A group of visiting German intellectuals called on Berlin on Monday to change what they termed its Holocaust-rooted blind support of Israel, saying the creation of the State of Israel turned Palestinians into victims of the Nazi Holocaust as well.
The four, Dr. Reiner Steinweg, Prof. Gert Krell, Prof. Georg Meggle, and Jorg Becker, took part in a debate Monday evening at the Netanya Academic College on the future of German-Israeli relations. They were among 25 signatories to a petition on the issue that was circulated in the German media following the Second Lebanon War.
According to the manifesto, German responsibility toward the Palestinians is "one side of the consequences of the Holocaust which receives far too little attention." The paper goes on to argue that it was the Holocaust which Germany perpetrated that brought about "the suffering that has persisted [in the Middle East] for the last six decades and has at present become unbearable."
This, according to the manifesto titled "Friendship and Criticism," is because "without the Holocaust of the Jews, Israeli policy would not see itself as entitled - or forced to ride over the human rights of the Palestinians and the inhabitants of Lebanon."
Without the Holocaust, the document adds, Israel would not have enjoyed the same material and political support from the U.S. The researchers told Haaretz this also applies to support from Germany.
"So it is not only Israel which can lay claim to special consideration on the part of Germany. As Germans we share not only a responsibility toward Israel's existence, but also for the living conditions of the Palestinian People," the scholars concluded.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/955766.html
Wow!
Its good to see that people are waking up to the plight of Palestinians.
The four, Dr. Reiner Steinweg, Prof. Gert Krell, Prof. Georg Meggle, and Jorg Becker, took part in a debate Monday evening at the Netanya Academic College on the future of German-Israeli relations. They were among 25 signatories to a petition on the issue that was circulated in the German media following the Second Lebanon War.
According to the manifesto, German responsibility toward the Palestinians is "one side of the consequences of the Holocaust which receives far too little attention." The paper goes on to argue that it was the Holocaust which Germany perpetrated that brought about "the suffering that has persisted [in the Middle East] for the last six decades and has at present become unbearable."
This, according to the manifesto titled "Friendship and Criticism," is because "without the Holocaust of the Jews, Israeli policy would not see itself as entitled - or forced to ride over the human rights of the Palestinians and the inhabitants of Lebanon."
Without the Holocaust, the document adds, Israel would not have enjoyed the same material and political support from the U.S. The researchers told Haaretz this also applies to support from Germany.
"So it is not only Israel which can lay claim to special consideration on the part of Germany. As Germans we share not only a responsibility toward Israel's existence, but also for the living conditions of the Palestinian People," the scholars concluded.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/955766.html
Wow!
Its good to see that people are waking up to the plight of Palestinians.
