Rip Eye

 

My transparent German butcher has Rip Eye steaks on offer. 

 

 

Merkel – the sad end

I used to like German chancellor Merkel, who is privately modest – nowadays hard to find amongst the world’s senior politicians. I also felt that I could support her basic values, which took the conservative CDU left of where it used to be. I also liked the way she handled the Corona crisis in the beginning, taking professional advice to guide her in leading Germany’s policy.

 

Merkel has to work within the limitations of the country’s federal structure (imposed on it by the Allies, to prevent a strong centrally run Germany). Sixteen federal states, each with its own ego-driven prime-minister, have made Merkel’s Corona job almost impossible.

 

Having understood the severity of the Corona problem at an early stage, Merkel should have demanded federal jurisdiction in Corona matters. Instead, she left logistics, tracking and tracing, testing and vaccinating to the sixteen states. And the chaos is great. She then left the all-important procurement of vaccines to an impotent and inexperienced EU apparatus. The result is that Europe’s richest country is vaccinating like a third-world country: It has neither enough vaccine, nor has it built the logistics for vaccinating its population.

 

After 15 years as chancellor, Merkel is doubtlessly tired, and it shows. Sadly, she is now a lame duck, at the very time when one needs an empowered and powerful head of the executive.

Frederiksen - The Not Great Dane

The prime ministers of Austria and Denmark travelled to Israel last week to discuss possible collaboration with Israel in research and production of vaccines.

 

I have no expectations, moral or other, of Austria’s prime-minister Kurz. It is, however, a bloody shame that the Danish social-democrat Frederiksen hands a propaganda asset to beleaguered corrupt Netanyahu, two weeks before a general election is held in Israel.

 

There was no need for such a top-level meeting, only to discuss vaccine collaboration – unless it was all about the show: Denmark and Austria expressing their unhappiness about von der Leyen’s failed vaccine procurements. To achieve that, they were willing to meet Netanyahu.

 

Mrs. Frederiksen – in case your intelligence briefing forgot to mention this – Israel is now being investigated by the International Criminal Court for war-crimes. Moreover, in January, the renowned Israeli NGO B’tselem has issued its report “A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid.”

 

Pfui Frederiksen.  

Covid and Capitalism

In an attempt to control the spread of Covid, most democracies found it useful not only to spectacularly abandon spending controls but also to limit civil liberties.  Lockdowns, school closures, business closures, limitations on who, where and how we meet, what shops may open and how we must behave – this is the price that we are paying. Additionally, our children will have to fund unprecedented debt our governments have unleashed. 

 

It is therefore interesting to note one area, which seems to have been left out. At a time, when the world is in dire need of vaccine, no limitations and controls were put over the vaccine producers – the pharma industry. They, of course, are in business to maximise their profits. First year Economics students already know about supply and demand. Does anyone believe that Pfizer-Biontech, Astra-Zeneca, Moderna and their ilk would voluntarily forego the opportunity to create an artificial shortage, in order to squeeze as much money from a vaccine-hungry world?

 

Should we not have acted with the same willingness to curtail the freedom of big pharma, as we have in restricting our and our children’s civil liberties?

Israel and Palestine – International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has ruled that it has jurisdiction to investigate alleged war crimes by Israel in the Occupied Territories. This might lead to the ICC issuing arrest warrants against Israeli officials and military leaders. Israel – as usual – reaches to its proven and successful hammer and cries Antisemitism.  

 

Anyone who believes that Israel has no right to take over and settle Palestinian lands conquered in 1967 with its own Jewish population, anyone who believes that what Israel does in scandalously criminal, anyone who believes that military control over millions of Palestinians is not only damaging to Palestinians but also has a corrupting effect on the Israeli population and causes Antisemitism, thereby endangering the Jewish people as a whole – should support bringing an end to the Occupation.

 

Israeli voters have proven to be stubborn opponents of any retreat from the Occupied Territories. They support governments that systematically slice Palestinian land and settle Jews on this land. It seems that only trauma, will bring about change in this attitude. A serious war with tens of thousands of dead would be such a trauma. Those who want to prevent this kind of trauma, should support the softer kind: effective sanctions that will force Israel to abide by UN resolutions and International law.

 

The ICC decision is a welcome step.  

EU Incompetence leading to further breakup?

Two strong women, Angela Merkel and Ursula von der Leyen, in their wish to strengthen the European Union and establish it as a successful and robust All-European body, have achieved the exact opposite.

 

Merkel wanted the procurement of Covid vaccine to be a European project. However, neither von der Leyen, who was preoccupied with Brexit throughout the year, nor anyone else in the gigantic EU bureaucracy has any experience whatsoever in large-scale procurement. Invariable, they were just chickenfeed for the tough negotiators of the Pharma industry. Moreover, the 27 countries were not in agreement as regards to the different vaccines, price, technology and liability, thereby slowing negotiations down. The result is FAILURE.  Big time failure. Death causing failure.

 

Merkel should not have pushed for it and von der Leyen should not have accepted it. Lessons must be learned.  Before it is too late. Otherwise, Britain will not be the last country to leave the EU.

Do not look away

A short videoclip by Ruth Ben-Ghiat  with an important warning about right-wing Extremism in the USA .

Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat of the NYU has written an essay on Fascism for my coming book on political language.

No Longer Disgusted

One of my friends posted on Facebook “My first inauguration speech to watch. Seldom felt so bored. Hollow phrases never ending... “

 

My response was: “It is wonderful to be bored again and no longer disgusted. “

Merkel Failing ?

In the first few months of the pandemic, I could not but praise Mrs. Merkel’s handling of this emergency. I compared Merkel with the leaders of three other countries relevant to my life Israel, Britain and the UK. Merkel seemed competent, matter-of-fact, and honest.

 

Mid December it started to become clear that the minister in charge of Germany’s health system is incompetent. On 23 December, I suggested he be fired. Since then, the shocking vaccination failure is becoming more evident every day. 

 

Mrs. Merkel and her health minister, Jens Spahn have failed to ensure a good supply of vaccine and to prepare the logistics for vaccinating the population. Much has been made, over the years, of the fact that Mrs. Merkel was educated as a scientist and that as a result her approach to problems is scientific. Well, here she failed to grasp the critical importance of ensuring that her population gets vaccinated as soon as possible.

 

This week, Israel has started vaccinating the 35-year-olds, the UK will have vaccinated the over 70-year-olds by mid-February. Even in the USA, friends of mine are now being vaccinated. Here, in Germany, it is hoped that by the end of March, 80 percent of the over 80-year-olds will have been vaccinated.

 

Sadly, as far as vaccinations go – Germany is a failed state.

Mrs. Merkel: Please ACT.

Israel – An Apartheid State ?

A few days ago, the Israeli NGO B'tzelem published a report on apartheid in areas under Israeli control. In clear and straightforward language, the well-founded document states: "The entire area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River is organised under a single principle: advancing and cementing the supremacy of one group - Jews - over another - Palestinians. [...] A regime that uses laws, practices and organised violence to cement the supremacy of one group over another is an apartheid regime. Further, B'tzelem explains, "Israeli apartheid [...] was not born in one day or of a single speech. It is a process that has gradually grown more institutionalised and explicit."

 

It could not be clearer.

 

Attempts to portray the reality in Israel/Palestine as apartheid have been around for some time. Often – under Israeli and Jewish lobby pressure – politicians rowed back after "careless" statements. For example, in 2014, US Secretary of State John Kerry, after commenting that Israel risks becoming an "apartheid state" if US-sponsored efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement fail, had to quickly declare "I do not believe, nor have I ever stated publicly or privately, that Israel is an apartheid state or intends to become one." In 2017, a document was removed from the UN's website that stated, "Israel has established an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole."

 

These Israeli and Jewish lobby attempts, while successful, are frankly ridiculous, considering that as early as 1976, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had already warned against sliding into an apartheid situation and that in 2010, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said "as long as in this territory west of the Jordan river there is only one political entity called Israel it is going to be either non-Jewish or non-democratic. [...] If this bloc of millions of Palestinians cannot vote, that will be an apartheid state."

 

Israelis as well as Diaspora Jews, who remember the anti-apartheid movement of the 1970s-80s find the idea of Israel being called an apartheid state difficult. International anti-apartheid efforts, at the time, led to the boycott and pariah status of South Africa and we do not want to end up as pariahs. And yet, even vehement opponents of the occupation and settlements in Israel, would much rather see Israeli society itself come to what they see as the "right" decision, than to be shamed by others. The end of Israeli occupation of the West Bank should not be brought on by foreigners. But the reality is that this is not happening - Israelis are not bringing about change.

 

Admitting to yourself that you are responsible for an apartheid system is not pleasant. B'tzelem even closes the loophole that made it easy for many to argue that apartheid exists in the Occupied Territories, but that Israel itself is a democratic country. Quite clearly, the report shows - what we have known all along - that the non-Jewish population of Israel, 17% of its citizenry, Palestinians living on land defined as Israeli territory in 1948, are Israeli citizens but "do not enjoy the same rights as Jewish citizens, either in law or in practice."

 

It is in front of this mirror that B'tzelem places us that every Israeli now stands. Most prefer to look the other way. Even non-Israelis who identify with Israel cannot escape this question. But when talking of responsibility, we need to confront the fact that the international community too bears a responsibility for this apartheid reality. Only because the world tolerated it, Israel was able to build its apartheid system for years with impunity.      

 

Let not accusations of “antisemitism” and fears of such accusations prevent an honest discussion of the reality in the areas between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean.