Why Israel Is attacking Germany’s top Middle East expert
Published
by
Richard Kuper
JVL Introduction
A new row has broken out in Germany where criticism of Israel is usually very muted.
Muriel Asseburg, one of Germany’s most renowned Middle East experts gave an extended podcast interview which has ruffled the Israeli ambassador’s feathers.
So he distorted and misrepresented what she said and launched a personal attack on her to boot.
Asseburg refused to be browbeaten and responded robustly as you can read in this report of the spat below.
RK
This article was originally published by Haaretz on Mon 10 Jul 2023. Read the original here.
Why Israel Is attacking Germany's top Middle East expert
Muriel Asseburg says the Israeli embassy manipulated her quotes, while her workplace, a prominent German think-tank slammed the embassy’s ‘insinuations and personal defamations’ against her
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1. The far-right AfD is the most pro-Israel party in Germany: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/373375
2. There are close links between Netanyahu’s (who is even more openly extreme than he is) and the AfD: https://jacobin.com/2021/09/germany-afd-zionism-antisemitism-israel-nationalism
2. The AfD includes has (neo-)fascist and antisemitic supporters, and on these grounds is being monitored by Germany’s internal intelligence agency, the BfV: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/antisemitic-turn-of-alternative-for-germany-party/; https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-security-afd-idUSKBN2AV1M3
3. Germany has repeatedly accused pro-Palestinian German Jews and Jewish Israelis living in Germany of antisemitism: https://mondoweiss.net/2019/03/apartheid-accuser-accused/ – while in Britain, Jewish Labour Party members are 5 times more likely to be accused of antisemitism than non-Jewish Labour Party members.
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We are living the world of moral madness.
We need to stand in solidarity with journalists like Muriel who give us the facts. Smears against her show that she has had them rattled. My country of birth needs to learn to accept reality, the weaponizing of anit-semitism, stand up for peace and justice, rather than fall over backwards because of a feeling of internalised guilt. The lesson to learn is to challenge those in breach of international laws, those who oppress others. We have seen the devastating effects fascism has on people and countries. And 1 for one do not want it to happen again. It is time to stop the oppressors.
Professor David Miller should have received this level of support from his employer (Bristol Uni) when he came under attack. He’s still raising the funds to take Bristol before an Industrial Tribunal alleging unfair dismissal.