My family comes from Croatia, and as non-Croats we left the country during the nationalist frenzy of the early 1990s, which the late
Dubravka Ugrešić described in her work as the fight for “pure Croatian air”
.
The Gaza Strip, already
impoverished by occupation and an unlawful 16-year blockade, whose population is made up of
47% children is being carpet-bombed by the most powerful army in the Middle East with the help of the most powerful allies in the world. More than 4,600 Palestinians lie dead and
many more face death in the absence of a ceasefire, because they can’t escape bombardment or lack access to water, food or electricity. The Israeli army claims that its offensive, now
being stepped up is a “war on terror”;
UN experts say it amounts to collective punishment.
These are all facts. Yet even the mention of the word “Palestine” in Germany risks getting you
accused of antisemitism. Any attempt at providing context and sharing facts on the historical background to the conflict is seen as crude justification of Hamas’s terror.
Germany’s
unwavering official support for the Israeli government’s actions leaves scant room for humanity. It is also counter-productive, serving to spread fear, Islamophobia and, yes, antisemitism. Having grown up in the shadow of collective guilt for Nazi war crimes, many German intellectuals seem almost to welcome an opportunity to atone for ancestral sins. The atonement, of course, will fall on the backs of Palestinian children.
It should come under the “stating the obvious” category, but still has to be underlined: historically,
Islamophobia has only led to more terrorism. Having grown up in Bosnia, I can tell you with absolute certainty that the vicious circle is never-ending. There is always another dead body to be weaponised.
The
white saviourist hypocrisy we are witnessing in Germany today will, in the long run, benefit white Germans only.Either you are against fascism in all its forms, or you’re a hypocrite. You condemn a terrorist organisation as well as the terrorism committed by a government.
I am appalled by Hamas’s actions and offer my thoughts for their victims, but I have no say in what they do. None of my taxes go to the funding of Hamas. Some of my taxes, however, do fund the bombing of Gaza. In the period between 2018 and 2022,
Israel imported $2.7bn-worth of weapons from the US and Germany.
Living in Germany, I see it as my human responsibility to call it out for its one-sidedness, its hypocrisy and its acquiesence in the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. Walking by Lucie’s stone every day, I am reminded of that responsibility. I am reminded of what silence can do and how long it can haunt a place and a people. I come from a silent place soaked in blood. I never thought I would feel that same silence in Germany.
www.timesofisrael.com
www.theguardian.com
www.worldjewishcongress.org
