"And the Jews are to Blame, Again"

How the escalation of the Near-east conflict has reinvigorated German Anti-Semitism.
Commentary by Heribert Prantl April 14, 2002

If Sharon didn't exist, Anti-Semitism would have had to invent him. It's been a long time since hatred of Jews, currently dressed up as Anti-Zionism, has been as socially acceptable in Germany as it is today. At the Palestine demonstrations last weekend, slogans were yelled that otherwise would have been sufficient grounds to ban Neo-nazi Marches, and should be grounds for banning the National Democratic Party (NPD): Jewish Pigs, Sieg Heil, etc.

So it is. Ariel Sharon, by living and breathing and raging, serves as a much better excuse for anti-Jewish emotion than the fabricated "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"

Neo-nazis and Anti-racists Side by Side

These are remarkable alliances. There they are, side by side, the Hizbollah's placards with pictures of machine guns next to the Easter Marcher's peace doves, along with post-socialists, neo-Nazis and anti-racists. Does anybody get the impression that some of the protesters for the Palestinian cause, which might even deserve honest support, are less for the Palestinians, than they are against the Jews?

Many speakers, including most recently Westerwelle and Möllemann from the FDP, attest that it is not anti-Semitic to speak the truth.

The truth is in the fact that Israel also fights terror with terrorist means. The truth is that in the Near-East the violent fanaticism of one side will always inflame the other side, over and over again. But the truth is also that there is an inclination in Germany to use the Near-East conflict for the purposes of coming to terms with the past.

The pot of old resentments, simmering over new flames

Israel used to be spared from criticism. Today Israel is buried in criticism, because many now believe the past is behind us, so "the Jews" may be blamed again. The vehemence of the criticism against Israel also serves -- by pointing out injustices elsewhere -- as an indication that normality reigns again. But that is deceiving.

The pot of old resentments is now simmering over new flames. And the legitimate criticism of Israel is sometimes so self-righteous and didactic, that one really has to wonder. Germany is a country that 25 years ago reacted to the terrorism of the Red Army Faction (RAF) with hysteria and exceptional measures. Against the mountain of terror that's piling up against Israel, the RAF terror would have been a small rock. The RAF terror was not levelled against the general public (and that's not to diminish it), but the general public was seized with panic anyway.

Germany's New Sanctimony

Let's conduct a thought experiment where we send the German public to Israel. The state of Hesse is comparable to Israel in terms of size and population. Surround Hesse with enemies and expose the people to new attacks everyday and everywhere: public squares, busses, street cafes, schools, kindergartens, shopping centers. How would they react then? The answer doesn't ameliorate Israeli policy, nor does it help solve the Near-East conflict. But it does counter Germany's new sanctimony.

translated by Stefan Sharkansky