Will Germany ban Daniel Barenboim?

The German culture festival Ruhrtriennale is not taking place this year due to the corona virus, and yet it is not short of publicity.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany demanded the dismissal of the festival director. Felix Klein, the Federal Government's Anti-Semitism Commissioner almost ordered that the invitation of a renowned African historian and philosopher, who was to open the festival, be cancelled. In response, Israeli and Jewish scientists countered with a petition calling for the dismissal of the German government official, Klein.

So what is going on here?

Why can an award-winning intellectual such as the Ruhrtriennale speaker be silenced in a country where freedom of expression is enshrined in the Constitution?

The enabling mechanism behind it is called "accusation of anti-Semitism".

It is with this instrument, that censorship is very effectively exercised. What exactly anti-Semitism is, and thus what is considered "anti-Semitic", is something experts disagree on. That has not disturbed one country after another to succumb to pressure and adopt the so-called IHRA “working definition” which in fact is no definition at all. The point to understand is that the IHRA construct was created by interest groups, by a lobby dominated team.

Intensive lobbying by Israel and some Jewish organisations ensured that, with the help of this “working definition”, certain criticism of Israeli politics could be classified as anti-Semitic.

The next step for Israel and its helpers in German politics and media was to use the anti-Semitism contention to take action against the so-called "BDS initiative". Many are uncomfortable with the notion of boycotts in general, some are only uncomfortable with the boycott of Israel, but like it or not, we should bear in mind that BDS is a non-violent Palestinian movement that aims to put pressure on Israel by isolating it economically and culturally.

Last year, under pressure of lobby activists, Bundestag, the German parliament passed a notion stating that BDS was antisemitic. An open letter to the German government, signed by hundreds of Jewish and Israeli scientists, clearly expressing their opinion – whether BDS supporters or not – that BDS was not anti-Semitic, did not dissuade that group of German parliamentarians. They evidently know better... for which they were applauded by Israel. The Bundestag resolution further requires that no organisation, that directly or indirectly benefits from public funding, give a stage to speakers promoting BDS.

Back to the Ruhrtriennale festival: the subject of the lecture, that triggered this excitement, was neither BDS, nor Israel or Palestine. Alleging that he was a BDS sympathiser sufficed. That made him unacceptable to his accusers. So, the question arises whether the Bundestag resolution should mean that any person outing himself or outed as a BDS supporter should be subject to an across-the-board boycott in Germany? Should lectures that are not attempts to proselytize for BDS be prohibited? How far does Germany want to go with this? Will the next step be the burning of the man’s books?

If so, what about Daniel Barenboim, who in 2015, said that BDS was right - adding that he found a general ban on contact with Israelis to be counterproductive. In a different context, Barenboim said in 2018, that he was ashamed of being an Israeli.

Does this German censorship squad have the guts to demand the dismissal of Barenboim as director of the State Opera? Or do they only show courage when it comes to an African professor or a festival director in North Rhine-Westphalia?

Let's take it even further: Should Germany’s current media star, corona expert and virologist Professor Christian Drosten, turn out to be a BDS supporter, will he still be permitted to weekly brief us on TV, or would he also be banned from the public?

An anti-Semitism accusation is one of the most potent weapons of defamation these days - and criticism of Israel's politics quickly makes one suspect in Germany of being anti-Semitic.

In fact, this strategy is working. Because very few Germans express themselves publicly in any way that could be perceived by anyone as critical of Israel. One should not underestimate this self-censorship. Because the price is high.

The German escape into silence when it comes to Israel is dishonest. And in the long term, this abuse of the concept of anti-Semitism will not serve Israel or the Jewish people well.

Zensur in der Ruhr

For German speakers:
Hier ein link zu einem kurzen Beitrag von mir in Deutschlandfunk Kultur. Es geht um die Frage, wie es dazu kommt, dass ein renommierter Afrikanischer Philosoph und Historiker in Deutschland mundtot gemacht wurde.

From Ischgl to Salzburg

Austria has announced that from August, it will relax corona restrictions and permit events of up to 1000 participants.

Somehow, I cannot believe, that this decision is not the result of hard lobbying on behalf of Salzburg whose annual festival (this year the 100^th anniversary!) runs from the the second half of July to the end of August.

Austria, the country that gave us Ischgl, source of corona contamination this winter, is now preparing a similar hotspot for the summer. An important difference is that whereas the hundreds of skiers, who returned to Germany from their skiing holiday in Ischgl, infected with the virus, were mainly young, most Salzburg Festival visitors are old.

But why should we expect Austria to be more ethical than China?

These ridiculous scooters are way too fast and dangerous as their users ride the pavements. Moreover, their attraction to many of their users is that they can park them wherever they wish. This is part of the business model of the company marketing the service. It’s like using a toilet without flushing.

The authorities should find a way (perhaps by confiscating such misplaced scooters) of preventing this takeover of our pavements.

Personal vs. Societal Risk

(Not only) Germany is lifting some of the Corona restrictions. Many seem to understand this relaxing of constraints as an indication that the virus is no longer that dangerous. This reading of the situation is dangerously wrong.  

An immediate result is that one can already see many, especially younger people, congregating in groups in public areas. Such groupings, very quickly, lose the self-discipline that is required to maintain the distance, that is necessary to reduce the risk of infection.

The truth is that the virus, for those who become infected, has not lost any of its lethal potential. The only, albeit very significant, difference is that our health systems are now better prepared than they were on day one. Politicians, who now are less worried about the likelihood of overfilled hospitals turning off ventilators to the over 70s, and especially of photos of body bags overfilling the morgues, are therefore yielding to public and business pressures to restart the economy.

As it seems that the virus is more likely to kill the old and frail, and as, as I predicted more than a month ago, solidarity has not lasted, and as:

1. The regulatory masks do not protect their wearers. Their purpose is to prevent us from infecting others.

2. Masks are compulsory only in shops and in public transport. Indeed, very few people can be seen wearing masks outside the required areas.

3. The drive to get people to constantly and thoroughly wash their hands and disinfect surfaces is unlikely to be adhered to by the majority of the population.    

older people have the choice between:

a. Staying home, keeping themselves as isolated as possible, until a vaccine is found. This was Boris Johnson’s original message to the British public: business as usual, but over 70s should stay at home for the coming months.

b. To avoid locking themselves up, and as they cannot expect general respectful and kind consideration – resort to better defence mechanisms than the simple mask. The visor mask, which I showed on this blog, some weeks ago, would be my current choice. The mask has an added advantage that it makes the to-be-avoided inadvertent touching of one’s face rather difficult. Mine is home-made, but visor masks  are also cheap to buy.  

Wearing the visor mask does not take care of virus carrying surfaces – a subject about which no conclusive information is as yet to be had. So, hand washing and sanitising must be strictly adhered to, regardless of what the majority of the population does.  

Johnson's Baby

The current girlfriend of the loudmouth, who was elected by the British to be their (our) prime-minister, has given birth to his sixth(?) child.  

I do not understand why this elitist playboy, who with his lies has manipulated just about enough Britons to vote pro-Brexit and to take Britain out of the EU, should be congratulated for anything – except possibly, for an unlikely resignation.

Protocol probably requires, that other politicians have to congratulate in such cases. It may be understandable, that his own minister of health, Matt Hancock, should sycophantly twitter his excitement and speak of ”a moment of unalloyed joy”. But why, in-god’s name, does the leader of the opposition, the new leader of the Labour party, Sir Keir Starmer, have to speak of “wonderful news”? What is so wonderful for the nation, that the man, whose irresponsible behaviour is also but not only exemplified by the fact the exact number of his in- and out-of-wedlock children is unknown, has just fathered yet another child?

Jerk? Doormat? Or Perhaps a Crook?

B. Michael, a brilliant Israeli satirical writer, recently wrote an article about the leader of the Blue-White party, who promised to unseat Netanyahu and in no circumstance to share government with him. That man, former IDF chief-of-staff Benny (dumme) Gantz, has sold out to enable Netanyahu form a government.

B. Michael asks “Jerk? Doormat? Or Perhaps a Crook?” My response is that Benny (dumme) Gantz is a deadly combination of all three: jerk, doormat and crook.

Karlicek - put your life where your mouth is

The German minister of education, Anya Karlicek, seems jealous of her colleagues’ license to write checks without cover. She now wants to introduce quantitative easing in the German Abitur. (The German equivalent of the British A-levels or the French baccalauréat.) If, she explained, grades this year turn out to be lower than normal, Germany should adjust them accordingly.

I suggest that Ms. Karlicek put her life where her mouth is and that she begins by putting her health in the hands of someone who has failed medical school. Then, to make it even jollier, Karlicek could let a mechanic who did not pass his exams, take care of her car.

Aspects of life in a Ghetto

I had many reactions to my op-ed in Haaretz. Most were favourable. Some disapproving. A German friend of mine, who first wanted to recommend the article on her own page, told me that he decided not to do so. He told me, that when his partner heard that he was going to recommend the article, she advised him against it. “David can write these things, which I fully agree with,” she said “but if we recommend them, we will be accused of being antisemites.” This reality, in which Germans are afraid to say what they think, lest they be accused of something which they are not, proves loud and clear, how right my call for normalisation is.   

Wie schädlich ist die Sonderbehandlung der Juden in Deutschland?

There are a couple of German translations of my Haaretz op-ed currently in circulation. Here’s a link to one of them. However, please note that I cannot vouch for the translation.