DuBow Digest is a newsletter on American Jewish - German relations.

1. AMERICAN EDITION
March 6, 2011
Dear Friends
A NOTE FROM YOUR EDITOR
In my newsletters I try to maintain an upbeat, at times humorous, edge in
reporting and commenting on situations that have no real humor in them. In
writing what follows I find myself void of any jocular feelings. In fact, I am rather
down in the mouth about what I see as a growing and serious disconnect
between Germany and the State of Israel. Considering that Germany is Israel’s
most important friend in Europe, it poses a very big problem
It actually began to be apparent about a year and a half ago when the European
Union decided to establish an all-Europe international relations section with a
British subject, Lady Catherine Ashton as the EU High Representative for
Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. This new agency is enormously important
and will eventually have 13,000 people working in it. Since High Representative
Ashton’s appointment she has been nothing but critical of Israel at every turn.
Her Palestinian leanings are quite obvious. Warning lights went on.
It became obvious to me that this new EU body would be a genuine voice on
Middle East policy. I raised questions with my German friends about Germany’s
independent foreign policy especially as it pertained to Israel. I didn’t get any
satisfactory answers. Some said an overall European policy was more important
than a singular German one. I didn’t agree and still don’t.
On top of that, in late 2010, the Bundestag passed a unanimous resolution
condemning Israel over the Turkish flotilla to Gaza incident. I felt that if Germany
was unhappy with Israel’s actions there were many other sorts of diplomatic
moves (letters, statements, diplomatic meetings, etc.) they might have utilized.
Instead they decided on a Bundestag resolution which was passed unanimously.
Very strong medicine indeed!
More recently, at the UN Security Council, Germany went along with 13 other
nations condemning Israel’s settlement policy. It was left to the U.S. to veto the
resolution. I’m sure they “voted their conscience” but in its support, Germany and
the others gave the Palestinians a sense of empowerment and feeling that they
will gain more through the UN process than in sitting down with the Israelis for
face to face negotiations. It drove a stake right through the heart of a negotiated
settlement at least for the foreseeable future.
Even more recently, Haaretz and other journals carried a story about a heated
phone conversation between Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Netanyahu
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2. (see story below) wherein the Chancellor accused The P.M. saying, “You haven't
made a single step to advance peace." It was leaked by a German source.
These sorts of things don’t get leaked without a purpose.
Whether that statement is true or not, the German vote at the Security Council
helped torpedo any chance to “advance peace” any time soon.
I’m not the only one who thinks that. Click here to read Richard Boudreaux’s
article which also appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.israel/browse_thread/thread/e
a8faf0183bdc0e9/caf0ed886098bc2a?lnk=raot
A growing feeling among some German leaders is that, while claiming friendship
for Israel, they are now free to say that Israel had better make peace (at any
price?) before the chances of a two state solution are gone. Perhaps they
legitimately and honestly feel that way. Maybe they even have a point. However,
are these increasingly open critical statements and actions helping the
movement toward a peace settlement? I would argue in the negative.
I hope that I am viewing things clearly. When I add up all the above and try to see
whether there is some guiding principle, it seems to me that Germany is slowly
but surely cutting itself loose from Israel, at least from an Israel government they
do not like. Forget about the “special relationship”. Germany has learned to live
with its history; they are handling it to the satisfaction of most and now feel free to
be critical of Israel when they see it in their own interest to do so. Anyone who
expects a positive eternal political link between the two countries is dreaming.
I don’t think Germany is any kind of enemy. There are many facets of the
relationship that are still excellent. Actually I believe there is a deep reservoir of
friendship in the hearts of many Germans toward Israel and the Jews – including
that of the Chancellor. However, I think the government leaders see their national
interests in the Middle East as being very different than those of Israel. Lord
Palmerston, the 18th Century English statesman is quoted as saying, “Nations
have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests.” 325
million Arabs vs. 6 million Jewish Israelis (plus one third of the world being
Muslim), a sense that they are right about Israel’s intransigence and the
importance of oil supplies for Europe obviously trump the increasingly distant
connection to Israel and the Holocaust.
However, let’s not go off the deep end. Germany is critically important to Israel. It
is the engine that drives the European Union and both are critical to Jewish
interests. There is still a great store of positive feeling in Germany toward Israel.
We should try to build on it while explaining the difficult position Israel finds itself
in and the support that it needs from Germany and the EU. It would be suicidal
for us to turn our backs and burn our bridges.
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3. There are no easy fixes. However, increased dialogue focusing on Israel’s
vulnerable situation, its security needs, the efforts it has made and is now making
to affect a peace and the intransigence of the Palestinians should be stressed.
American Jewry’s most important tool in this case is enlightened discussion. We
should not give up on that. Germany is too important!
I’d be interested in your comments. Click here to send me an e-mail
IN THE REST OF THIS EDITION
THE NETAYAHU – MERKEL PHONE CONVERSATION – It obviously wasn’t a
“Hello, how are you?”
A SERIOUS SPLIT – Members of the German – Israel Association get into the
act.
THE HAMBURG ELECTION – The Chancellor’s party suffers a shellacking.
NAMED AFTER WHOM? – A few schools in Germany are names after
questionable characters.
”I WAS ONLY “HEILING” A CAB” – “Tell it to the Judge”
THE GUTTENBERG PLAGIARISM SCANDAL – A fallen idol.
THE NETAYAHU – MERKEL PHONE CONVERSATION
As noted above, a very heated phone conversation between Prime Minister
Netanyahu and Chancellor Merkel recently took place. Haaretz reported, “A
crisis erupted between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel. During a telephone call this week, Merkel told
Netanyahu that he had disappointed her and had done nothing to advance
peace, sources told Haaretz.
The prime minister tried to persuade Merkel that he was about to launch a
diplomatic initiative, explaining he is making a speech in two weeks in which he
will outline a new peace plan.
A senior German source said Netanyahu had called Merkel on Monday, following
the American veto in the UN Security Council last Friday and Germany's vote in
favor of the Palestinian proposal to condemn construction in West Bank
settlements.
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4. The conversation between the two leaders was extremely tense and included
mutual accusations and harsh statements, the official said.
Netanyahu told Merkel he was disappointed by Germany's vote and by Merkel's
refusal to accept Israel's requests before the vote, the source added. Merkel was
furious.
"How dare you," she said, according to the official. "You are the one who
disappointed us. You haven't made a single step to advance peace."
The prime minister assured Merkel that he intended to launch a new peace plan
that would be a continuation of his Bar-Ilan University speech, given in June
2009, in which he agreed to establishing a Palestinian state, the official revealed.
"I intend to make a new speech about the peace process in two to three weeks,"
Netanyahu told Merkel.
The German chancellor and her advisers, who have been repeatedly
disappointed by Netanyahu's inaccurate statements and failure to keep
promises, did not believe a word of what the prime minister told her, the source
said.
Merkel decided to check with Israeli and U.S. officials to determine whether
Netanyahu was serious this time around, or was merely trying to buy more time
and alleviate the international pressure on him.
Haaretz's check with a number of Israeli sources indicates that the prime minister
and his advisers are desperately looking for a way to jumpstart the peace
process, in view of Israel's growing international isolation. "Netanyahu has
recently begun talking about a second Bar-Ilan speech," said a senior Foreign
Ministry official close to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
A non-government source told Haaretz that Netanyahu and his advisers are
working on a speech that would outline an alternative to the interim agreement
with the Palestinians, similar to Lieberman's plan. That initiative, which Haaretz
reported on a month ago, consists of establishing a Palestinian state within
temporary borders on about 50 percent of the West Bank.
The prime minister has been discussing the plan with Lieberman in recent weeks
to understand it more thoroughly.
All of the sources, however, added that it was unclear whether Netanyahu
seriously intended to advance the peace process or whether he merely wants to
appear to be doing so, as a means of shifting international pressure onto the PA.
In the latter case, he is counting on the Palestinians' objection to the Israeli
initiative.
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5. A source in the prime minister's office confirmed that Netanyahu told Merkel of
his intention to outline his plans in a speech, but not in the next few weeks. The
speech would be made only in the context of resuming the peace talks with the
PA, the source revealed.
Merkel ended her visit in Israel three weeks ago deeply disappointed, a German
official said. While here, she told Netanyahu the situation in the Middle East, in
view of the revolution in Egypt, made it necessary for Israel to create a peace
initiative.
Who knows what really took place during the phone call or what the real level of
emotion was? However, the German government would not have had a “senior
German source” release the story if a) it had not happened or b) they had some
good reason for wanting it out in the public. On the last issue, it’s hard to know
the reasons behind the “leak”. Pressure on Netanyahu? A statement that Islamic
countries could see so as to place Germany closer to them and not on Israel’s
side in the Palestine matter? It doesn’t make any difference, the message is
clear. Given Israel’s current policies, on them Israel can no longer count.
A SERIOUS SPLIT
According to Spiegel-On-Line, “A dispute is brewing in the German-Israeli
Association (DIG) over a fundamental question: How openly should German
politicians be allowed to criticize the policies of the Jewish state?
Because of the Holocaust and Germany's responsibility for World War II,
solidarity with the Jewish state founded in 1948 is a fundamental tenet of
German policy. Israel's security is "part of my country's raison d'être," Merkel
said in a speech to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in 2008.
Since the establishment of the DIG in 1966, supporting the institution has been
seen as the right thing to do in German politics.
The DIG receives financial support from the federal government and has close
ties to the Israeli embassy. All parties with seats in the German parliament, the
Bundestag, except the Left Party, appoint a vice-president to the DIG.
But the association's current behavior is anything but friendly. The dispute
erupted after the Israeli army boarded a Turkish ship carrying aid supplies for the
Palestinians last May. Nine people died in the incident, and the Israeli actions
were criticized worldwide. The Bundestag, the lower house of the German
parliament, also adopted a unanimous resolution demanding that Israel lift its
blockade of the Gaza Strip, much to the irritation of the fundamentalists in the
DIG.
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6. At the association's annual meeting in the fall, (Jochen) Feilcke (former CDU
Bundestag member) and his allies demanded the ouster of the members of
parliament from their positions as DIG vice-presidents. When he failed, Feilcke
resigned from the board. But he has no intention of giving up the fight. In a piece
in the upcoming issue of the DIG's magazine, Feilcke argues that the
organization must support positions "independently of Bundestag resolutions or
decisions at party conventions."
Marieluise Beck, a member of parliament for the Green Party and one of the DIG
vice-presidents, complains about "party line enforcers" who shouldn't even be in
the DIG.
Beck wrote an essay for the DIG to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the
State of Israel. At the end, she wrote about the "occupation policy" in Palestine
and said it was a "gift" that Israelis and Germans could discuss such issues
today.
Unhappily, this article fits in all too well with my opening statement.
It is very sad and, frankly, dangerous that there is a split in the DIG and, worse,
that it has become so public. In addition, it had divided some of the most
important government figures leading to, in my opinion, a lessening in German
support of Israel giving cover to all sorts of “soft” Israel critics who can now be
more openly critical about Israeli government policies.
We already see the current government being critical of Israeli actions regarding
the Turkish boat incident followed up by supporting the Palestinian Security
Council resolution on settlements. There is little doubt that Chancellor Merkel’s
supportive stands are eroding and that the CDU/CSU/FDP coalition will become
more critical in the future.
One does not have to be a political seer to see that changes in the Middle East,
no matter what kind, will bring about stronger negative feelings and policies
about Israel not only in that region but in Europe as well. I fear that the Germany,
the bulwark of Israel defense, melding more and more into EU positions, will
more and more join the list of Israel critics. Sad!
THE HAMBURG ELECTION
Hamburg is not only a city; it is also a German State. They held their state
election on February 20, the first of seven state elections this year. To quote
Pres. Obama, Chancellor Merkel’s CDU took a real “shellacking”.
According to Reuters, “The rout, the party's worst post-war result, will cost the
CDU three seats in the upper house, or Bundesrat.
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7. The unexpectedly large scope of the defeat may cause turbulence for Merkel
and her conservatives at the national level with six further regional elections
coming this year.
The CDU fell to 20.8 percent from 42.6 percent in the last election in 2008,
according to an ARD TV projection. The drop of 21.8 points was the steepest
decline ever between elections for the CDU and about five points worse than
pollsters had forecast.
The opposition SPD won 49.8 percent of the vote, up from 34.1 percent in 2008,
ARD public television said. The SPD was projected to win 64 seats in the
Hamburg state assembly, three more than needed for an absolute majority.
It was the SPD's best result anywhere since 1994.
The loss of three seats in the Bundesrat, which represents Germany's states, will
make it harder for Merkel's CDU-Free Democrats coalition to pass federal
legislation.
All is not lost for the CDU, (The Local)” Local issues, however, featured heavily
in the Hamburg campaign and surveys show the SPD's lead over the CDU in
Hamburg is not replicated nationwide, where the conservatives remain the most
popular party.
The next State election is in Baden-Württemberg on March 27, where the
opposition hopes to unseat the CDU after 58 years in power. This is a “biggie” as
B-W has 10.7 million inhabitants. Should the CDU lose this one, their national
outlook would begin to look very dim.
NAMED AFTER WHOM?
My good friend Ruth Block in LA who in on top of issues in Germany long before
I get to them, alerted me to the fact that there are a number of schools in
Germany that are still named after Nazis. A quick look through the Internet
produced a Spiegel On-Line story by Jan Friedmann which noted, “A new study
shows that several German schools are still named after Nazis, including
proponents of racial hygiene, rocket scientists and high-ranking party officials.
But local authorities are often reluctant to change the names.
Among the roughly 2,000 schools in the state of Saxony alone, eight are named
after Nazi party members, three after SA members, and one after an SS
member.
Chemnitz historian Geralf Gemser. He's compiled the biographies of all the men
and women with Nazi connections who are namesakes for schools in Saxony.
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8. When schools in Saxony and other parts of the former East Germany were
renamed after the fall of the Berlin Wall, prominent locals -- some of whom had
Nazi connections -- set out to scrap the names of Communist luminaries who
had previously lent their names to schools, such as Socialist Unity Party General
Secretary Walter Ulbricht and GDR President Wilhelm Pieck. But the Nazi
names aren't just an eastern phenomenon. The West has its own dubious
legacies, and Gemser estimates that the number of schools across Germany
named after Nazi party members could be in the hundreds.
Gemser admits that schools are seldom named after "perpetrators in the legal
sense of the word" -- in other words, Nazis who committed war crimes -- but he
says schools should be careful. "With their names, schools occupy a place in a
historical tradition, and Nazi supporters and functionaries should be excluded
from that," he says. According to state regulations, school names should reflect
educational ideals. Choosing names, however, is left to local authorities -- with
unpredictable results.
The Gemser article has kicked off some criticism in Germany about how schools
should be named and for whom. It is another example of the underlying legacy
the Nazi past continues to impact upon every day life even in 21st Century
Germany.
Read the entire Spiegel On-Line article by clicking here.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,605223,00.html
”I WAS ONLY “HEILING” A CAB”
Germany is tough when it comes to its anti-Nazi laws. Giving the “Heil Hitler”
salute is a punishable crime.
The Local reported, “(A) 30-year-old from Quebec was with a German friend
when he posed in front of the parliamentary building and made the salute,
according to daily Der Tagesspiegel on Sunday.
The German friend, a 29-year-old from the state of Lower Saxony, photographed
him in the pose.
Making the salute is illegal in Germany – a fact widely known in Germany but
often unknown abroad.
An investigation will now be undertaken against the Canadian for using an illegal
symbolic gesture.
Berlin police officers confiscated the camera chip, but the man was released
after posting bail.
8

9. I hope the Canadian doesn’t get a long prison sentence. However, the message
is clear – when greeting a friend in Germany who happens to be across the
street, make sure you put your arm in a back and forth motion. Or, when trying to
get a taxi driver’s attention you’d better try whistling.
Seriously though, Germany has these anti-Nazi laws for a reason. I, for one,
would not be the one to tell them to get rid of them. They’ll know when.
THE GUTTENBERG PLAGIARISM SCANDAL
In the last edition I mentioned in passing that a scandal was brewing around the
fact that German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg had obviously
used plagiarized material in the writing of his doctoral thesis. Since that time
even he admitted “making serious mistakes” and asked that he be stripped of is
Ph.D. title which the University of Bayreuth proceeded to do. There was a great
deal of political pressure for him to resign and on March 1st he did so. A genuine
fall from grace.
Guttenberg, who was Germany’s most popular politician, tried to maintain his
Defense job and had received the backing of the CDU, CSU, the Chancellor and
many conservative politicians. However, the academic community began to raise
its voice and (DW-World) “In an open letter to Chancellor Angela Merkel,
thousands of Ph.D. students and graduates have reportedly labeled the
plagiarism scandal involving Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg as a
"mockery" of the research profession and doctoral process.
"The place of the sciences in Germany and the credibility of Germany as a
country of ideas have suffered as a result of the trivial handling of the Guttenberg
case," the letter said, according to the Hamburg Abendblatt newspaper
"Merkel's treatment of the plagiarism affair suggests that obtaining a doctorate
through fraudulent means is a harmless crime," it added.
(Guttenberg) told a board meeting of the Christian Social Union (CSU) party, of
which he is a leading member, that the affair has not affected his work as
Germany's defense minister.
The debate has exposed cracks in the ruling coalition, with the head of the CSU,
Horst Seehofer, coming down hard on comments on the matter made by
Christian Democrat (CDU) Norbert Lammert, president of the Bundestag,
the lower house of parliament.
Lammert was quoted by the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung newspaper on Monday as
saying the Guttenberg affair was a "nail in the coffin for trust in our democracy."
9

10. But Seehofer quickly shot down the remarks, labeling them immoderate. The
CSU is the CDU's Bavarian sister party.
It had become a four star scandal too important to be papered over. So, Minister
Guttenberg is now gone but only time will tell whether his departure concludes
his political career forever. My guess is that it will not. Certainly his chances of
becoming a Chancellor candidate any time soon have evaporated which is a
blow to the CDU/CSU. However, the fact that he is of the nobility and that his
wife is the great, great granddaughter of Bismarck may, in the final analysis
outweigh all the negative factors. It would not surprise me if in a relatively brief
period of time, after paying the proper public penance, he emerges once again
with forgiveness and becomes a force in German politics. His popularity remains
very high.
You can read the entire story by clicking here.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6454809,00.html
Chancellor Merkel quickly filled the Defense position with Interior Minister
Thomas de Maiziere. The Interior job was given to Hans-Peter Friedrich of the
CSU. Both are experienced and close to Merkel. The Guttenberg scandal
certainly did not help the Chancellor except that it removed a very well known
and liked political figure who might have challenged Merkel somewhere down the
line. The replacements do not have that kind of personality. Things in the
CDU/CSU should quiet down but the star power of Guttenberg will surely be
missed in the upcoming state elections.
Click here to read more.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,748691,00.html
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See you again in late March
DuBow Digest is written and published by Eugene DuBow who can be contacted
by clicking here.
Both the American and Germany editions are posted at
www.dubowdigest.typepad.com
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