The Gaza war has opened a unique wound in Germany. A country responsible for something as horrible as genocide is now at the crossroads of combining its history, its guilt and its sense of responsibility with the political response to current conflicts. The murder of six million Jews still has enormous weight in Germany, eight decades later, in its foreign relations, but also in its internal management of pro-Palestinian protests or criticism of Israel. A criticism that has practically disappeared from public discourse, both from politicians and the media. Daring to censor Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks of October 7 is often tantamount to being branded anti-Semitic and canceled in fields ranging from culture and art to academia.
“Free Palestine from German guilt,” demand several posters of the pro-Palestinian protests that have been organized since October in cities such as Berlin. This occurs where these demonstrations have taken place, because in other places they have been prohibited due to suspicion that slogans in favor of Hamas could be raised. The police closely monitor authorized gatherings and have gone so far as to remove signs—and arrest those carrying them—with the “quite neutral” motto of “from the river to the sea, equality for all,” recalls Christa Waegemann, director of the programs. for the Middle East of the NGO dedicated to journalism Media in Cooperation and Transition. Waegemann, who defines herself as “half-Jewish, half-German,” regrets that the echo of Nazi crimes is silencing public debate. “I have many conversations with friends and colleagues about the increasing impossibility of criticizing Israel,” she deplores.
Germany is among the countries that offer closed support to the Israeli Government. The chancellor, Olaf Scholz, constantly invokes his right to defend himself. Without fissures. Politicians from across the parliamentary spectrum also show their unconditional support and remember that the security of this country is a “reason of state” for Berlin, an inalienable value. This expression, which is actually difficult to translate into practice, has become common since former Chancellor Angela Merkel uttered it in a historic speech – and in German – in 2008 before the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. “Germany, which attempted to annihilate Jewish life during the Nazi regime, feels obligated to ensure a safe haven for Jews, which it considers to be Israel. That reason of state was invoked again after the Hamas attacks and is what is guiding German policy,” explains historian Jürgen Zimmerer, professor at the University of Hamburg specializing in historical memory.
Slight change of the Foreign Minister
Only very recently, this week, has there been a slight change in the German position. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has publicly called on Israel to respect human rights in Gaza. “Too many Palestinians have already died,” she said Tuesday during an official visit to Slovenia, in the most critical statements of Israel yet heard from her. “The fact that Hamas continues to attack Israel from civilian infrastructure does not absolve Israel of its responsibility to alleviate this incredible suffering in Gaza and protect the civilian population: children, families,” she insisted. However, Berlin continues to refuse to call for a sustained humanitarian ceasefire on the grounds that it would benefit Hamas.
Meanwhile, there are many cases of cancellation of those who defend Palestinian civilians, although at the same time they clearly condemn the bloody attacks by Hamas. It happened, for example, to the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek during the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Some of the audience booed him and left the room when he recalled the suffering of Gaza’s civilians. A few days ago, the Saarland Museum in Saarbrücken canceled the exhibition of the South African artist Candice Breitz due to her “controversial statements” about the Gaza war. Breitz, who is Jewish, explained that she has always spoken out against Hamas terrorism, but maintaining that “the lives of Palestinian children are worth the same as those of Jews.”
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German zeal has gone so far as to remove a Palestinian film from the programming of the public broadcaster ARD, Wajib, winner of several international awards and which tells an intimate story about the relationship between a father and a son. Despite having nothing to do with Islamist propaganda, the network decided to withdraw it at the end of November “in view of recent events in the Middle East” and because it could “be misinterpreted.”
Hiding behind the reason of state, demonstrations, symbols and banners are prohibited. The slogan “bombing children is not self-defense” was recently removed at a protest in Frankfurt. “The problem is that people of Palestinian or Arab descent feel that they cannot express their concerns and criticisms. We will see in the future if this leads to a radicalization of certain groups and also to a permanent fracture of society,” warns Zimmerer. The possibility of it happening is very real, the historian insists, because the extreme right has mixed the debate about Israel and Palestine with the discourse on migration.
“The demands to withdraw German citizenship from pro-Palestinian protesters of Arab descent have further poisoned public discourse,” he says. This same week, the Government of Saxony-Anhalt (led by the Christian Democrats, in coalition with Social Democrats and Liberals) announced that all residents in that eastern state who want to adopt German citizenship must sign a document that expressly recognizes “the right to exist.” From Israel”.
Germany pursues anti-Semitism, but judging by the messages from its authorities, it focuses especially on imported one. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on people of Arab origin to clearly distance themselves from hatred of Jews and Hamas. Similar statements have been made by the Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, when calling on Islamic organizations to adopt a “clear stance against anti-Semitism.” Both added that Muslims, who number around five and a half million people in Germany, should not be the subject of widespread suspicion.
“We are not allowed to say stop to genocide in the country that perfected the concept,” laments Deborah Feldman, author of a memoir that inspired the well-known Netflix series Unorthodox. Feldman, born in the United States, fled an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn and settled in Berlin, where she has participated in numerous protests since October 7. “It is a terribly sad and desperate time for us,” she says, referring to progressive Jews. His presence on one of the most prominent political debate programs last month caused great impact because his was one of the first voices that assured on public television that only one lesson can be drawn from the Holocaust: “The absolute and unconditional defense of human rights for all.”
In statements to EL PAÍS, he recalled that the vice chancellor, the environmentalist Robert Habeck, described his position in that debate as “admirable moral clarity,” but said that he could not support it as a politician from a country that committed the Shoah. “This means that we have reached a point in German discourse where the Holocaust is used as a justification for the abandonment of moral clarity,” he says.
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