I have only got a few minutes so I will get straight to the nub of the question. To counter Holocaust relativisation – the idea it is similar to other mass killings – it is necessary to understand the symbolic character of anti-Semitism.

That means that for anti-Semites Jews are a cypher what they perceive as the evils of the modern world. So it is not a mere prejudice, it is not just discrimination, it is far more than mere hatred. It is that the Jews, in their view, collectively truly embody the evils of the modern world.

And if you believe that, if you accept that warped premise, then it makes sense to eliminate Jews. In fact from this malevolent starting point – you can draw the conclusion that you are liberating the world by purging it of Jews.

You might start by boycotting Jewish businesses, you might bar them from cultural events, you might – to use a topical example - stop them attending football matches. And eventually, if you get the chance, you purge them physically. In relation to Israel the conclusion is to support movements, such as Hamas, which are openly pledged to destroying Israel and slaughtering Jews (Hamas has never revoked its 1988 covenant which states these as aims). And in the case of Nazi Germany you end up with the death camps.

So my case for the uniqueness of the death camps is not informed by what some call Jewish supremacy. I do not believe that individual Jewish lives are intrinsically worth more than, that of say, a Christian, a Muslim or an atheist. It is the particular exterminationist character of anti-Semitism it is necessary to grapple with.

If you look at the Nazis, for instance, they believed that Jews represented the evils both of speculative capitalism and Judeo-Bolshevism. That was their reactionary take on the modern world. So they believed that. They draw the conclusion that Jews had to be totally eliminated.

So, for example, if you look at the Wannsee conference in January 1942, where the Nazis finalised their plans for the “final solution” they had plans to kill 11 million Jews. Not just those in German-controlled territory but countries such as Britain, Ireland and Sweden which were not occupied by the Nazis. 

And similarly it seems to be that contemporary anti-Zionism sees Jews as representing the evils of the modern world. In this case not Judeo-Bolshevism but western civilisation and western values. When western anti-Zionists condemn Israel they concern what they perceive as the evils of their own society. Including a deep cynicism towards the nation-state, hostility to democracy, economic progress.

If you compare that to what Israel is doing in Gaza it is clearly nothing like the Holocaust. For example, the combined Palestinian population of the West Bank and Gaza has risen from 1.1m in 1967 (when first captured by Israel) to about 5.5m today. That is a five-fold increase. That runs entirely contrary to the claim that Israel is trying to eliminate the Palestinian population.

Or look more closely at the Gaza conflict. Even if you take the Hamas figures there have been 67,000 killed in Gaza out of a population of over two million. And a good proportion of them – estimates vary but it seems to me at least 20,000 seems reasonable – were Hamas fighters. This was a war not a genocide let alone a rerun of the Holocaust.

That does not mean Israel cannot be criticised. People are free to criticise it if they want. But comparing it to the Holocaust is an entirely different matter.

I have only had a few minutes so there is a lot more I could say. But I think it is necessary to understand the Holocaust is unique in history. Distinct from other instances of mass killing and certainly distinct from Israel’s war in Gaza. The Holocaust had the goal of the systematic elimination of an entire people – the Jews - at its heart.