Free speech in Germany

For German readers:

 

Here is a link to my short appeal to Mrs. Merkel, asking her to listen and take seriously the plea to put an end to the suppression of free speech and free artistic expression when it comes to virtually any matter pertaining to Israel.  The plea that was crafted and signed by prominent heads of important cultural institutions in Germany.  

 

Israeli, Jewish and philosemitic lobby groups who stand behind the climate of censorship have, not surprisingly, come out in an attack on this call for openness.

 

My commentary appeared in Tachles, the swiss Jewish newsmagazine.

(Some) German students and their warped minds

(Some) German students seem to have a warped understanding of what a university should be. To be fair to them, it is not the fault of the present generation: generations before them have blackmailed governments to turn institutions of research and higher learning into some kind of social laboratories, in which students decide whether they wish to attend or not, and in which students have gotten used to have a voice in the running of the university departments, in which they study.

 

And so, lecturers are prohibited, “for ‘data protection’ reasons”, from maintaining attendance lists. Nor may they make class participation a factor in a student’s seminar grade.

 

Occasionally students go beserk, as has recently been the case in one German university, where a body purporting to represent the students came out with a public statement censuring the department head for co-signing a petition calling the government to revisit its policies leading to grave constraints on free speech.

 

“Once again” the students’ statement reads, “the centre forces us to make a public statement. The head of the centre signed the plaidoyer on behalf of the entire institute. We as students were not included in any way.”

 

They were, indeed, not asked, nor should they have been. A university is not a joint venture but an institute which teaches and carries out research. Students can apply and if considered good enough, may come and attend classes to study. If they pass the required exams, they get a degree. That’s the deal, no more and no less.

 

Nobody forces anyone to study at a specific university. They can choose to study elsewhere.  The only way of dealing with such demands is showing those students the door. Unfortunately, the political class in Germany does not have the balls to do so.

German vaccination failure

Yesterday’s local newspaper in a medium-sized town in Germany, described the unclear arrangements for Covid vaccinations – in the beginning one will “have to improvise”, was the assessment.

 

Are the Germans out of their bloody minds? Have they not had enough time to prepare? Has the need to vaccinate just been sprung on them?

 

Whilst Israel has announced that all the over-60s will be vaccinated within three weeks, the assessment is that Germany will reach that stage in the summer of 2021!

 

Adding insult to injury, the Health Ministry has signed a contract with a PR agency to prepare a nationwide campaign aimed at convincing people to get vaccinated. Instead of informing those who want to get vaccinated how and when they can come forward, they will spend money trying to convince the antivac brigade.   

 

Jens Spahn, who thinks he is cut out to become German Chancellor, has failed and he should go.

 

 

   

Almost solitary travel

 Other than me and the viruses there does not seem to be anyone at the airports...Travelling from Germany to London and back.

 

 

 

Beitrag im Deutschlandfunk Kultur - Eine Liebe, die blind macht

German speakers can hear a five-minute broadcast of mine on German radio (Deutschlandfunk Kultur) on the subject of philosemitism, here.

 

 

An English translation is given as a separate blog item. 

Extra-judicial executions

It seems to be generally accepted that Israel is behind the assassination of the Iranian nuclear scientist last week. With this execution, the Trump-Netanyahu double act, in all likelihood, wanted to bind Biden’s hands with regard to the next administration’s Iran policy.

 

Most probably in response, Biden, in an interview he gave the New-York Times’ Tom Friedman, yesterday reconfirmed his approach that “if Iran returns to strict compliance with the nuclear deal, the United States would re-join the agreement as a starting point for follow-on negotiations, and lift the sanctions on Iran that Trump imposed.” 

 

That would be good news.

 

Israel literally is getting away with murder. They are not the only ones: the USA, Russia and Saudi-Arabia have also reportedly been trigger-happy as they pursue those who their rulers wish to remove. In Israel, killing a perceived enemy is a vote-getter, and such extra-judicial killings by the state are an almost certain recipe for political popularity. Therefore, whereas Israeli leaders almost never confirm killings, very often their evasive responses are given with a wink and a nod.

 

Such killings can be considered from three aspects: legal, moral, and practical. Curiously, it is most likely that many of these extra-judicial killings, which are obviously not legal and for which it would be difficult to build a moral case, are of no long-term practical value.

 

We need to openly discuss what means we allow our governments to use to “defend democracy”. Moreover, those European countries, opposed to extra-judicial killings by the state, should not let their allies get away with them.

Philosemitism in Germany

 

Here’s a translation of my broadcast on German radio. It deals with the prevalence of philosemitism in Germany and the damage it does.

 

A Love that blinds you

 

Some of you may be familiar with the iconic film adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play "A Streetcar named Desire", with Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh. It was marketed in Germany as "Endstation Sehnsucht", translated into English: «final stop – nostalgia«.

 

I was reminded of it, when I read in the papers that the city of Cologne – having painted one of its tramlines with large sized stars of David and inscriptions of the word "schalömchen” - a German cute-form of the Hebrew word shalom – now claims to have therby made a statement for democracy and against antisemitism.

 

Cologne's mayor declared, "it is a commitment to our Jewish heritage. This train makes it clear: Cologne is unthinkable without its seventeen-hundred-year-old Jewish community".

 

There you go. I don't know how many people in Cologne share their mayor's opinion that the city would be unthinkable without its Jewish community. But as with Tennessee Williams, longing and desire shine through. The longing for a supposed normality in which we Germans love "the" Jews. If we just paint "schalömchen" on our trams and all of us go to klezmer music events, everything should be fine again.

 

Philosemitism, the uncritical love of Jews just because they are Jews, regardless of their personality, morals or actions, is not just a German phenomenon: Trumps USA even offers it as an export commodity: After the US antisemitism commissioner declared his country to be the most philosemitic country in the world, he declared that he would develop and promote philosemitic narratives in other countries as well.

 

Is philosemitism really the solution?

 

Germany is understandably particularly sensitive to everything associated with Jews. It reacts emphatically when increasing antisemitism becomes more noticeable.

 

Some are therefore convinced that philosemitism is the right response to antisemitism. Such philosemitism usually also includes the Jewish state of Israel and the most active philosemites are often obsessed with Israel or Jewish issues. What we then experience is a coming to terms with the German past that sometimes reaches the point of absurdity.

 

The Schalömchen tramline is such an outgrowth of the philosemitism existing in Germany. Now, unlimited, unfounded, even if partly ridiculous love would not necessarily be a problem. And in the big picture, the question arises, why should one be seriously bothered by it?

 

At first sight there is no reason, and yet the philosemitic, positively conceived obsession, which in its compulsive enthusiasm is not unlike antisemitic fanaticism, leads to an abnormal and harmful agitation and political activity.

 

There is no reason to love Jews more than non-Jews.

 

Blind to Israeli human rights violations

 

If philosemitism forms such a protective shield over Jews and Jewish life that it becomes more and more trapped in a benevolent ghetto, then this does more harm than good.

 

If philosemitism blinds you to Israeli injustices or human rights violations, then it is more evil than good. In Germany, Israel-related philosemitism leads to de facto support of Israel's occupation policy, the colonisation of Palestinian territories and the oppression of their population. Every member of the German Bundestag ought to be aware of this.

 

When trying to combat antisemitism with philosemitism, it is worth remembering the saying of the Jewish parodist Robert Neumann: "Philosemites are antisemites, who love the Jews".