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AMERICAN EDITION
September 2014

IN THIS EDITION

PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES - If you yourself are spying, dont

HELP FROM GERMANY Care for psychological trauma victims.

SAXONY A new populist party lands seat in the State Parliament

MORE ON THE SUBS Israel gets another needed U-boat.

HOLOCAUST AFTERMATH The memory lives on in mind & politics

THE NEO-NAZI NPD PARTY The NPD gets tossed. Hold your applause.

ANTI-SEMITISM EDUCATION: A NOVEL IDEA Its for Muslim students.

A HEADACHE IN WUPPERTAL Religious Police gives Aspirin City a headache.

THE ANTI ANTI-SEMITISM RALLY Wonderful! But who was there?


Dear Friends:
Before anything else, my best wishes for a great 5775.
Since my last American Edition the Jewish world has changed. The Gaza war came to
an end (at least for the time being). The war kicked off a wave of anti-Semitic feeling
throughout Europe but, at least in Germany, the government leadership got behind a
push to fight that deadly virus. The Chancellor was outstanding in supporting Israels
right to defend itself during war and then carried through with a strong statement in
opposition to the outbreak of anti-Semitism that followed. The rest of Europe was well,
not so great.

On the negative side the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany political party
gained seats in three State legislatures with its votes coming from the far right and,
perhaps weakening the Chancellors Christian Democratic Party.

In addition the Left Party, the most critical of Israel in the Bundestag, is gaining strength
and may take over the State of Thuringias government in coalition with the Social
Democrats. The fact that the Left Party is being more and more accepted as a possible
partner for the center-left Social Democrats might mean more trouble for Israel at the
time of the next national election. The extreme parties seem to be gaining strength.
Never good news for the Jews!
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Domestically Germany has banned ISIS cutting off any financial or other that they might
be able dredge up. They are also helping supply the Kurds with weapons to fight the in
Iraq and probably Syria.

Of course, theres more. Keep reading to find out what it is

PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES
An ancient proverb tells us People who live in glass houses shouldnt throw stones.
Perhaps its not so ancient as glass houses seem to be a 20
th
Century construct.
However, the moral, no matter the century, has meaning. Perhaps its one that
Germany should think about.

Earlier this year great anger rose in Germany when it came to light that Americas
National Security Agency was hacking German phones and computers right up to
Chancellor Merkels own cellphone. It now comes to light that the German intelligence
people were doing exactly the same thing.

In late August DW reported, Germany has been spying on Turkey for close to four
decades, according to a report that could further raise tensions between the two
nations. The allegations could also embarrass Berlin - a vehement critic of US spying.

Germany's foreign intelligence agency (BND) has been spying on Turkey for almost four
decades, Focus magazine said on Saturday, in a report to be published next week that
could further antagonize the NATO members.
The article follows revelations that suggested German intelligence had been spying on
Turkey, but the details about the espionage go further than initially reported.
Germany's ambassador in Ankara after media reports said Berlin had identified Turkey
as a "top surveillance target," quoting a government document from 2009 that confirmed
Berlin had been spying on Ankara for years.
Turkey's foreign ministry immediately described the report as "absolutely unacceptable,"
if verified.
"It is expected that the German authorities present an on the claims reported by
German media and end these activities immediately if the claims are true," a ministry
statement read.
Turkey is apparently not the only NATO member under German surveillance: Weekly
news magazine Spiegel Saturday that the BND also targeted Albania.

Der Spiegel further reported on German spying focused on US political figures. It noted,
The report could further embarrass Chancellor Angela Merkel's government. Berlin
was lambasted with accusations of hypocrisy this week because of its outrage over
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allegations of US surveillance on Germans, including the tapping of the chancellor's
phone.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's team is backpedaling. On Friday, the daily Sddeutsche
Zeitung reported that the BND -- even if apparently unintentionally -- had eavesdropped
on a telephone conversation by then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The
revelation made Merkel's dictum, "Spying among friends? That's unacceptable," ring a
bit hollow.
Information obtained by SPIEGEL indicates that the affair goes beyond Clinton. Last
year, it also drew in Clinton's successor, John Kerry, when he was mediating in the
Middle East between the Israelis, the Palestinians and the Arab states. At the time, the
recording of at least one Kerry conversation was apparently immediately deleted by the
BND under orders.

The important point here is that ALL countries spy on ALL other countries especially
their friends. After all, how do you know if another nation is a friend unless you have
ironclad proof?
So much for trust!

HELP FROM GERMANY

As the truce in the Gaza War began to take hold, The Jerusalem Post reported, Deputy
German ambassador Benedikt Haller gave NATAL, the Israel Trauma Center for
Victims of Terror and War, a check for 50,000 (NIS 235,000) on Wednesday to provide
assistance for residents of the South traumatized by the rocket fire from Gaza.
The aid from the German government is earmarked to enable NATAL to provide
psychological care to civilians primarily children and youth in communities near the
Gaza border suffering from trauma stemming from the rocket attacks.
According to the German embassy in Tel Aviv, this is not the first time Germany has
supported Natal. With this support, the embassy said in a statement, the German
embassy wants to express its solidarity with Israeli citizens suffering from unending
attacks from the Gaza Strip.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the head of Natal, Orly Gal, during the last
government meeting in Jerusalem in February and was deeply impressed with the
organization's work, according to the statement.
During Operation Protective Edge the 16-year-old organization worked on emergency
footing, providing assistance to residents of southern Israel, including to children and
their parents trying to cope with the trauma, as well as to the elderly and people with
special needs.
NATAL's Community Outreach Unit has been conducting training and creativity
workshops for teaching staff, as well as managers of companies and organizations
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operating in southern Israel. The group's Mobile Unit, made up of mental health
professionals, has visited hundreds of homes in the South to provide psychological and
emotional first aid to families and residents too afraid to leave their homes.

This is a lovely gesture and Im not surprised that Benedikt Haller made the
presentation. As mentioned above, he is the Deputy German Ambassador to Israel.
Previously he served as the First Special Envoy for Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Affairs
at the German Foreign Ministry. He is an old friend of AJCs and is dedicated to
improving German Jewish relations.


SAXONY

At the end of August, peculiarly, the eastern State of Saxony held its state elections.
The Christian Democrats, the party of Chancellor Merkel, once again won more seats in
the parliament but, similar to the last national elections, the Free Democrats, the most
likely partner in a coalition, did not make the 5% needed to be admitted to the Landtag
(Parliament). Not good news but not a disaster.
However, as reported by DW, Germany's anti-euro party has won its first state
parliament seats following elections in Saxony. However, the ruling CDU conservatives
will now need to find a new coalition partner.
Preliminary results show that as predicted, Chancellor Angela Merkel's incumbent
conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) won Saturday's state election in Saxony,
receiving 39 percent of the votes and up to 59 of the 132 seats.
This means Premier Stanislaw Tillich will continue to govern, but will need to seek out a
new coalition partner, with the liberal FDP party receiving only 3.7 percent of the votes -
failing to clear the 5 percent hurdle required for parliamentary representation.
The AfD won 10 percent of the vote. The AfD, with lead candidate Frauke Petry has
capitalized on voter concerns about asylum seekers in its campaign. The party only
narrowly failed to enter the national parliament and the state assembly in Hesse last
year. It did, however, manage to garner seven seats in the European Parliament at
elections in May.
The right-wing, populist party drew voters away from the extreme-right National
Democratic Party (NPD), whose re-entry into the state parliament is still unclear [Ed.
Note: At that time].
The AfD as far as anyone can tell is not a neo-Nazi party. However, extreme right wing
voters have found a home in it. It is anti-Euro and more than flirts with the anti-
immigrant issue. It is certainly strongly opposed to the Chancellor and though right-wing
is not a candidate for being a coalition partner with the CDU. The most likely outcome
will be a grand coalition with the Social Democrats, similar to the grouping that there is
in the Bundestag.
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The greatest danger is the possible growth of the populist right-wing party in the next
years. They could become a force in the next national election. Time will tell.


MORE ON THE SUBS

For the last couple of years I have been reporting to you on the sale of hi-tech
submarines to Israel from Germany. They are expensive, take a long time to build and
are critical for Israels defense.

The Times of Israel recently reported, Israel will add a fourth advanced Dolphin-Class
submarine to its naval fleet within the next few days, the commander of the Israel Navy
said

At this very moment, after leaving Germany, the INS Tanin, the Navy and the State of
Israels fourth submarine, is making its way to Israel, Vice Admiral Ram Rothberg said
at a ceremony for graduates of a naval course. It can dive deeper, go farther for a
longer time and can operate at a level we have not seen until today.

The impending arrival of the INS Tanin will bolster a submarine fleet has seen dramatic
increases in the number and duration of its operational at-sea deployments over the
past several years.
According to a senior Israel Navy officer, 58 percent of the submarine flotillas time at
sea in 2013 was spent in operational deployments, the other 42% having been devoted
to training. That marks a dramatic increase from the three previous years, when
submarines spent just 36% of their time at sea in operational deployments.
The submarines also conducted 54 special operations in 2013, a similarly sharp
increase from previous years. The operations included deployments to the Lebanese
coast and unspecified deployments lasting several weeks that took the submarines
thousands of kilometers from Israel.
Israel is also scheduled to receive a fifth Dolphin-Class submarine from Germany,
the INS Rahav, later in 2014.
The new submarines have engines that dont require surfacing to acquire new air
supplies, effectively expanding Israels naval (and, reportedly, nuclear) reach and
allowing for more distant and long-lasting operations.
In 2012, the German weekly Der Spiegel reported that Israels submarine fleet has
nuclear capabilities and that Berlin is aware of this but has opted to publicly remain
mum about it in order to avoid having to defend the deals.
The submarines, according to Der Spiegel, are equipped with Israeli-designed Popeye
missiles, which can carry a warhead of up to 200 kilograms. The nuclear warheads are
produced at Israels Dimona nuclear reactor, the report said.
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Israel maintains a policy of nuclear ambiguity, neither confirming nor denying that it is in
possession of nuclear weapons.
I always thought that the main job of submarines was to torpedo enemy ships. But, then
again, Im a child of the 1930s and 1940s. I grew up believing that German submarines
were a scourge. Little did I ever think theyd become a main defense weapon to help
defend a Jewish nation. Certainly technology is moving more quickly than my very slow
moving brain.


HOLOCAUST AFTERMATH
I have tried to make the case previously that the Holocaust is indelibly marked into the
German consciousness as well as its sub-consciousness. I know that forever is hard
to predict but, at least for the foreseeable future.and probably long beyond that, the
impact of the Shoah will last and provide continuing attempts by Germany to deal with
its awful memory.

To prove my point I offer two items that only this week (as I write this in early
September) appeared in the press.

First, it was announced that (according to Israel Hayom), Germany [is] to provide $250
million to Nazis' child victims Fund. [It is] expected to become operational Jan. 1, [and]
will recognize "the suffering endured by these young Nazi victims, including devastating
separation from parents at a critical time in a child's development,"
Child survivors of the Holocaust will receive additional financial assistance from the
German government to help with increasing problems stemming from malnutrition and
psychological trauma inflicted by the Nazis, under a new agreement worth an estimated
$250 million.
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany said the agreement
reached with the Finance Ministry late Wednesday would provide one-time payments of
2,500 euros (around $3,200) for Jewish children who were in concentration camps,
ghettos or spent at least six months in hiding.
The German Finance Ministry on Thursday confirmed the agreement but refused to
provide further details.
The payment comes in addition to other compensation they may have received, and
represents the first time the German government has recognized the unique problems
facing child survivors, said Claims Conference executive vice president Greg Schneider,
who was involved in the negotiations.

A complete story on the new funds appeared in The Jewish Week. Click here to read it.
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new-york/first-child-survivors-get-payout

The second has to do with an announcement by the German Chancellor. According to
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The Jerusalem Post, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she would do
everything she could to fight anti-Semitism in Germany, amid reports of attacks and a
spike in anti-Israel sentiment since the Gaza conflict.

In her weekly podcast, Merkel said she was alarmed that Jewish institutions in Germany
still needed police protection and called for a big turnout at a rally against anti-Semitism
that she was planning to address in Berlin next weekend.
Authorities and media in Germany, ultra-sensitive about anti-Semitism because of the
Holocaust, have criticized chants against Israel and Jews during rallies against Israel's
conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In July, petrol bombs were thrown at a synagogue in the western town of Wuppertal and
a man wearing a skullcap was beaten up on a street corner in Berlin.

"I will personally do everything I can - as will my entire government - to ensure that anti-
Semitism doesn't have a chance in our country," said Merkel, without referring to
specific incidents or mentioning any new policies.

She said there had been a revival of Jewish culture in the country since World War Two.
"We're proud and pleased that it was possible for that to grow in recent years."

There were more than half a million Jews in Germany when the Nazis took power in
1933. That number fell to about 30,000 after the mass killings and emigrations, but the
population has since grown to about 200,000.

Merkel said she hoped as many Germans would join her at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate
on September 14 for the rally organized by the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

"Hopefully there will be as many people as possible there to show that everyone who
lives here will be protected," Merkel said.

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us," Merkel added. "We can see that there is not a
single Jewish institution here (in Germany) that doesn't have to have police protection ...
That's something that very much concerns me."

Jewish schools, shops, buildings and synagogues are regularly guarded by armed
police.

German anti-racist laws forbid incitement to racial hatred such as anti-Semitic slogans,
and outlaw propagation of the racist beliefs of the Nazis, whose emblems are also
illegal.
The memory of the Holocaust remains deeply imbedded. What more could we ask for?
Lets give credit where credit is due.


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THE NEO-NAZI NPD PARTY

Earlier in this edition I noted that in the Saxony (an eastern German state) elections the
NPD had, perhaps, been able to hang onto one seat in the Landtag (State parliament).
As it turned out when all the votes were counted they came up short and were thrown
out. The Times of Israel reported, Germanys biggest far-right party, which once fueled
fears of a neo-Nazi surge, is now in the doldrums.

While some other European countries are seeing a rise in the far right, National
Democratic Party was last week booted out of parliament in Saxony, one of only two
German states where it had lawmakers.

The resulting loss of some 2.5 million euros ($3.3 million) each year in public funding,
which critics have said the NPD used to finance campaigns in other states, could crush
a party that was regarded just a few years ago as a magnet for neo-Nazi sentiment in
Germany and a threat to the countrys post-war reputation.
This could be the beginning of the end for the party as a political force, said Hendrik
Traeger, a political scientist at Leipzig University. Saxony was their stronghold.
It was in the eastern German state that the NPD received 9.2 percent of the vote in
2004, shocking Germanys political establishment and raising the specter of the
countrys Nazi past.
The election gave the party 12 seats in the state parliament, a public platform to spread
its ideas along with dozens of jobs for far-right activists.
Despite the money, the party had little impact in Saxony, according to Werner J. Patzelt,
a political scientist at the Technical University Dresden.
The NPD failed to fulfill any of the hopes its voters had, it didnt have any credible
representatives and skidded from one scandal to another, Patzelt said.
Its former leader in Saxony once referred to Israel as a Jewish criminal state, party
lawmakers refused to honor a minutes silence for victims of the Holocaust, and one
deputy calling for the use of hand grenades against Zionists, a common far-right
synonym for Jews.
Apart from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, another eastern state, the NPD failed to
emulate its success in Saxony anywhere. At the national level, the party hasnt received
more than 1.6 percent in the last decade far less than the 5 percent needed to enter
parliament.
Meanwhile, the NPDs decline in Saxony has been hastened by the rise of a new party,
Alternative for Germany, which has attracted some socially conservative voters who
previously voted for the far right by promising to restrict immigration and promote
Christian family values.
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Alternative for Germany received 9.7 percent in last weeks vote, taking more than
10,000 votes from the NPD. The far-right party fell 809 votes short of the 5 percent
threshold as a result.
The NPDs fate contrasts with that of other far-right movements in Europe. In France,
the National Front received 26 percent of the vote in Mays European elections. In
Greece, the extremist Golden Dawn party saw 18 lawmakers elected in 2012.
But unlike France and Greece, Germany is going through a period of economic
prosperity.
Traeger expects the party to try to rebuild itself from the bottom up. It still has about 100
seats in local councils in Saxony, out of about 330 nationwide. Unlike other parties, the
NPD didnt hold its final election rally last week in one of Saxonys major cities, but in
the small town of Schneeberg, which has seen regular protests against the construction
of a center for refugees. The party clearly has deep roots at the local level, said
Traeger.

Of course, we should be pleased that the NPD is no longer in the Saxony Landtag. The
fewer elected neo-Nazis there are, the better. However, their voters havent
disappeared from the face of the Earth theyve just, by and large, moved over to what
seems to be a more respectable party. The kind of impact they will have on the new
Alternative for Germany Party remains to be seen.

In addition, as pointed out above, the very local NPD leaders are already thinking about
re-grouping and getting back into Landtag. No question! The situation demands
continuing close scrutiny.

ANTI-SEMITISM EDUCATION: A NOVEL IDEA

Its no secret in Germany that much of the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic reaction to the
Gaza war came from followers of the Islamic faith, especially youngsters. Rather than
moan Woe is us though that might not be a bad thing, the Government decided on a
more positive path education.

JTA recently reported, Germany is ready to allocate funds to tailor education about
anti-Semitism for its Muslim students, the countrys Jewish outreach official said.
Felix Klein, Germanys special representative for relations with Jewish organizations, is
in Washington this week to meet with Jewish groups and Obama administration officials
over American concerns about a spike in anti-Semitism in Germany during the recent
Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Many of the offenders were Muslims, and many of those were members of Germanys
substantial Turkish minority.
Sometimes, we hear it is difficult to teach the Holocaust to Muslim students, Klein told
JTA in an interview Wednesday at the German Embassy in Washington. We would
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give special tools that would interest young Muslims, that would incorporate the role of
Turkey during World War II.
Klein said there was a feeling of unease among Germanys 100,000 Jews after the
spate of anti-Semitic incidents.
He said the money for such an initiative would come from Germanys Interior Ministry
and its Ministry for Families, Youth and the Elderly, as well as from regional
governments.
Klein met State Department officials who deal with anti-Semitism and Holocaust issues
as well as with officials of the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League
and Bnai Brith International.
The idea seems reasonable and rational. Perhaps it can be replicated in France and
other European countries where the outpouring of anti-Semitism has been even worse.
Dont bet on it though. Reaction from Islamic leaders reading it as pro-Israel is sure to
be negative. Since anti-Semitism is harmful to the Euro countries themselves, maybe
their leaders will be able to rise above weak-kneed political positions.

It would not surprise me if the German government turns to AJC Berlin to help in
devising the announced programs. It has a long history of developing programs for
German schools such as its Hands Across the Campus and Hands for Kids leadership
and tolerance educational tools.


A HEADACHE IN WUPPERTAL

The City of Wuppertal in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, on the face of it, doesnt
seem to be the kind of place where Islamic religious police would roam the streets. The
city is known for its steep slopes, its woods and parks, and its suspension railway, the
Wuppertal Schwebebahn. Two-thirds of the total municipal area of Wuppertal is green
space. Aspirin originates from Wuppertal, patented in 1897 by Bayer. It seems that a lot
of it might be needed for the headache a small group of Shariah Police has given the
community.

DW reported, [Wearing orange vests]a group of young men marched up to young
people at the doors of Turkish discotheques, cafes and amusement arcades and told
them to The self-proclaimed guardians of public morals are Salafists, the fastest
growing group of radical Muslims in Germany. The head of the Wuppertal group is
German convert Sven Lau, alias Abu Adam.
Real police officers intervened, and took down the Salafists' personal data. Ever since,
a debate has raged in Germany. "Sharia is not tolerated on German soil," Interior
Minister Thomas de Maizire said, and Justice Minister Heiko Maas warned Germany
would not tolerate any form of illegal parallel justice.
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"Minimal effort, maximum attention these fellows really achieved what they set out to
do," said Mathias Rohe.

"They anticipated the outrage," the Islam expert from the southern city of Erlangen told
DW. Lau openly rejoiced on his Facebook page, presenting German media coverage
ranging from tabloids to conservative papers including appreciative comments from
his supporters.

A few days later The Local.de reported, Salafists who caused outrage by mounting
patrols in western Germany as "Shariah Police" have ditched their vests and changed
their name, but pledged to continue to take action. It comes as political leaders were
accused of creating a "safe zone" for Islamists.
North Rhine-Westphalia has become the national front runner in imports and exports of
holy warriors, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) state parliament member and interior
policy spokesman Theo Kruse said on Friday.
Kruse argued that the state had become a national space of peace and recovery for
Salafists" and a "safe zone" for Islamists.
But Social Democratic Party (SDP) state interior minister Ralf Jger said that his
opponents were exaggerating the concentration of Islamists in the state.
"Salafism is the fastest-growing extremist threat nationwide, he said.
North Rhine-Westphalia is host to 1,800 of the 6,600 Salafist supporters across the
country, and numbers have more than tripled since 2011.
Around 130 from the state are believed to have travelled to Syria, according to the state
branch of the secret service.
Meanwhile, the Salafist group which made headlines across Germany when they
published photos of themselves in uniform as the 'Shariah Police' announced that they
plan to rebrand themselves as 'Pro Halal'.
The group, organized around well-known preacher and German convert to Salafism
Sven Lau, will patrol the streets without the official-seeming 'Shariah Police' uniforms
which stoked anger among politicians and the public.
Get the aspirin bottle ready. This headache may show up in other communities. Who
says the U.S. is immune?


THE ANTI ANTI-SEMITISM RALLY

On Sept. 14
th
the Central Council of Jews in Germany sponsored a Berlin Brandenburg
Gate rally protesting the recent surge of anti-Semitism throughout Germany. It was a
massive undertaken with appearances and speeches by high level German government
leaders including both the Chancellor and the President.
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You couldnt do better as far as top flight names and the expectation (at least by me)
was that there would be a massive turnout. I guess the word massive is open for
interpretation, however the outpouring of participants only measured somewhere
between 5,000 and 8,000. In my book thats hardly massive. When one takes into
consideration the number of Jews (many), government people who had to show up and
protestors who attended, one has to be more than a little bit disappointed.

There is no doubt that particularly because of the Gaza war, Israel is not popular in
Germany these days. Much of that displeasure washes over into anything Jewish and
that certainly was the case here.

However, the rally was far from a disaster. According to the NY Times, Chancellor
Angela Merkel, along with President Joachim Gauck and leaders of both of the
countrys main Christian churches, attended the rally and pledged to fight a resurgence
of the hatred that underpinned efforts to wipe out Jewish life in Germany under the
Nazis.
That far more than 100,000 Jews are now living in Germany is something of a miracle,
Ms. Merkel told the estimated 5,000 people who turned out under gray skies. Its a gift
and it fills me with a deepest gratitude.
That people in Germany are threatened and abused because of their Jewish
appearance or their support for Israel is an outrageous scandal that we wont accept,
Ms. Merkel said. Its our national and civic duty to fight anti-Semitism.
Jews from across the country traveled to the capital by the busload to take part in the
demonstration that many viewed as an important chance to show their solidarity with
Israel, as well as publicly acknowledge their religion.
It doesnt get any better than that>

A more critical point of view was expressed by DWs Editor in Chief. Germany's entire
political elite has gathered in Berlin to demonstrate against anti-Semitism. The protest
adds 6,000 people to the campaign. But it is far from enough, says DW's Editor-in-Chief
Alexander Kudascheff.
It is a clear signal - 6,000 people have gathered in Berlin to protest against anti-
Semitism. Only 6,000. No more.
In 1992, over one million Germans held candle-light vigils in cities, villages and
communities across the country to speak out against racism. That was at a time when
right-wing hate was countered with demonstrative and imposing force.
But this time, 6,000 people have spoken out. That includes Germany's entire political
elite. The president. The chancellor. Ministers. Unionists. The Protestant and Catholic
churches. They all gathered on Sunday to make a clear statement against anti-
Semitism - upon invitation from the Central Council of Jews in Germany, since no
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initiative came from within society, from within Germany itself. That is quite disgraceful,
as is the small number of participants.
It is undeniable that there is a discrepancy in how Jews are perceived, especially in
what people think of Israel. The German public has become distinctly more critical of
Israel than the government. And behind this legitimate critical view of Israel, there are
still archaic anti-Semitic resentments lurking - displayed on the streets by Muslim
immigrants, spread on the Internet by "normal" Germans at the center of German
society.
The amount of vulgar remarks, hate and rage against Jews that can be found isn't only
humiliating and disgraceful, it is also very disturbing. And that's why the rally at Berlin's
Brandenburger Tor is the right statement: Germany is responsible for the Holocaust, for
the "Shoah," for the murder of six million European Jews.
In Germany, there must be more commitment to speak out more loudly, more
impressively and more resolute against anti-Semitism than anywhere else. We cannot
pretend that everything is ok.
According to opinion polls, around 20 percent of people in Germany have anti-Semitic
views or agree with anti-Semitic stereotypes. That, unfortunately, is more than it was 25
years ago. These people are right-leaning, left-leaning, Muslim immigrants, people
straight from the mainstream of German society. Seventy-five years after the beginning
of WWII, after the annihilation of the Jews, Synagogues still have to be protected by
police security. Even kindergartens. Jews wearing kippas have come to expect verbal
attacks. Cemeteries are dishonored. This is a reality for Jews living in Germany.
But: despite the Holocaust, and every-day anti-Semitism, there is Jewish life in
Germany again. Communities are growing. Jews do not hide, they are self-confident.
That was evident at the rally in Berlin. They show their feelings. They will not accept the
insults, the abuse. They are a part of German society. They have found their home
here. A home that stands up against anti-Semitism. And that's why, as the German
chancellor put it, the struggle against anti-Semitism is a self-evident matter of course for
the republic. A free society ostracizes anti-Semitism. And it hates racism.
It is obvious that not all is well in Germany when it comes to Israel and anti-Semitism. It
is worse in other places (France) but that doesnt solve the Germany problem. However,
we should be thankful that such outstanding leaders like the Chancellor are willing to
speak out and that such journalists such as Alexander Kudascheff are willing to put
themselves on the line. Nuff said!.
***************************************************************************************************
See you again October.

DuBow Digest is written and published by Eugene DuBow who can be reached at
dubowdigest@optonline.net

Both the American and Germany editions are posted at www.dubowdigest.typepad.com