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  • The basic idea and institutional tenets of the German policy of remembering the Holocaust are sound and correct. They are quite literally a model for other societies who are descended from horrible horrible people. Like I wish the US and Canada did a fraction of what German does to acknowledge and honour their own very dark past of colonization and genocide.

    It seems however that one particular thing has gone very wrong: they have adopted a bizarre definition of anti-semitism that precludes most opposition to the state of Israel, even when Israel does plainly indefensible things. And because we are talking about Germans, for whom rules really fucking matter, this has lead them to some truly bizarre situations such as persecuting Jews who criticize Israel as antisemitic.

    And when Israel does step over the line, and Jewish Israeli Holocaust scholars, like Omer Bartov, are telling you this has started to really stink of genocide, the Germans find themselves in an impossible bind, which they resolve in the shittiest way possible by taking a side and condemning the other side as antisemitic.

    They could and should have plainly said: this is a complex matter, but we trust the ICJ, we will wait for their determination, no further comment. That would have been an entirely honourable position for them to take. But no, they forced themselves into a position of having to defend one of the two litigants, like a caricature of an annoying white saviour "ally", like the worst caricature of the male nice guy "feminist" who mansplains feminism to women.

    Germany can very well be an authority when it comes to far right antisemitism. If they say a right wing group is anti-semitic, I am by default inclined to believe them. But when it comes to criticizing Israel, when there are multi-dimensional nuances and complexities, and when Israel itself is under a right wing extremist government, Germany is far from an authority that should have any fucking say about which Jewish public voice, like Masha Gessen, is ... being anti-Semitic.

  • I heard a newspaper opinion piece in the radio here in German that clearly didn't know the difference between genocide and holocaust. I mean, c'mon, read a book before you publish a newspaper!

    • There were lots of genocides in our history, but only one Holocaust and there always will be one Holocaust, even in future history, where more genocides are bound to happen, sadly.

      I am German, though raised mostly in Brazil, Colombia and the USA. The Holocaust is still THE genocide in recent history. "The Nazis" is a beloved trope in the media, in order to unmistakably portray pure evil, never able to redeem itself.

      Being raised in different countries, made me create very little nationalistic feelings for any country. But still, i feel the weight of what was done in WW2 ... How could we do this, especially the apathy in the population. Come on, from a certain point, everybody must have known, what Hitler's plan was.

      We all know this, but there is no answer as to how this could happen, since Germans are not like this. How could we be ok with this and, as records show, proudly stand by it? It's something looming in the background of germany's daily life.

      Nobody wants something like this to happen again, but the uncertainty of how it was possible in past, makes it really difficult to even deal with this.

      This surely will change as fine passes by and future generations won't have the Holocaust as something that happened to their parents generation.

      To publicly say that Israel is going bad things, specially genocide, is something no german will be able to do easily.

      The commitment given to Israel by Germany and also the USA, was a noble and only correct action in the past, but to be real, became a fucking mindmelting Problem now.

      If this would be happening 200 years from now? Germany and USA would be going into this, without the much too recent WW2 baggage.

      • Why does it appear what your saying is, the novelty and or uniqueness of the tragedy of the Holocaust is and for some short time will be, the awfullest and worst loss of human life in recent history? Where do you get the audacity to make a claim like that, do you realty think without asking others throughout the world you can even begin to make such a claim? It's because you're german and feel really bad and learned from your mistakes and of course are sorry and this gives you a keen insight over others who are not part of a culture or society where genocide is even on the table?

        I for one cannot accept it prima facie. Why would my proximity and knowledge of awful terrible events be the demarcator between whether it is or is not the worst?? Why is the convenience of checks notes it happening within the lifetimes of my immediate ancestors a useful metric besides convenience?

        It's this disgusting platitudes and preposition of "having a keen insight" also called smugness or knowing better or speaking platitudes which foments the stage and discussion for such idealistic rhetoric, devoid of trivial empirical claims, which increases the preponderance of having your voice and others like it anywhere near the centre of the stage; where, what do ya know, it's been for the last century-and-a-half.

        Let others from cultures who have no genocide on their hands speak, you and your ilk have been tolerated and have said more than enough. You're given an inch and take a mile.

45 comments