That's the title of my forthcoming article in the May 2006 issue of NATIV, the journal of the Ariel Center for Policy Research. (The Ariel Center is a think tank in Jerusalem; its main audience is Israeli policy intellectuals and policymakers.) The final article will be published in Hebrew and English. In the meantime, you can read an English draft in PDF or HTML. Comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

Summary: Contrary to myth of Jewish passivity, many Jews did fight back during the Holocaust. They shut down the extermination camp at Sobibor, rose up in the Warsaw Ghetto, and fought in the woods and swamps all over Eastern Europe. Indeed, Jews resisted at a higher rate than did any other population under Nazi rule. The experience of the Holocaust shows why Jews, and all people of good will, should support the right of potential genocide victims to possess defensive arms, and refutes the notion that violence is necessarily immoral.