In Germany – only one Jewish opinion allowed
JVL Introduction
For Jewish people who are as appalled as every humanitarian, we understand that because Israel claims to act “on behalf of the Jews of the World” it is imperative that we say Not In My Name. But not, it seems, in Germany as outlined in this piece by Deborah Feldman. Demonstrations for Palestine are banned in many parts of Germany along with Palestinian flags, pro-Palestinian speech and the Palestinian keffiyeh; police in Berlin arrested a Jewish Israeli woman for holding a poster saying “As a Jew and Israeli: stop the genocide in Gaza”.
Many Jews in the country think Germany is obsessed with Israel and that this “has more to do with the German psyche than their own sense of safety and belonging”. Doubtless guilt is behind Germany coming down especially hard on the pro Palestinian movement, but as Feldman says in this article: “The German government’s unconditional support for Israel doesn’t only prevent it from condemning the deaths of civilians in Gaza – it also allows it to ignore the way dissenting Jews in Germany are being thrown under the same bus as they are in Israel.”
LL
This article was originally published by Guardian Opinion on Mon 13 Nov 2023. Read the original here.
Germany is a good place to be Jewish. Unless, like me, you’re a Jew who criticises Israel
The pro-Israel political consensus has shut out any dissenting voices – as I found in a TV debate with the vice-chancellor
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This is a brilliant article which exposes the hypocrisy and complex ironies in German society today and unravels the truth about their official and mainstream attitudes towards Jews who are critical of Israel.
The German Greens are making absolutely shocking statements in this crisis : ‘The leader of the Green Party, Ricarda Lang, and the Green Minister President of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, have called for a tougher refugee policy in a joint article for the Tagesspiegel. Numbers should be reduced and asylum procedures accelerated. There must be “clearer consequences” for all those “who are not fleeing war and persecution.” On Tuesday night, the federal and state governments agreed to tighten up the country’s asylum policy. The federal states and local authorities plan to save around one billion euros by cutting benefits that already barely provide minimum subsistence. Instead of cash, asylum seekers are to receive payment cards or vouchers. In addition, the outsourcing of asylum procedures to other countries like Nigeria is being examined. ‘
From a detailed analysis of German politicians’ responses to Gaza in the light of (inverted) German histories of imperialism and genocide :
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/11/10/kris-n10.html
Like Deborah Feldman I have dual nationality and live part-time in Berlin. She is correct to speak of fetishisation. Of course, it is right that Germany should wish to atone for the Holocaust, but it has chosen to do so by a cult of unconditional Israel support. This was seriously ramped up in 2008 when Merkel told the Knesset that Israel’s security was Germany’s Staatsräson (raison d’état).
There has been an increasing repression of any criticism of Israel, which is equated to antisemitism. Demonstrations have been violently dispersed, Palestinian flags and keffiyehs banned and the word “From the river to the sea” criminalised.
Politicians of all parties (including die Linke) have fallen over themselves to express support for Israel and condemnation of Palestinians. Opposition (CDU) leader Merz wants to ban refugees from Gaza, adding: “We have enough antisemitic young men in the country.” His chief whip proposed making the grant of German nationality dependent on a commitment to Israel.
Federal President Steinmeier, at a meeting supposedly to foster community cohesion, expressed sympathy for those with families in Gaza, but made it sound as though they were the victims of an earthquake rather than Israeli bombardment, and lectured people with Arab roots about rejecting Hamas and terrorism.
With this universal pro-Israel (and anti-Palestinian) stance, amplified across the board by the media, it is surprising that a poll for the strongly pro-Israel paper Die Welt only 12 days after the Hamas attack still found 40% agreeing that Israel was an aggressive state and only 37% agreeing that Israel respected human rights. However, in a Germany where only one message is allowed to prevail, such views are rarely made public.
That’s both fascinating and depressing.
And I note that the Guardian is prepared to accept that false accusations of antisemitism happen – in Germany.
Why does the German state defend and support Israel so aggressively, to the extent of abolishing free speech on Palestine.
I don’t believe it is simply about expiating its guilt over the holocaust. It can hardly be said that the most pro-Zionist party AfD is guilt ridden given it is overrun with neo-Nazis.
This is about the German state itself, which secured its integration into the Western alliance through reparations and military aid to Israel in the 1950s. In return Israel said nothing about the lack of deNazification of the German state, e.g. the presence of Hans Globke, the closest advisor to Chancellor Konrad Adenaeur.
The right and far-right don’t see the ‘Jewish’ State as having anything to do with Jews as traditionally understood, i.e. left wing/intellectual. Why else would far-rightists like Richard Spencer, Tommy Robinson, Andrei Brevik be so enthusiastic about it whilst reserving their traditional venom for Jews domestically?
In addition supporting Israel is a continuation of the Nazi policy of favouring Zionism and supporting Israel’s bombing of Gaza must be comforting to those who believed that Nazi attacks on cities like Warsaw were justified.
Anti-Zionist Jews represent the wrong sort of Jews, the historical Jew as it were.
Well written. The German state’s responses would be more convincing if they also took a stand on Germany’s genocidal policies against the Herero and the Namaqua peoples in the early C19th; shown in ‘Exterminate All the Brutes’.
A very interesting and well written article. A little off topic, but Chris Romberg’s comment on Federal President Steinmeier’s words “…made it sound as though they (the victims in Gaza) were the victims of an earthquake rather than Israeli bombardment” was my exact first thought on reading Lammy’s words this morning….