The Jewish nation last week remembered the millions of its sons and daughters that perished during the Holocaust. Whereas it is true that European governments are engaged in regular annual commemorations of the bloodiest genocide in modern history, the solemn speeches made by heads of state are inconsistent with policies practiced and political positions adapted by the same governments.

The inconsistency fluctuates from absurdly heavy penalties for Holocaust deniers to measures that effectively both isolate the state of Israel and demonise its citizens in a way that this indirectly fuels world anti-Jewish sentiment.

It is undeniable that Europe was responsible for allowing countless of atrocities against Jews at the hands of Nazism and that the Holocaust is one of the darkest chapters in the history of mankind, however imprisoning Holocaust deniers does not absolve Western society from its historic responsibilities towards Jews. Imprisoning Holocaust deniers makes no sense because such legislation only serves to artificially put Jewish victims above the one million Africans exterminated a decade ago in Rwanda, the Armenians murdered by the Ottomans less than a century ago, and the millions of native American Indians killed by European colonisers. Common sense as well as the sacrosanct right to equal justice should either decriminalise the denial of the Jewish Holocaust or criminalise the denial of all genocides. Denying the Holocaust would automatically discredit anyone making such a claim and would expose him to ridicule thus making criminalisation unnecessary.

At a time when the Jewish nation and the world are remembering the Holocaust, what European governments should do is to cut down on cosmetic displays of sympathy towards the Jewish nation and instead review the deeply ingrained policies that rather than bringing justice to Jews serve to isolate them.

What the Jewish nation needs is genuine and active support from European governments and European media for the state of Israel. Israel and its people are too frequently depicted as being the aggressors rather than the victims and the ambiguous position of many European governments only helps to fuel such fallacies. A good case in point is the widespread portrayal (during the last Lebanese War) of Hezbollah and Hamas as being legitimate "freedom fighters" rather than dangerous terror organisations. Such opaque positions not only damage the state of Israel but shed the whole Jewish nation in bad light especially when left-leaning influential international media organisations like for instance the BBC tend to obliterate certain important truths with their manifestly biased reporting.

The Jewish nation does not need useless privileges such as the Holocaust denial laws, but simple fair treatment that most Western governments and media will hypocritically not concede. The vast majority of Jews today live in Israel under the constant threat of terrorism and war or in the US where they are afforded true respect as any citizen has the right to expect. The US is in fact in practice the only country in the world that has for decades shown constant close friendship both towards Israel and towards a growing number of Arab states. European governments seem unable to keep the same equidistance and instead prefer to pursue equivocal policies that unfailingly end up in drawing public opinion against Israel and fanning anti-Jewish sentiments since Jews are unjustly perceived as being a major source of world instability.

European governments commemorate the Holocaust as a reminder of the people that Europe has helped to kill in the past. Perhaps it is now time for Europe to undertake its responsibilities for the present day and for its political leaders to find the courage and determination to give the Jewish nation the equal justice it deserves because there is no better way of honouring those that died in the Holocaust.