the book. And it works—unless we refuse to buy it.
Anne Frank didn’t write her diary so we could cry in museums. She wrote it so we could recognize her suffering in others—and have the courage to stop it.
Why giving people a chance matters
This message hit me with even greater force because, while in Amsterdam, I also had a chance encounter.
I bumped into a young Syrian man who once worked for me back in 2016. At the time, he was a refugee in Malaysia. He and his friend had escaped a country torn apart by war. One had seen his home blown to rubble. The other had lost a brother when a bomb fell on the very place his brother was resting.
Both had lived through horrors most of us can barely imagine. And yet, when I met them, I didn’t just see refugees. I saw brilliant young minds. I saw hope, determination, and resilience.
That year, I had an idea for a new learning model called Quest and needed someone to build the app. These two young Syrians built it in record time. That app became the Mindvalley app—today used by millions worldwide and even featured in 200,000 Apple stores on the iPad.
Yes, our app was built by Syrians. Yes, it was built by refugees who were given a chance.
Anne never got her chance. But when we give people that chance, look what can happen.
This is why I am so adamant about this message. When politicians tell you to fear refugees, or immigrants, or minorities, they’re not just lying. They are robbing humanity of its future.
The rule we must all live by
If there’s one rule we must all live by, it’s this:
The moment a leader tells you to fear refugees, minorities, or immigrants, you are looking at a tyrant.
Do not believe them. Do not reward their fear with your silence—or your vote.
Because fear divides. And division always leads to cruelty.
What the world needs now is unity.
Unity across stripes, colors, races, and ethnicities. Unity across cultures, religions, and especially across borders.
Because the only way we solve the greatest challenges facing humanity—from climate change to war to poverty—is to remember this truth:
We are one humanity.
And kindness cannot stop at the invisible lines of race, religion, or border.
The higher vision
Anne Frank once wrote:
“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
That may be the most extraordinary line ever written. She believed it while hiding from people who wanted her dead.
If Anne could believe in human goodness then, we can believe in it now.
Let’s prove her right.
Let’s choose compassion over cruelty.
Let’s stand up for one another across borders.
Let’s silence the voices of fear not by shouting back but by choosing unity again and again.
Because Anne’s diary isn’t just a warning.
It’s a torch.
And it’s in our hands now.
So here’s what we can collectively do.
Stand for unity. Across color. Across race. Across borders. Across religions.
When you hear fear, answer with love.
When you hear division, answer with solidarity.
When a politician uses scapegoating, vote the other way.
The only way to honor Anne is to prove her right—that humanity is good at heart.
And that goodness becomes real when we act.
Because history doesn’t just happen to us. It is written by our choices—and our silence.
I’d like to hear from you: Drop a comment below—let’s create a conversation around unity, compassion, and what it means to stand for humanity in our time.
1,253 Responses
It is hard to believe and to see that we don’t learn from history itself.
I agree we need to learn, each of us, from the impact by awareness and take actions with the heart, again and again.
I would love to share something Etty Hillesum said. She lived in the Netherlands, was jewish and also wrote a diary in the war, like Anne. And she neither survived the war.
She is less famous, but her words are so profound and always inspire me to continue with the work I stand for contributing to peace.
I quote:
From: An Interrupted life and letters from Westerbork, Etty Hillesum, 20th of June 1942
Humiliation always involves two. The one who does the humiliating, and the one who allows himself to be humiliated. If the second is missing, that is, if the passive party is immune to humiliation, then the humiliation vanishes into thin air. All that remains are vexatious measures that interfere with daily life but are not humiliations that weigh heavily on the soul. We Jews should remember that. This morning I cycled along the Station Quay enjoying the broad sweep of the sky at the edge of the city and breathing in the fresh, unrationed air. And everywhere signs barring Jews from the paths and the open country. But above the one narrow path still left to us stretches the sky, intact. They can’t do anything to us, they really can’t. They can harass us, they can rob us of our material goods, of our freedom of movement, but we ourselves forfeit our greatest assets by our misguided compliance. By our feeling of being persecuted, humiliated, and oppressed. By our own hatred. By our swagger, which hides our fear. We may of course be sad and depressed by what has been done to us; that is only human and understandable. However: our greatest injury is one we inflict upon ourselves, I find life beautiful, and I feel free. The sky within me is as wide as the one stretching above my head. I believe in God and I believe in man, and I say so without embarrassment. Life is hard, but that is no bad thing. If one starts by taking one’s own importance seriously, the rest follows. It is not morbid individualism to work on oneself. True peace will come only when every individual finds peace within himself; when we have all vanquished and transformed our hatred for our fellow human beings of whatever race – even into love one day, although perhaps that is asking too much. It is, however, the only solution.
We always have a choice: love or fear. Even we might think different.
Florida Did not ban the diary of Ann Frank. Fact check before you write such a damaging article.
Hallo, warum wird mein Kommentar und Antwort nicht veröffentlicht?
I got goosebumps and I agree. Tell me how I can help
Dear Vishen,
Thank you for speaking of compassion and reminding us where hate and evil in our hearts will lead. I pray for a better and more just world, for all.
“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
Thanks for sharing Anne Franks message – it is so true even today.
The world needs many more Annes, how sad is it that entire governments do not share her wisdom.
All the wars have to stop. There is no justification whatsoever to kill humans, deport humans.
Book bans of such a masterpiece shows the craziness.
Anne is right, people are good at heart. But some are so spoilt and full of toxic hate.
As a German I long supported Israel. But now the ones responsible for the war and genozide in Gaza no longer deserve our shield.
Florida did not ban the diary of Anne Frank. Vishen you should have faced checked that before you wrote your article. Lots of terrible things going on in the world.
Agree. I cannot understand why anyone would want to harm or have control over another person.
Thank you Vishen for opening this conversation and it’s relieving to know that people at Mindvalley stand with humanity.
Like so many written before me/above, a lovely start, yet a terribly one sided point of view.
Yes love. Yes kindness. Yes unity.
You seemed to be focused on the immigration issue which so many people are. It maaaaaaay be good for those just-walking-into-our-house-and Taking-our things…. But what about all the hardworking, caring, devoted parents and families whose life gets upturned or thrown off balance, from the delicate balance most people financially walk, when santuary cities park under, unable, undocumented, untaxed, unworked, drugged, drunk or even Just Destitute or Desperate immigrants in front of our stores, shops, our homes. Feces on the streets. Beggging and urinating in front of our cafes. I’ve seen it.
Chicago just asked for !!$800,000,000.!!!!!! From people in Kansas, homeowners in Missouri, families in Ohio, farmers in the Midwest, WHAT?! Why Vishen, do all these people, working so hard, yet barely making it, get taxed to supply Chicago with !!!$800,000,000.00 for santuary cities.
You appear to be Virtue Signaling Vishen.
-great talk asking everyone else to lay down their lives, in the middle of thier lives, to Start the lives of tens of millions! Of people that we, with all the love in the world.. cannot sustain.
Dear Colleen, I hear the frustration in your words, and I understand that many hardworking families feel pressure and uncertainty. It’s true that life can feel fragile when financial and social balances are delicate. At the same time, I believe that blaming migrants for systemic issues oversimplifies the issue and doesn’t solve the underlying challenges which usually stem from complex policy, economic, and governance factors, not just migration. Many people migrate because they have no choice; they too seek safety, food, work, and a chance to care for their families. They, too, are trying to live with dignity. Taxes and community support are ways we express solidarity. They help build systems that protect everyone, including those who struggle. While it may feel unfair at times, this collective approach often strengthens the society we all rely on.
I would like to share with you one quote from Thich Nhat Hanh:
“We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness.”
In other words: “When we touch one being with compassion, we touch all beings, including ourselves.”
Vishen may know a thing or two but definitely knows NOTHING about the current criminality that landed in America and Europe created by the illegal migrants and big money that support the leftist governments!
Thank you, Yo
Hi Vishen,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I resonate deeply with them. I am South African, born in Soweto in 1985 and have lived to see the Apartheid era die down and take on a different shape through the years that follow. We still have leaders doing fox-trots with how “We” as Africans were treated in the old regime and why “we must” lowkey keep fueling hate and resentment. It’s exhausting to listen to that and frustating to see young leaders adopting the fear to hate and not to forgive. We can do better as a people. We CAN break the historical loop and make choices that give us a BETTER future for all of us. Us being natives and others that seek refuge in our borders. We CAN work together, this being the world at large. Grace and Peace:)
Guten Tag,
ich bin selber aus einer muslimischen Familie aus der Türkei nach Deutschland wegen meiner journalistischen Tätigkeiten geflüchtet weil dort keine Presse – Meinungsfreiheit gibt und wenn man die despotische Regierung kritisiert verhaftet wird. Menschen leiden in fast allen islamistischen Ländern und wo islamistische Organisationen wie Hamas die Macht ergriffen haben. Diese despoten wie der türkischer Präsident oder Hamas haben die gleiche Ideologie und sie können ohne zu zwinkern tausende Menschen für ihre Herrschaft und Ideologie wie in Gaza opfern. In Gaza war seit Jahren Frieden und Wohlstand bis die Islamisten am 7. Oktober 2023 Israel angegriffen und hunderte Zivilsten massakriert haben. Glauben sie wenn Hamas die Mittel hätte würde er alle Juden töten und das wäre dann wirklich ein Völkermord! Sie sollten nicht bevor sie objektiv recherchiert haben nicht jeden Tag von Hamas verbreiteten Lügen und Propaganda glauben. Sogar internationale Medien wie New York Times, BBC und sogar Hilfsorganisationen sind schon mehrmals in diese Falle reingefallen. Natürlich gibt es auch in den reihen der israilischen Regierung radikale Leute die man kritisieren kann aber von Iran bis Gaza gibt es diese islamistischen Monster die das jüdische Volk ausrotten wollen. Diese sind die wahren verantwortlichen für all diese Leiden in diesen Ländern und auch in vielen Ländern in Afrika wo islamisten fast täglich hunderte Christen töten aber fast niemand darüber spricht. Anne Frank wurde von Nazis im 1. Holocaust umgebracht und Juden müssen sich natürlich wehren um einen 2. Holocaust zu verhindern. Bitte darum gründlich recherchieren und nicht einen Völkermord wie die Nazis den Juden angetan haben mit Gaza vergleichen. Recherchieren sie wieviele Juden in islamistischen Ländern vorher lebten und wieviel übrig blieben, in sehr vielen Ländern fast null! Im Gegenteil dazu leben mehr als 1,5 Millionen Araber in Israel. Glauben sie mir eine der grössten Gefahren für die Menschlichkeit ist heute Islamismus. Die meisten Muslime denken über Juden und Westen wie Hamas! Weil ich eine muslimische Umfeld habe weis ich genau wovon ich hier spreche und wenn man diese Islamismus hier in Westen nicht stoppt wird es in einigen Jahren zu spät sein und wir werden alle miterleben wie alles zerstört wird weil die Islamisten niemals, nirgendwo sich integrieren. Aber leider wird islamismus hier in Westen mit falscher Toleranz geduldet. Wenn sie eine Zukunft in Frieden, Freiheit, Wohlstand und Demokratie Zukunft für sich und ihrer Kinder wünschen dann sollten sie diesen Gefahr endlich erkennen.
Danke für ihre Aufmerksamkeit
This comment would be extremely valuable if it could be shown translated into English for the other commenters to read please!
Here is a true voice that needs to be heard!
Thank you so much for sharing your truth!
Thank you BR, it seems impossible to me that anyone with even an inkling of a brain doesn’t see this.
Vishen has really crossed the line here! Unforgivable , un researched bias that spreads hate!
Thank you for your brave and truthful commentary.
I did not see my post before, but this guy as a person who escaped an extremistislamic country gets it. The people of Gaza voted for terrorists= Hamas who stole every bit of aid (water, pipes, electricity, food, money) Israel provided to Gaza to fund weapons like rockets and tunnels to kill Israelis. They launched these rockets from schools and hospitals, using the Gazans, especially children as human shields. Vishan, you did not have any Jewish perspective in your story about ANNE FRANK!. You failed to describe Oct 7. This would be like your neighbor constantly shooting guns at you, and your family, but you aren’t allowed to stop giving them the money to buy the guns. If you try to fight back, your neighbor puts children in the firing line and the press takes a picture. I just cancelled my mindvalley account. I’m extremely disappointed in your research and citations. This post has made the world a worse place because you have fallen for the oldest and saddest antisemitic tropes.
Good day,
I myself come from a Muslim family from Turkey and fled to Germany because of my journalistic activities, since there is no freedom of the press or freedom of opinion there, and if you criticize the despotic government, you are arrested. People suffer in almost all Islamist countries, and wherever Islamist organizations such as Hamas have taken power. These despots, like the Turkish president or Hamas, have the same ideology, and they can, without blinking, sacrifice thousands of people for their rule and ideology, as in Gaza.
In Gaza there was peace and prosperity for years until the Islamists attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, and massacred hundreds of civilians. Do you believe that if Hamas had the means, it would not kill all Jews? That would truly be a genocide! You should not believe the lies and propaganda spread daily by Hamas before you have researched objectively. Even international media such as the New York Times, BBC, and even aid organizations have fallen into this trap several times.
Of course, within the ranks of the Israeli government there are also radical people who can be criticized, but from Iran to Gaza there are these Islamist monsters who want to exterminate the Jewish people. They are the real ones responsible for all the suffering in these countries, and also in many countries in Africa where Islamists kill hundreds of Christians almost daily—yet hardly anyone talks about it.
Anne Frank was murdered by the Nazis in the first Holocaust, and of course Jews must defend themselves to prevent a second Holocaust. Please research thoroughly and do not compare what the Nazis did to the Jews—a genocide—with Gaza. Research how many Jews once lived in Islamist countries and how many remain; in many countries, almost none! By contrast, more than 1.5 million Arabs live in Israel.
Believe me, one of the greatest dangers for humanity today is Islamism. Most Muslims think about Jews and the West in the same way as Hamas! Because I come from a Muslim environment, I know exactly what I am talking about, and if this Islamism is not stopped here in the West, in a few years it will be too late and we will all witness how everything is destroyed, because the Islamists never, nowhere, integrate. But unfortunately, Islamism is tolerated here in the West with false tolerance.
If you want a future of peace, freedom, prosperity, and democracy for yourself and your children, then you must finally recognize this danger.
Thank you for your attention.
Thank you B.R. for this fact-based response that draws on your own Turkish background.
Given that your lived experience is testimony that challenges Vishen’s assumptions, I hope one day Vishen reaches out to you for dialogue.
Sending appreciation to you B.R. for your courage to challenge the current chic, sleek posturing that those around us recite as a modern mantra, and instead bear witness to truth.
Well spoken B.R.! Based on this article I assume Vishen does not care to research the truth about the islamists. He prefers to divide this community and spread misinformation. So disappointed and sad to see this kind of manipulation from him as this is the face of Mindvalley now. Bye bye
Thank you for this message! We need to create a movement of good forces and refuse to go blind.
A lot of the power of your article is based on the outrage that “The Diary of Anne Frank” was banned in Florida. I was outraged and started to forward your email, but thought to fact check first. Evidently that is not true (a graphic version was pulled from a few school districts in 2023). The book is “part of the 8th-grade curriculum of the Florida Department of Education” according to left leaning Yahoo! News https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/desantis-slams-california-democrat-over-110121849.html
Thank you Daniel, for being sane and doing a quick fact check. Many of us seem think fact check means go to another website that did it for you. This is not real fact checking. You did the right thing and for that, I applaud you.
Thanks for that info. I can confirm that I found info the graphic novel was the version banned whilst the regular copy was available and part of the 8th grade curriculum. There are instances where it is under review however, along with other titles.
I do want to thank Vishen for this blog post as well. The overall message of compassion and paying attention to how we’re almost encouraged to support division and the chaos it can create.
Thank you both.
The book was NOT banned. It is actually on their “recommended reading” list!
Thank you Vishen ❤️ Yes, love and unity is the answer. The news stories we hear are about PEOPLE, people just like us. Let’s stop dehumanising. Let’s be human TOGETHER ❤️ Thank you for all you do in spreading the positivity Vishen ❤️
This is beautiful- I think to be truly inclusive, Anne would also note what Hamas says about Jews and the West. Israeli MPs have said extreme violent comments and to exclude Hamas’ brutal death threat comments to wipe out Jews is unbalanced and leads to seeing Jews and Israelis as ‘other’ just like it has looped throughout history.
Thank you
I have been following Vishen for years and have paid significant amounts for my subscription every year. Because I deeply appreciated his work and his message, I often wondered what his position was on Israel and the Palestinian issue.
Reading this article – with its comparison between Israeli leadership and the Nazis – left me infuriated and very disappointed.
After October 7th, when innocent Israeli citizens were brutally murdered, young women were raped, atrocities beyond imagination were committed, and children and elderly people were taken hostage – with many still held by Hamas under inhumane conditions – it is deeply painful to see such comparisons being made. The claim that the Gazan population was “uninvolved” or innocent is also hard to accept, when so many were seen celebrating these horrific acts.
At a time when antisemitism and hatred toward Jews are once again rising around the world, it is heartbreaking to see you take a position that, intentionally or not, fuels that sentiment.
Anti-semitism is on the rise and Jewish people do need to be protected from hate. This is a fact. It is also a fact that the Israeli government has exterminated over 18,000 innocent children in less than two years, and committed atrocities beyond imagination. Hamas is a terrorist organization. The Israeli government is also guilty of terrorism, and yes, even genocide- by definition. If we don’t stand against terrorism and genocide everywhere, it opens up the possibility for more violence against vulnerable populations (like Jewish people around the world). Never again means never again for everyone.
Hi limor. There is still no proof of any rapes occurring on Oct 7, that claim has been debunked along with the 40 beheaded babies propaganda, which was all designed to shut down the empathy that anyone of conscience might have for an occupied people, living in an open-air concentration camp, most of whom are refugees or decendents of Nakba refugees (where Palestinians’ homes/villages were stolen by settlers in 1948.)
Israel has been legally adjudicated to be an Apartheid state. Before 10/7, the people living in Gaza had water scarcity, and were not allowed to collect their own rainwater (a fundamental for life.) Israel limited the number of calories that were allowed to enter the strip, through the borders they control. IDF soldiers have testified in the Knesset that they were ordered not to patrol the wall from 520am to 9am on Oct 7. They also testify that it has been regular practice for years to do nightly raids on random homes, waking families in the middle of the night (presumably while holding guns), separating men and women, intimidating and terrorizing them.
It is very easy to recognize that if this were happening to you and your family, you might not really like the people who were doing this to you, and you would resist this treatment. Perhaps you would get together with thousands of your neighbours and protest peacefully at the wall that separates you from the rest of the world, as Gazans did during the 2018/19 Great March Of Return? Except then you would have witnessed Israel placing its finest snipers at that wall, competing to blow out the kneecaps of as many unarmed protesters as possible. You would also have witnessed them murder disabled and elderly people.
Israel not only doesn’t have the right to ‘defend itself’ in the region it is unlawfully occupying, it has responsibilities under international law to provide all the protections and necessities of life for the people they occupy.
Yet we are seeing Stage 5 starvation in Gaza right now, confirmed by all the healthcare workers and aid groups on the ground and Green Beret Anthony Aguilar, who has provided footage and testimony of intentional killings of Palestinians (including children) while they collect aid – after walking between 8-12 kms with no access to clean drinking water, in the blazing heat.
I can also guarantee to you that None of the 1000+ infants who have been killed by Israel in Gaza in the past 2 years celebrated the death of Israelis. They wouldn’t even know the difference between a Jew and an Israeli. But I do. Judaism espouses 13 Principles of Faith, importantly, acts of Mercy and Justice. Israel’s leaders have consistently lied, obfuscated, committed war crimes, incited hatred and genocide, and obliterated any sign of life in the Gaza Strip. There is absolutely nothing ‘Jewish’ about that, and to claim that Israel is acting on behalf of all Jews when it acts without any Mercy, and without any Justice, is absolutely antisemitic.
yes infuriating… comparing Jews to Nazis – the classic antisemitic playbook… this man is either diabolical or completely ignorant… in any case shameful and needs to retract and apologize !
thank you ! the whole article is so outrageous ! using this platform for that kind of antisemitic propaganda is disgusting… really. He needs to go to the holocaust museum. Then he needs to listen to Hamas and palestinians. He needs to listen to the Mufti of Jerusalem who called for the murder of the Jews and was an ally to the nazis. He needs to realise that Mein Kampf is a best seller in the arabic world ! enough of the inversion of reality !
Using the words and story of a young Jewish girl who was murdered by Nazi’s to compare her own people (people who were survivors of the Holocaust and endured the same treatment and their descendants) to those that murdered her is completely twisted. Don’t forget it is the Hamas and other Islamic terrorist groups that call for the continued annihilation of the Jewish people. Comparing the Holocaust to the current illegal alien deportations is not only a huge exaggeration, but an insult to Jewish people, and cheapens what happened to them. I just started the Mindvalley program, but unfortunately I cannot actively participate and fund something that is backed by this disturbing view point.
I am writing to you as a devoted member and loyal supporter of Mindvalley’s mission. For years, I have been a student of your personal growth content, always believing in your power to create a positive impact. That is why I am so shocked and deeply hurt by the statements you’ve made, which not only accuse Israelis of genocide Like the Nazis but also grotesquely misrepresent our reality.
It is one thing to misinterpret a complex political situation, but it is another to invoke the memory of the Holocaust and Anne Frank to draw a false comparison to Gaza. This is not just deeply offensive; it is a painful and dangerous distortion of history. Vishen, you have never lived here. You do not know the constant reality of terror and violence we face. To use the story of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl murdered by the Nazis, to compare us to her oppressors is an act that not only trivializes our people’s suffering but also fuels global antisemitism.
The current war was not our choice. It began on October 7, 2023, when hundreds of Hamas terrorists infiltrated our communities. They murdered, raped, and kidnapped over 250 innocent people, including children, women, and the elderly. This was a brutal pogrom and an act of pure evil. For us, this was our 9/11. The trauma is constant, with 50 of our people still held captive in Gaza, enduring unimaginable physical and psychological torture.
Accusing Israelis of genocide is a lie. The opposite is true: Hamas’s charter is to eliminate us and take control. To echo such dangerous propaganda is to stand on the wrong side of history. I implore you to reconsider your words. As a leader of a movement that is supposed to be about truth and humanity, you must be aware of all the facts before spreading such harmful narratives.
I am writing this with a heavy heart, struggling to reconcile the positive values I thought you represented with the hurtful and dangerous messages you are now broadcasting.
Sincerely,
A devoted member.
I cannot agree more with you. The comparison is shocking and I’m so disappointed to read this. Very dangerous message . I strongly suggest that He travels to Israel and visit Nir Oz community, kfar Aza and meet with some families and returned hostages to see the truth.
Thank you Elsie this is exactly what I wanted to say and you say it well
I urge Vishen to write again. include all you have said and know that he has a huge following that could actually spread the truth vs the propaganda. If he really wants to save humanity he now has an obligation to do so.
Thanks for your amazing thinking.
Thanks to enlighten us and sharing with us beautiful words and emotions and not ugly desire of anger.
Bravo Vishen.
Hi Vishen, it´s not often that an email stops me in my tracks, but yours did. I wanted to thank you for your bravery in speaking up with such courage. And what Anne Frank once wrote: “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart”, is what I choose to believe too. I choose to believe in human goodness. Thanks again, Vishen.
This is a powerful and emotional piece, but it unfortunately misrepresents complex realities and draws false equivalences that are not only inaccurate but also dangerous. While the memory of Anne Frank should absolutely serve as a moral compass against hatred, using it to draw direct parallels with the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict and US immigration policy oversimplifies history and ignores critical context.
Here are several points that are being ignored in this analysis:
The Comparison to Nazi Germany is a Distortion of History: The Holocaust was a state-sanctioned, industrial-scale genocide rooted in a racial ideology that declared Jews subhuman and sought their complete extermination. To compare the words of a few extremist Israeli politicians to the systematic machinery of the Nazi regime is a gross distortion. Heinrich Himmler’s call for extermination was official state policy; Bezalel Smotrich’s reprehensible comments, while condemned by many, do not represent the official policy of the Israeli government or the views of the majority of its citizens. Equating the two minimizes the unique horror of the Holocaust and misrepresents the political reality in Israel.
Israel is a Diverse, Multi-ethnic Democracy: The post paints Israel with a single brush, ignoring its complex and diverse society. Over two million Arab citizens live in Israel; they are doctors, entrepreneurs, judges, and even members of the governing coalition. Arabs serve in the Israeli military and are integrated into all levels of its society. This reality is completely erased in the author’s narrative, which is essential for making the false parallel to a homogenous, fascist state.
The Gaza Conflict is with Hamas, Not the Palestinian People: The author conveniently forgets to mention the root cause of the current war: the brutal attack on October 7th by Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. He also ignores that Hamas violently seized power from the Palestinian Authority in Gaza in 2007, killing political opponents in the process. Israel’s stated goal is the dismantlement of Hamas, not the punishment of the Palestinian people. While the loss of any civilian life is a tragedy, the responsibility for civilian casualties is complicated by Hamas’s strategy of embedding its military operations within civilian areas, a fact well-documented and widely reported. No other nation has gone to the lengths Israel has to warn civilians and minimize casualties in such a complex urban warfare environment.
Collective Responsibility vs. a Nation at War: The quote from President Herzog is presented out of context. It was part of a broader statement about the need to confront an ideology of hate that has popular support, not a call for collective punishment. Conflating this with Nazi propaganda is intellectually dishonest. A nation defending itself after a horrific attack is fundamentally different from a regime built on an ideology of racial extermination.
Ignoring the Role of Words on the Other Side: The author rightfully points out that dehumanizing language is a precursor to violence. However, he selectively applies this principle. He fails to mention the decades of dehumanizing, antisemitic rhetoric from Hamas and other groups, whose charters explicitly call for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews. This isn’t just rhetoric; it’s the foundational ideology that led to the October 7th massacre. To ignore this is not just a biased omission; it’s a dangerous one.
Words have consequences everywhere. The author correctly identifies the danger of dehumanizing language but ignores Hamas’s charter, which explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews. This propaganda is fueling a terrifying global rise in antisemitism, targeting Jewish people everywhere, not just Israelis.
Anne Frank’s legacy teaches us to stand against injustice and dehumanization wherever it appears. But to honor her memory, we must be precise, truthful, and intellectually honest. Using her story to score political points in a complex conflict she is not part of is a disservice to her memory. True compassion requires understanding nuance, not flattening history to fit a simplistic and misleading narrative.
This is right. Vishen post is completely wrong and dangerous. This is very unusual and not his style of having his mind blurred by false stimulus.
I agree with what you wrote. I am appaled at Vishen’s words, these are peole who don’t live in israel and don’t see the coexistance that we have in Israel. I am totally against my goverment and many people in israel feel the same way.
But what’s happing in the world against the people of Israel is apalling. We didn’t ask the Hamas to come and slaughter inoccent people in their homes. Everyone has forgotten the 7/10 and our hostages who are dying if Gaza.. What about all the other atrocities in the world? I don’t see demonstrations and hate going on about them. I thought Vishen was different!!!!!!!!! Vishen your words only help hightlight more hate against people living in Israel who are trying to just get on with their lives.
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for pointing at the disastrous practice of over simplifying history. Many great tragedies have be brought about using just that technique.
Also Anonymous
This was thorough + very well worded! Bravo!
Every word. Amazing, such a smart, respond
“The Holocaust was a state-sanctioned, industrial-scale genocide rooted in a racial ideology that declared Jews subhuman and sought their complete extermination.” Yes. That’s why we know we are witnessing another one – by the Israeli state, against the Palestinians. A Holocaust that a huge number of Jewish people rightfully oppose. Israel – a nuclear armed, highly militarized state – is hiding behind the shield of the Jewish Holocaust, which, by the way, Palestinians had nothing to do with.
Let’s look at some of the totally normal, not at all genocidal statements that Israel’s leaders have made, starting with the OG, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Oct 9, 2023: “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. *We are fighting human animals* and we act accordingly.” (those are all war crimes, btw, against a trapped population, you might say, “concentrated”, in a tiny area with no food, water, sanitation, electricity; many of them soon to be living in tents. “Camps”, you might say.)
In an October 16, 2023, speech to the Knesset, PM Netanyahu explicitly stated: “This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle”. He portrayed the war as a battle of “civilization against barbarism” and framed Hamas as the “new version of Nazism”. (This is a telling comparison, since the Nazis had tanks, planes, ships, and a proper, well-funded military, as does Israel. In contrast with Hamas’ crude weaponry and guerrilla warfare… which they have a right to, under international law, to fight against their occupier, Israel.)
How bout Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog? “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. This rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved, it’s absolutely not true. They could’ve risen up, they could have fought against that evil regime.” (Presumably this means that the 1000+ infants that have died should have tried harder to overturn Hamas control.)
Satellite images today reveal a wasteland reminiscent of what the deputy speaker of Israel’s parliament (Nissim Vaturi), said was the country’s “one common goal” after October 7, 2023: “erasing the Gaza Strip from the face of the earth.” “Erase Gaza. Nothing else will satisfy us.”
“Bring down buildings! Bomb without distinction!! Stop with this impotence. You have ability. There is worldwide legitimacy! Flatten Gaza. Without mercy! This time, there is no room for mercy.”
Tally Goltiv, Member of the Israeli Knesset
“Those are animals. they have no right to exist. I am not debating the way it will happen, but they need to be exterminated. This [attack] is not enough, there should be more, there should be no limits to the response, I said if a million times, until we see hundreds of thousands fleeing
Gaza, we, the IDF has not achieved its mission.”
Yoav Kisch, Israel’s Education Minister (I wonder if these sentiments are taught in schools? Like, ideologically?)
“Destroy a neighbourhood in Gaza everyday the abductees are in their hands. If we blink, we run out of global credit. Every day that the abductees are with them, *a neighbourhood must be destroyed on its inhabitants*” Almog Cohen, Member of the Israeli Knesset.
Thank you, Vishen, for speaking up and reaching a great audience! We think we are small and we cannot change the world, but we can decide how we react. And that changes the world! ❤️