Where freedom of speech should end

July 31, 2011 in All, Understanding Germany

The horrors the Nazis have done to the Jewish people and to many others, during World War II,  are incomprehensible.

One thing that the Germans have learned from those atrocities is to “never forget”. The younger generations need to be educated about what has happend in the past. Only then they can learn from it and make sure that something like this never happens again.

To educate and to learn from the past also means not to deny the holocaust.

Germany has implemented laws that make holocaust denial a criminal offense, that will be charged with up to five years in prison. Even though we have the freedom of speech … holocaust denial is an exception to this rule.

In the United States the First Amendment prohibits abridging the freedom of speech. Thus anyone can say anything … whatsoever.

shout (photo: AJP / Shutterstock.com)

shout (photo: AJP / Shutterstock.com)

As much as I appreciate the freedom of speech … it is unimaginable for me to let someone deny or belittle the horrors of the holocaust. At some point there must be a limit to what you can or cannot say. You should not look away if someone is lying about proven historical facts, such as the Shoa.

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Wagner, or not Wagner: that is the question

July 26, 2011 in All, From a German perspective

Portrait of Richard Wagner by Caesar Willich ca. 1862

Richard Wagner by Caesar Willich ca. 1862

Should the Israeli Chamber Orchestra play Wagner at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus? Wagner the well known anti-Semite?

There is quite some controversy about this issue.

Some people are demonstrating on the streets, because they think it’s the wrong thing to do. Some people think this is the boldest thing the Israeli Chamber Orchestra could ever do.

 

 

Musical director Paternostro said it had been “a very difficult and rocky path” but that “there wasn’t a moment when I had any doubts about this project”.

“I know that in Israel this isn’t accepted,” added Paternostro, who is Jewish and whose mother survived the holocaust.

“But many people have told me it’s time we confront Wagner, especially those in the younger generation.” (BBC News)

 

 

Playing Wagner is for sure very courageous. The orchestra will alienate quite a few people with this step. Probably even former supporters.

In my opinion Mr. Paternostro and every musician that decides to play with him are showing us one thing: true tolerance.
They see art seperated from political ideology. Being able to stand in for this belief – against all criticism – shows one more thing: true greatness.

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Should hate get a public platform?

July 25, 2011 in All, Miscellaneous

Not enough that Anders Behring Breivik killed 76 innocent people. Being smart enough, he surrendered when the police arrived at the scene. Not because he wanted to survive, but becuase he wanted a platform for his sick ideas.

“Breivik had wanted to explain in public why he perpetrated modern-day Norway’s worst peace-time massacre.” (Reuters)

The internet already provided Breivik with a stage that he is not worth of. I just hope that the judge will be as smart as to never allow Breivik to spread his diseased thoughts any further.

Candles and flowers for Norway victims (Robert Rozbora / Shutterstock.com)

Let’s just hope that this tragic event does not spark a series of racist assaults around the world.

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The flotilla – a big PR stunt?

July 18, 2011 in All, From a German perspective

Have you ever asked yourself WHY there is a need for the flotilla to deliver goods to Gaza?

I guess it must be because Israel is not allowing any delivery of goods into the Gaza strip, right?
To be perfectly honest. I didn’t know, as German media rarely write anything about it.

BUT aunty Google was glad to help.

Flotilla Humanitarian Cargo Loaded Unto Trucks

Flotilla Humanitarian Cargo Loaded Unto Trucks / source: IDF

How to Deliver Goods to the Gaza Strip
[...] On a daily basis, Israel transfers approx. 6,000 tons of goods and materials into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing. [...]

[...] In June 2011, the European convoy, “Miles of Smiles 3,” arrived at the Rafah land crossing. At the Egypt-Israel border crossing, the convoy’s ten European human rights organizations transferred 30 tons of medical supplies, 12 ambulances, baby food, and wheelchairs to the Gaza Strip by coordinating efforts with the Egyptian Red Crescent. The transfer of goods and materials did not entail violence [...]

Source: http://idfspokesperson.com

German media do write a lot about the flotilla. The only thing they forget to mention is that there is a legal way and that there is an illegal way to bring those goods into Gaza. This is quite strange, thinking that media should report in an unbiased way. Looking into the German reporting on the flotilla you could get the impression that media reporting is “somewhat” biased (to phrase it politely). But to be fair to the media … emotional pictures of soldiers seizing a ship sell much better than a photo from the Kerem Shalom Crossing. They are doomed to use those pictures that have the highest news value. Circulation figures reign supreme, right?

So what should I think about the flotilla?
Is it only a big public relations stunt, to deliver the “right” pictures to the press?

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Never again

July 16, 2011 in All, From a German perspective, Understanding Germany

Never again!

Two simple words. Yet very complex.
And they don’t mean the same thing for everyone.

I recently had the opportunity to hear Prof. Dr. Michael Wolffsohn speak about the differences between Germans and Jews today. He presented a few very simple, very black and white statements. Not everyone agreed on what he said. That’s the thing with simple black and white statements. But, those statements gave me some food for thought.

I want to pick just one of the statements for now.

He said that the Jewish people and and the Germans learned one important lesson from what happened during World War II.

Never again!

The Germans learned to “Never again be the perpetrators!”
The Jewish people learned to “Never again be the victims!”

 

Why are the Germans so hesitant when it comes to help their allies in military conflicts?

Never again be the perpetrators.
As a German, I grew up with this “mantra”. History classes in school spent a lot of time on German wrongdoing during the two World Wars. Especially the horrible things we did to the Jewish people (and not only to them). We visited former concentration camps more than once. The Diary of Anne Frank is mandatory reading material for every German pupil. Our parents and grandparents told us that “we”, the Germans, had done terrible things during the war (if they talked about that time at all).

Ask me about German guilt and I can tell you that I do feel guilty, even though I am a member of the “Third Generation” after the war.

When I grew up, I learned that the “Bundeswehr”, the German armed forces, is there only to defend our country. That it does not have first strike ability and that it will never again have this. I learned that military service for the German armed forces would be a waste of time. That I would do better to do social service.

Fast forward to the year 1999: Kosovo Conflict
I can well remember the discussions that raged through Germany. Should Germany “participate” in a war? Should we be part of the KFOR troups? Is this really a humanitarian mission, or are we going to be “warmongers”? It was a tough battle that the politicians had to fight, before the first German soldier could help in the Kosovo Conflict. And it cost the politicians a lot of voters.
The general public in Germany thinks of “modern” Germany as a “pacifist state”. We do not engage in military conflicts any more. We have learned this from the past.

Fast forward to the year 2001
We all remember the horrors of September 11.
Since 2001 Germany is part of the “War on Terror”. The German armed forces are supporting the ISAF in Afghanistan and the NATO in the Mediterranean Sea. They are also in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates and in other places. BUT to come this far there were huge discussions again. It went even thus far, that the German Chancellor had to ask for a vote of confidence.
Again it was this German mindset of “we cannot be involved in any sort of military conflicts”.

Never again is deeply engrained in the German mind. And it will probably take some more time until we understand that supporting our allies is a good thing.

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