Beware When Fighting Monsters: Why Germany has become the monster it claims to fight
Beware When Fighting Monsters: Why Germany has become the monster it claims to fight
An attempt to explain the use of accusations of antisemitism as a punitive weapon within the German context
German government and media abuse accusations of anti-Semitism to counter any narrative they do not like that concerns Israel. The consequences are dire, one can lose their job, can be arrested, can be beaten on the streets or even be denied stay in Germany just for having been accused of it. Very few accusations have harmed those accused of it as much as anti-Semitism irrespective of their truth.
In light of the seriousness of this career ending accusation, very little is done to support it in most cases, and the burden of proof is rarely ever on the accuser, and usually no defense is possible once the accusation has been made. Questioning the validity of the accusation endangers those who would like to examine it seriously.
There are several reasons why the German public is dumbfounded every time these accusations arise, the most obvious is one is a sense of historic guilt, shame and responsibility. Many people suffered under the Nazi regime but Jewish people bore the brunt of German’s nationalism. In all likelihood, most Germans at the time did not view the targeting of Jews as an atrocity but as a nationalistic duty since Jews were made to be seen as an enemy of the state. The pride of nationalism justified their eradication. Jews too were never given a platform to defend themselves.
With the loss of the war, it is arguable that the shame of defeat that has haunted Germans to this day, but unquestionably, the atrocities of Germany’s past have not been forgotten. Since Jews were the surviving majority of those targeted by the Nazi Germany, with anti-Semitic sentiments in German society, it was the duty of the German state to try and avert the repetition of such an atrocity. A lot of effort was put in education to inform Germans about that past, with a constant reminder of Germany’s crimes, and rightly so. Yet in the process of educating Germans about the holocaust, Palestine became forbidden in schools.
In the aftermath of the defeat, the Nazi’s brutality was summarized as being anti-Semitic, a reductive narrative. The horror of the holocaust was the mass targeting of Jews, but truth be told, they weren’t only Jews who were targeted. Roma and Sinti people were also targeted along with blacks, disabled and gay people. Semites are the Jews and Arabs, but the term has been used primarily for Jewish people, since discrimination and persecution was directed at them, even predating the holocaust.
In recognition of these atrocities, since Germans had to be reminded by the world that they had committed them, Germans took it upon themselves to admit to their crimes that no one else would constantly confront them. Germany adopted the motto, “Never Again”, mostly to put their own mind at ease. But never again what? And who?
German Exceptionalism
The nature of dealing with past created the idea that the holocaust was an exceptional atrocity that cannot be replicated by anyone in the world (other than Germans perhaps). That’s why Germans do not accept comparisons to the holocaust. Yet that claim in itself is a grandiose elitist claim, implying that the Germans are superior to other races that no other is capable of committing similar horrifying atrocities. Once again the reductive nature of Never Again becomes never Jews again, never again Germans.
And while there is something exceptional about the holocaust, there are many elements within it that can be compared to present day policies. The rejection of any comparison shields Germany from criticism of any future practice no matter how similar it is to the Nazi and holocaust practices. In a sense it protects Germans from being called out in case they repeat such practices.
To alleviate the guilt even more, instead of using Germany’s influence to fight racism across the world, Germany has resorted to reducing its efforts even further by equating Israel to Jews. This, for a government, is much easier to handle, when they stand by Israel as a representative of Jews and they won’t have to deal with any sort of racism or anti-Semitism across the world, nor atone for their racist practices of the past, nor cater to more liberal left wing Jewish people not represented by Israeli government. They won’t have to deal with what happens to Roma and Sinti people, Blacks, gays or disabled people. Israel is the only meaningful, manageable checkbox.
Arabs are Semites
If we fast forward to today, we can see that another ‘Semitic’ group of people are being targeted. This time it’s Palestinians. There is no moral argument where one would support the targeting of an entire neighborhood block or even a building in Berlin to target a handful of suspects that the police cannot get to. It’s unreasonable, unfathomable and immoral. Yet Germans accept that for Gaza. The tragic outcome is that Germans too have dehumanized Palestinians, a Semitic race, much like they had dehumanized Jews earlier. This time it’s not nationalism that makes them believe the targeting of Palestinians is legitimate but their own guilt and their reductive fight against anti-Semitism. It is a force so blinding, just like nationalism and other forms of beliefs.
To step back for one second and think of Gaza as a ghetto in Warsaw full of Jews with embedded militants is all some Germans need to do to understand that the carpet bombing of the Gaza strip is wrong. Yet that mental exercise is impossible to many Germans whose guilt, combined particularly with Nazi ancestry, stop them from being able to conduct that mental exercise. I don’t generalize the thoughts and behavior of all Germans, a great many of which I know have been able to move enough past their indoctrination to understand that “Never Again” is a much more generalized idea than not repeating atrocities against Israelis.
For this reason, I propose a mental exercise based on fact. Palestinians are Semites and therefore targeting them for their identity is anti-Semitic. Perhaps that is the only way to compel Germany to have some sympathy with their suffering since they don’t respond to any other calls of antiracism, not even moved when thousands of Palestinian children are bombed indiscriminately from the skies. To refuse seeing Palestinians as Semites is simply a refusal to give them the same right as any other human being, the right not to be persecuted.
Some Germans may find this article uncomfortable, after all, if words had the power to change minds, they could have been swayed by the many Israeli historians, thinkers and analysts such as Ilan Pape or Gordon Levy describing Israeli practices, and particularly making a similar point to the one in this text. In some strange twist of logic, Germany has targeted some Jews under the guise of fighting anti-Semitism. Israelis who are against Israeli practices can be labeled anti-Semitic, self-hating Jews. In fact, it would not surprise me if the mere opinion expressed here can be twisted to result in an accusation of anti-Semitism. After all that accusation is the shortest way to censor an opinion offering the quickest antidote to discomfort. The burden of proof is never on the accuser. The shortcut is always equating a criticism to a state run by extreme right wing individuals to the entirety of Jews. That act is in itself anti-Semitic.
In order to understand how damaging these accusations can be, it’s not simply about reputation but the actions that follow these accusations. Freedom of expression stops not with the verdict of anti-Semitism but with the accusation. The punitive measures vary from being stigmatized to being fired never to be rehired again and in some cases deportation. The most well known cases that prove this are the string of DW journalists fired due to their position on Israel, as well as the smear campaign against Achilles Mbembe, but the examples have increased over time to include Masha Gessen, Ghassan Hage, and countless other people who were punitively due to a smear campaign masquerading as an accusation of anti-Semitism.
What is Anti-Semitic About Wanting Children to Live?
In the name of fighting anti-Semitism, police attack people with Palestinian Kuffeyas, fire people from their jobs if they express support for Palestine, wrongly accuse people (including Jews) of anti-Semitism including cracking down on Jewish Voices for Peace, ban all Palestine related protests in Berlin, the government supports a teacher after punching a student for wearing a Kuffeya, bans BDS the peaceful form of resistance, supports Israel as it commits acts of indiscriminate killing which can be described as war crimes and more recently plausible genocide. Germany is a place systematically cutting down on free expression when it comes to Palestine and deprives its citizens of a chance to understand the situation in Palestine despite some of the best efforts of some of its citizens, and it’s all done in the name of fighting anti-Semitism.
Perhaps the most striking part about this clamp down on any voices criticizing Israel is that the experiences of both Israeli and Jewish activists are completely consistent with the experiences of Palestinians and Arabs when it comes to Germany’s behavior.
At the center of these accusations that eventually serve to justify ethnic cleansing, is one grave failing. They do not rely on proof, but of a twisted interpretation of anything presented to mean something else. With confidence the accusers tell you that what you meant to say is something other than you said. If you ask for Palestinians to be free, a jump to killing all Israelis and sometimes killing all Jews can then be inferred and used to accuse you. This may seem like a hyperbole, but it is a real example from German life, where the slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” was deemed genocidal.
Perhaps the most dangerous aspects around quick accusations of anti-Semitism is that it halts any possible conversation before it begins. This has deprived Germans of a real education around topics that relate to Palestine. Perhaps historically, Germans are not the best people to recognize racism, and especially in themselves. We are discussing an entire nation didn't stop and recognize their venomous practices against Jews till they were defeated and humiliated. Jumping to accusations of anti-Semitism does not enable communities in Germany to listen to people who may know a little more about both, Palestine and how Germany treats the non-Jewish Semites.
It has been argued that it isn’t accurate to refer to anti-Semitism as a form of racism targeting Arabs, since it historically refers to targeting Jews. But this type of adamant exclusion puts one form of racism as superior to another form, making someone a better person for demeaning an Arab but not a Jew. This only makes the point that fighting anti-Semitism is a checkbox, not a real desire to fight all forms of racism, because if you only protect Israel as a representative of all Jews, then you can indulge in self righteousness, that you’re a good person and it’s okay to be Islamophobic or treat the Palestinians of today like the Jews of yesterday were treated as long as you support Israel.
We Didn’t Invent Anti-Semitism
This pattern of accusations as a weapon can be most exemplified by Robert Habeck’s speech. In the speech, Habeck, the Vice Chancellor of Germany and Minister of Foreign Affairs, paints the protests for ceasefire as Islamist and with a very broad brush implicitly accuses the majority of anti-Semitism with a threat that they may be deported.
Habeck's speech is a dangerous case of weaponizing the accusation of antisemtism against a majority of Muslims as a means of defamation. In his speech he equates Israel to Jews and completely ignores Germany as a source of anti-Semitism. In a sense he’s trying to offset anti-Semitism to the Muslim world, while most anti-Semitic attacks come for the German far right. What’s even more dangerous is that the infringement of basic rights such as freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are seen as necessary measures based on such accusations who no one has investigated or ruled on. The speech, largely lauded by German society was criticized by one of Germany's most prominent constitutional lawyers, Thomas Fischer, describing Habeck’s approach to be nothing other than the usual variant of moralizing racism.
What makes it worse is that anti-Semitism bureaucrats in Germany determining what is anti-Semitic are neither Jewish nor free from a history of poor judgment. The witch hunt for antisemtism is also applied selectively, for example German politician Hubert Aiwanger seemed to have a history of anti-Semitism that was brushed off fairly easily compared to other figures that have not made anti-Semitic remarks but were punished nevertheless.
Whatever Germany may feel about Palestinians and whether they can treat them as humans, one thing must end, the weaponization of this accusation of anti-Semitism to anyone who criticizes Israel so that a real conversation can be had. In many cases it is baseless and therefore deeply insulting to the many Jews who have been targeted for their identity. It is also insulting that Israel to pursue war crimes of its own in the name of many Jews who bore the brunt of oppressive Nazi regimes only to feel complicit with a new oppressive one.
I too can point a finger to Germany and accuse it, this time not falsely, of Anti-Semitism. On the one hand Germany still targets Jewish people, for example in Judische Bund, Judische Stimme and Jewish Voices for Peace when they speak out against Israel, but on the other hand Germany is targeting Palestinian symbols, protests, traditional clothes and supporting their ethnic cleansing unconditionally. In the name of fighting monsters, Germany is engaging in anti-Semitism, but this time, it’s the Semites that they had not targeted in their past.