The Promise

It is often stated that history is written by the victors, a matter of perspective, rather than of fact. In an age, however, where freedom of speech and of press are sacred, where books are published on merit, and where the Internet has merged the Speakers’ Corners of the world into a conglomerate, perspectives are so abundant that the content of “history” is increasingly difficult to settle.

There is no longer, you might say, an “agreed” history, though this is not say bile is treated anymore seriously than before, for example, Michael Leunig’s 2005 outburst against ANZAC Day, which the cartoonist labelled as “shameful” and as glorifying war.

There is a difference, however, between bona fide perspective and malevolent falsehoods. The Jewish people have long been stuck with instances of the latter, such as the Passover Blood Libel and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Into this category, too, falls historical revision, such as Holocaust Denial. While British drama The Promise might not be considered so sinister, the series’ “fictional” portrayal of real-life events must be treated with great concern.

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