Katharina's blog

At a panel discussion in the margins of the UN Human Rights Council in June 2017 on “Combatting the new frontiers of Antisemitism” organized by the German Embassy to the UN, the WJC and the EUJS, a representative of a Christian peace organization stood up and said: “If only the Jews criticized the atrocities of Israel more, there would be less Antisemitism.” I was aware that such opinions are widespread, but flabbergasted to hear it from a monk. Upon return to Brussels, I told the incident to a colleague working in the field of human rights. She shrug her shoulders: “Well, he is right”.

Why is this thinking – that seems to have deeply penetrated the middle of society – so fundamentally flaud?

Firstly, Antisemitism was not invented as a reaction to the foundation to the State of Israel in 1948. Europe has its very own sources of this oldest form of hatred. The beast has been around for more than two millennia and culminated in the industrial murdering of Jews during the Holocaust. And unfortunately, it will probably continue to exist once peace in the Middle East is reached. The Middle East may be a breathing ground for Antisemitism, the actions of Israel (and the way they have been portrayed!) may have increased anti-Israel feelings, especially among the political left, but such feelings may never be projected on European citizens.

Secondly, what is the connection between the politics of Israel and European Jews? Why should they be held responsible for what Israel is doing? Are we holding Russians in Europe responsible for Putin’s behaviour on Crimea? The truth is, even though it’s Putin, we accept that they may or may not agree with him; it’s part of their democratic freedoms. The same is true for Jews living in Europe with regards to the politics of Israel, a liberal democracy.

In a judgment in January 2017, a German regional court upheld an earlier ruling that throwing Molotov cocktails into the Wuppertal synagogue by three Germans of Palestinian descent was a criminal act, but it was not antisemitic. Rather, the court argued, it was a legitimate expression of their political opinion during the Gaza crisis in summer 2014. Would we categorize the motive of Ukrainians throwing Molotov cocktails into a Russian Orthodox church in Germany as a legitimate expression of their political opinion? Hardly. No violence anywhere in the world justifies violence in Europe. Let alone the fact that the court completely ignored the historic dimension of arson attacks on synagogues in Germany: the Wuppertal synagogue was burnt down during Reichskristallnacht.

Thirdly, Israel’s political behavior may be criticized as it is legitimate to criticize the policies of any government. Most Israelis would agree to this and the public debate in Israel is proof of that fact. It is, however, worrying when such criticism turns into criticism of the existence of the State of Israel. Denying Israel’s right to exist – despite the international framework that set it up at the time – is a slippery slop and indeed antisemitic, after all we are talking about a Jewish state.

The red lines of what is antisemitic and what is legitimate criticism of the State of Israel are well spelled out in the examples to the working definition of Antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance that was adopted by the European Parliament and endorsed by the European Commission earlier this year. It should be used as guidance in public discourse to dismantle Antisemitic speech and action, including the age-old argument that the Jews themselves are responsible for the rise of Antisemitism.

 

These days there is much debate about successful measures of integration. Learning  the language of the country, equal access to education and the labour market are basic requirements without which integration will certainly not succeed.

But in addition, I have come to understand in my work as European Commission Coordinator on combatting Antisemitism that one cannot fully grasp European society, the European integration process, let alone my home country Germany, without knowing about the abysses of the Shoah. In order to allow for full participation in European society it will be necessary to significantly strengthen the knowledge of the Holocaust. And by the way not only among youth with migrant background: According to a study by the Hamburg-based Körber Foundation, only 59 percent of German pupils of 14 years of age or older know that Auschwitz-Birkenau was a Nazi concentration camp. Four out of ten students don’t even know the name.

Since this knowledge often does not come from the parents’ house, educational institutions have a central role to play. This means, first of all, better teach-the-teacher training and stronger history lessons. A teacher must be well equipped with arguments for increasingly multicultural class rooms. He or she needs to know what to say when as soon as the Holocaust is taken up in class a hand goes up and a student claims: “In Gaza, Israel is doing the same.” Some teachers have even faced physical aggression for not simply turning the page and starting with the after-war period.

When students refuse to stand up on Holocaust Remembrance Day, as has happened earlier this year in some French and in German schools, this should not be accepted by the director as “one of two options” or worse “freedom of expression”. No. Then it is high time to present the historical facts and to explain how things unfolded seventy, eighty years ago. The earth is not flat. Of course, this is only possible if the history teacher himself does not believe that “the Holocaust memorial in the heart of Berlin is a disgrace” – as former Thuringia AfD leader Björn Höcke, a history teacher, proclaimed under the applause of his audience.

In that same history lesson, a broader discussion about discrimination and exclusion might unfold which exposes personal humiliations that some of the students might have experienced. These accounts should then not be dismissed as ‘ less important’. Rather they should be acknowledged. Teachers will need tools for that debate, too – and time for it in the curriculum.

Instead, history class is becoming less and less a subject in its own right. In some European countries, history is no longer taught at all in secondary schools that train for practical professions. So, the 15-year-old electrician or builder-to-be learns nothing about the history of the country in which he lives, about Europe, let alone the Holocaust. Critical thinking such as “How could it come to this? “is no longer stimulated.

And so simplistic responses become acceptable answers to complex questions. Some of the current populists might ask the right questions, but they give the wrong answers. We all should expose them to facts and dismantle their arguments. This is not only a challenge and responsibility for society at large, it is also a precondition for successful integration.

Beginning of October 2017, the two Presidents of the German and the French Jewish federations published a joint warning about collaboration with far right parties in Germany and France. Their statement in Die Welt and Le Figaro was both, impressive and alarming.

They write: “Let us be perfectly clear: at the moment the AfD is focusing on Muslims. Sooner or later, the same can happen to us Jews. The AfD has already included a ban on ritual slaughtering in its programme. (…) Right-wing populists pretend to be friends of Israel or of Jews because they want to make us believe that Muslims are our common enemies. They come to demonstrations with Israel flags or make public trips to the Jewish state. But these maneuvers with which they try to fish for Jewish voters are easily exposed. Therefore, it is all the more important for us as Jewish umbrella associations to make it very clear: AfD and Front National are no partners for us, but a threat to Jewish life in Germany and France.”

The President of the Zentralrat der Juden, Josef Schuster and Francis Kalifat, President  of the CRIF, speak up for democratic values, for protection of minorities and for freedom of religion and belief. They raise their voices against the anti-Muslim rhetoric of the right-wing populists, well aware that antisemitic prejudices are more prevalent among Muslims that within general society. (Antisemitism among Muslims is about twice to three times higher than Western European average).

The Muslims I have met in my work as European Commission Coordinator on combatting Antisemitism that actively fight Antisemitism all have one thing in common: they have a comprehensive knowledge of European history and, in particular, the Holocaust. I am convinced that this is a key to successful integration and participation in our society. People who have learnt about the Holocaust and have tried to understand how it could have come so far, accept the rule of law, they don’t call for Sharia law, and do not question equality between men and women.

In short, they have fully endorsed European – indeed universal – values and embrace the responsibility to stand up against any form of injustice – like the two Presidents of the Jewish umbrella organisations. To say it with the words of the late Elie Wiesel, quoted many times and so true: ‘The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.’

Overcoming indifference creates a society that can live with differences.