The document provides updates on recent political events and issues in Germany. It discusses: 1) The election of a new German President and upcoming state elections that could impact the makeup of the national government. 2) Growing anti-German sentiment in Greece as the country struggles with its debt crisis, and Germany's role as chief lender. 3) Biographical details of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her rise to power from East Germany.

1. AN AMERICAN JEWISH – GERMAN INFORMATION & OPINION
NEWSLETTER
dubowdigest@optonline.net
AMERICAN EDITION
March 19, 2012
Dear Friends:
Germany had a good day on Sunday. Their new President, Joachim Gauck, was
formally installed on a wave of popular approval. Click here to read about it.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,822131,00.html How he will do
in office, of course, remains to be seen but he is an outstanding individual.
If nothing else, the Greek bailout seems to be underway (at least for the moment)
and that has relieved some of the anxiety on the subject that was sweeping across
Germany – as well as our own stock market.
There are three state elections coming up in the next little while and they may very
well begin to show what sort of a national government will be elected in 2013.
The Jewish community in Germany, like others around the world, is gearing up for
Passover. My guess is that it will be bigger and better than before with the Jewish
population in the Federal Republic now at somewhere between 220,000 and
250,000. When the Wall came down in 1989, less than a quarter of a century ago,
there were only 28,000 Jews in West and East Germany combined. Germany
certainly did not get passed over by the emigration from the former Soviet Union. It
is now the third largest Jewish community in Europe after France and the UK.
On the subject of the holiday, let me wish all of you a very Sweet Passover. Enjoy
your families and friends at the Seder but be careful in the following week about too
much Matzohbrei. It will take you all year to work off the extra weight.
On to the news…
IN THIS EDITION
A CRITICAL ELECTION – The largest state election has major national implications.
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2. UNLOVED – Being the “rich uncle” does not engender much affection.
A THUMBNAIL SKETCH – Who really is Chancellor Merkel?
OLD NAZIS – Old does not mean forgotten.
NEW NAZIS – They adopt a new tactic.
GERMANY’S MOST POWERFUL PIRATE – No sword or blunderbuss. Just a
laptop.
EUROPEAN UNION FOREIGN POLICY: A GENUINE NON-STARTER – The failure
to gel.
TROUBLE FROM A MAJOR FIGURE – An important political figure calls Israel
“apartheid”
A CRITICAL ELECTION
In Germany, state elections have great importance. Unlike the U.S. where we have
50 states, Germany has only 16. When the government of its largest state collapses,
and new elections have to be called (Remember! This is a parliamentary system),
the implications go far beyond the boundaries of the state itself.
Spiegel On-Line recently reported, “…the parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia,
Germany's most populous state, unanimously voted to dissolve itself and trigger
new elections after the ruling coalition made up of the center-left Social Democratic
Party (SPD) and the Green Party unexpectedly failed to pass a budget, by a single
vote.
The state has been led by Governor Hannelore Kraft since 2010, when her SPD
party replaced a coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Christian
Democratic Union (CDU) and the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP).
The SPD had been ruling as part of a minority government with the Greens, which
together hold 90 of the Düsseldorf-based parliament's 181 seats.
The failure of the budget measure, which would have seen the state accumulating
more debt, came as a surprise for two reasons. First, the FDP, which has 13 seats
in the parliament, had been expected to abstain from the vote, thereby practically
guaranteeing its passage. And, second, the FDP had the most to lose if a failure to
pass the budget triggered new elections. With its support sharply declining, new
elections could mean the FDP would fail to even win the 5 percent of the votes
needed to secure parliamentary representation.
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3. The government's collapse signals even more trouble for the ailing FDP, which is
also facing the prospect of losing parliamentary representation in the northern state
of Schleswig-Holstein and the southwestern state of Saarland, which will both soon
hold elections.
Such defeats could threaten the national standing of the FDP -- and, with it, Merkel's
ruling coalition.
The important factor here, of course, is that it weakens or possibly even destroys
any chance that the FDP will be able to gather enough strength in 2013 to get seats
in the Bundestag (A party must get at least 5% of the vote to be seated). It further
decimates the chances that Chancellor Merkel will be able to keep her coalition with
the FDP in tact and thereby lessens her chances to remain as Chancellor. She still
might be part of a “Grand Coalition” with the Social Democrats (SPD) but keeping
her current coalition would be impossible. Considering the fact that she is Israel’s
best friend and further considering that elements in the SPD are less friendly (see
below the article “TROUBLE FROM A MAJOR FIGURE”) a debacle in North Rhine –
Westphalia would have important implications far beyond NR-W.
To add a little fuel to the fire, there is a state election next Sunday in the state of
Saarland. The Free Democrats look like they won’t get the needed 5%. Click here to
read about it. http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20120319-41413.html
UNLOVED
One of the strongest emotions carried in Germany’s post World War II collective
psyche is the desire to be loved. Taking into consideration what Hitler brought down
on the rest of the world (and on Germany as well); the German people have done a
great deal to try to win back the love and affection of those directly and indirectly
touched by Nazism.
Perhaps, they have tried more than any other nation in history to right a wrong,
something very difficult to do. Hundreds, maybe thousands of helping type programs
(financial and otherwise) throughout Europe, Africa, etc. have been established. In
addition, through their political foundations they have tried to market democracy and,
of course, they have paid millions upon millions to Holocaust survivors and to Israel
as a way of trying to make amends for the destruction of European Jewry.
Germany has kept its nose to the grindstone and has become the strongest
economy in Europe. It is the fate of all rich uncles to attract relatives in need but also
to bring forth from those seeking handouts a certain amount of hostility. It has
happened to the country that only wants to be loved.
It certainly happened with Greece. Spiegel On-Line reported, Greeks have gone
from being big fans of Germans to comparing them to Nazis dead-set on using
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4. financial means to establish the "Fourth Reich." What was once the type of
exaggeration mostly found in caricatures has now become a genuine,
widespread and worrisome belief among Greeks.
Stathis Stavropoulos is tired of constantly drawing evil Germans, but he does it
again and again, slightly varying the theme each time. In his drawings, the well-
known Greek cartoonist has dressed German Chancellor Angela Merkel in sinister-
looking uniforms, placed her in a tank and depicted her frightening little Greek boys.
Stavropoulos portrays Horst Reichenbach, the German head of the European Union
task force, as a sort of officer of the Wehrmacht, Germany's World War II army,
controlling puppets with strings as he laughs sardonically. The puppets bear the
faces of members of the Greek government. The word "Reich" in Reichenbach is
written in capital letters.
The nasty German is once again wearing a uniform in Greece these days, taking
babies away from mothers and counting the beans in fasolada, the white bean soup
considered a national dish. "What should I do? That's just the situation now,"
Stavropoulos says. Even the New York Times recently published one of his
cartoons, which Stavropoulos characterizes as "more tragic than funny."
Although similar reminders of Germany's Nazi past have occasionally appeared in
the French, Spanish and British media, Germans have rarely been depicted as
hideously as they currently are in the Greek media.
Images of Chancellor Merkel with a grim facial expression now appear almost every
day on the cover pages of Greek newspapers. The caricatures depicting her as a
sharp-toothed bloodsucker or as a strict schoolmaster with a raised index finger
seem almost benign compared to the harsher depictions of her wielding a leather
whip and wearing a Swastika armband.
There is only one other person who can compete with Merkel for the position of the
most-reviled figure among Greeks at the moment: German Finance Minister
Wolfgang Schäuble, who is sometimes shown wearing an SS uniform.
The vitriol isn't just on display in the tabloids. Journalist Georgios Trangas delivers
live tirades against the "German occupiers" every night on Extra 3, an Athens-based
television station. In his show "Choris Anästhetiko" ("Without Anesthesia"), he
criticizes the "barbaric measures" being imposed on his country "by Berlin."
The radio station Real FM was recently ordered to pay a fine of €25,000 ($34,000)
for "abuse of the Greek language" after Trangas used obscenities to berate Merkel
in two live broadcasts.
There is a lot more in the article which you can read by clicking here. But by this time
you get the flavor of what’s going on.
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5. http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,817995,00.html
Marc Young, the Editor of The Local.de., an on-line journal I quote quite frequently,
has joined in with a German perspective. He wrote, “Are Germans the new
Americans?
That's what some commentators are asking as Germans face growing animosity
from their fellow Europeans amid the seemingly endless eurozone debt crisis.
Because just like the United States in many parts of the world, Germany is finding
itself unloved yet indispensable at the same time.
The Germans fork out their hard-earned cash to bailout bankrupt Greece and how
are they thanked? Angry mobs in Athens burn their flag and Greek newspapers
brandish pictures of Chancellor Angela Merkel dressed up as a Nazi.
But it's not just the Greeks raging against what they see as German-mandated
austerity measures. The beleaguered Irish moan that Berlin is trying to establish a
Teutonic dictatorship. Others around the Continent just grumble the Germans'
current economic success is somehow at their expense.
It's gotten so bad that the German government this week decided to take a page out
of the American foreign policy playbook by starting a campaign to win hearts and
minds around Europe.
The Foreign Ministry's 13-page paper sees greater communication with the
country's neighbors as the key to assuaging fears of German dominance. But Berlin
is also planning to counter the poor perceptions of Europe's handling of the crisis
around the rest the world.
Will it work? Probably as much as the Bush administration's ham-fisted PR effort to
polish America's image in the Middle East after the Iraq War.
Instead of trying to spin European public opinion, Germany would be better served if
its government officials simply stayed on message.
For example, just days before parliament backed a second rescue package for Greece,
Merkel's interior minister made counterproductive comments that the country should
be encouraged to ditch the euro and go back to the drachma.
Or perhaps the Foreign Ministry's pricey PR campaign should simply be directed
towards influencing members of the chancellor's own cabinet.
My guess is that the hostility brought about by having to seek help, even though self-
help is in short supply, will continue and, perhaps, even get worse. However,
Germany’s economic policy will be based on political and economic factors not nasty
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6. emotion. Of course, emotion has a great deal of influence on politics so we should
never rule out its impact. While it all works itself out, German patience is called for.
in the near future. We’ll see how much of it they have. Stay tuned!
A THUMBNAIL SKETCH
In this newsletter I often mention Chancellor Merkel and, of course, everyone knows
who she is. However, I often wonder whether my readers know anything about her
prior life. I guess it’s pretty well known that she came from East Germany but how
did such a non-politician become Chancellor and stay in office, thus far, for seven
years.
I came across a short DW article which spells out her rise from being a Ph.D in
physics to being the most powerful woman in Europe – maybe even the most
powerful person. The article notes that she is, “Not very telegenic, undogmatic,
highly pragmatic - these are some of the phrases often used to describe the German
chancellor.
She is all that, but what should also be obvious is that she is great politician. She
knows how to lead and maneuver. To get the whole story you’ll have to read the
article which you can do by clicking here.
http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15794765,00.html
OLD NAZIS
Hitler promised the German people a “thousand year Reich”. It didn’t work out as he
planned but he did leave them a legacy that may, indeed, last the promised ten
centuries – that of the shame of Nazism.
Since the end of World War II right thinking Germans have tried to see what they
could do, in some way at least, to alter the popular image of every German being a
Nazi. As noted above, successive German governments have paid billions in
restitution, they have warmly embraced Israel and the Jewish people as best they
could and, through their political foundations, they have tried to market democracy
around the world. In addition they brought some sort of unity to Europe by initiating
and backing the EU and, thereby, diminished to almost zero the possibilities of war
on the continent.
Producing a “new Germany” does not wash away the history of the “old Germany”
particularly in Germany itself. The Nazi period, especially for historians, is like a
deep wound with a scab which they cannot keep themselves from picking at.
Recently, Der Spiegel, one of Germany’s most read magazines published a five part
article about the early days of the Federal Republic and how many members of the
Nazi Party (which, of course, was outlawed) became high ranking officials in the new
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7. government. It reported, “After World War II, West Germany rapidly made the
transition from murderous dictatorship to model democracy. Or did it? New
documents reveal just how many officials from the Nazi regime found new jobs in
Bonn. A surprising number were chosen for senior government positions.
Ten days before Christmas, the German Interior Ministry acquitted itself of an
embarrassing duty. It published a list of all former members of the German
government with a Nazi past.
The Left Party's parliamentary group had forced the government to come clean
about Germany's past by submitting a parliamentary inquiry. Bundestag document
17/8134 officially announced, for the first time, something which had been treated as
a taboo in the halls of government for decades: A total of 25 cabinet ministers, one
president and one chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany -- as postwar
Germany is officially known -- had been members of Nazi organizations.
The document revealed that Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger, a member of the
conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who governed Germany from 1966
to 1969, had been a member of the Nazi Party ever since Adolf Hitler seized power.
According to the Interior Ministry list, German President Walter Scheel, a member of
the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP) who was in office from 1974 to
1979, had been a Nazi Party member "from 1941 or 1942."
…six decades after the Nuremberg Trials against the leaders of the Nazi regime, a
new attempt -- the first official one, at that -- to come to terms with postwar
Germany's Nazi past is now underway. Now everything has to come out.
Throughout the former West Germany, investigations are digging deep, extending
all the way down to the foundations, seeking to answer a fundamental question: Just
how brown -- the color most associated with the Nazis -- were the first years of
postwar West Germany?
I think Der Spiegel has done a great service by printing this in-depth set of articles
so that a younger generation of Germans (as well as many others including young
American Jews) can have a genuine look at the beginnings of its post WW II (and
current) German government. Transparency aids understanding greatly and genuine
understanding leads to right and proper kinds of thinking. Incidentally, and closing on
the subject, the American government, in its cold war against communism back in
those days encouraged and backed the new German government. Of course, it
knew the backgrounds of all the major players and yet… Maybe someday we’ll get
to the bottom of our own role. Enough! The whole thing is very depressing!
To read the Der Spiegel articles click here
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,810207,00.html
NEW NAZIS
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8. The neo-Nazi NPD Party has started to develop some new ideas to gain adherents –
it has gone into ecology! Pretty novel? Well, Germans are very “into” ecology. (Let’s
see if I can get it right this time) Willie Sutton, the famous bank robber said he
robbed banks because that was where the money was. Well, the neo-Nazis are into
ecology because that is where the people are.
DW wrote, “They're into organic farming, oppose GMOs and worry about
endangered species. Experts say neo-Nazis are increasingly cashing in on themes
of the environmental movement to attract new supporters.
"Environmental protection should be inherent to cultural progress." That's a
statement that could easily be attributed to any environmentalist group. Instead it
comes from the National Democratic Party (NPD), a far-right but still legal German
party, and it's another sign of how right-wing groups are increasingly latching on to
environmental topics.
The connection between right-wing extremism and environmentalism is not new, but
experts believe the growing trend represents a real threat, because it helps push
extremist views into the mainstream.
Two recent publications have responded, seeking to educate the public by
explaining what's behind such efforts, and debunking certain lines of reasoning
within them
[A Rhineland-Palatinate government] pamphlet examines nearly every facet of the
Nazi-green connection, including overpopulation, resistance against genetically
modified organisms and endangered species protection.
It presents quotes from the NPD, and then carefully picks apart their arguments.
For example, it reveals certain activist rhetoric against overpopulation as being
based on a definition of a pure German race.
The green neo-Nazis' empathy for endangered species is linked to a concern that
"pure" Germans are becoming ever more rare, according to the pamphlet.
However…
DW reported, “Germany's highest appellate court for criminal and civil cases ruled
that hotels can refuse service to right-wing extremists.
The Federal Court of Justice said that although hotels have the right to refuse
service to guests based on their political orientation, they cannot retroactively cancel
bookings for this reason. The case arose when the spa hotel Esplanade in the
eastern German state of Brandenburg refused to honor a booking made by the
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9. former head of the extreme right-wing National Democratic Party (NPD), Udo Voigt,
in 2009.
The hotel had argued that Voigt's polarizing political views were not reconcilable
with its goal of offering an "excellent wellness experience" to all of its guests. Voigt
had booked a four-day stay with his wife before the reservation was canceled by the
hotel. He subsequently sued Esplanade for 7,500 euros ($9,915) on the grounds of
discrimination.
The Federal Court of Justice ordered the cancellation of Voigt's booking reversed for
the period in question since it was retroactive, but at the same time said that a hotel
is fundamentally "free to decide whom it accepts and whom it does not."
Judge Wolfgang Krüger, a chairman on the court, had said in October that the case
"raised unusually difficult legal questions." One of the questions was whether or not
a hotel, like an airport or a stadium, is a public space open for everyone.
Although Article 3 of Germany's constitution states that nobody should be subject to
favorable or unfavorable treatment on the basis of religious or political views, the
court said this principle does not necessarily apply between private people and
companies.
Not being a constitutional attorney I’m not sure whether the U.S. Supreme Court
would hand down the same sort of ruling. However, Germany is not the U.S. and
given Germany’s history the Federal Court of Justice (in my non-lawyerly opinion)
made the right decision.
GERMANY’S MOST POWERFUL PIRATE
Germany’s most famous pirate does not have a galley, a cutlass or a black eye
patch. In fact his only weapon seems to be a laptop. I have written before about the
Federal Republic’s most interesting new political party, the Pirate Party. It now
seems to finally have a head man or, at least, someone considered “powerful”
Spiegel On-Line reports, “Martin Haase doesn't have to give any hard-hitting
speeches at party conferences, nor does he spend time at board meetings or in
back rooms to hone his power. When the 49-year-old professor wants to engage in
politics, he just opens his laptop and logs in to Liquid Feedback, the Pirate Party's
online platform for discussing and voting on political proposals.
For hours at a time, the political newcomers (the Pirates first formed in Germany in
2006) discuss their party's goals, and each member has the opportunity to use
Liquid Feedback as a platform to promote his or her positions -- which can range
from the Pirate Party fielding its own presidential candidate to the appeal to
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10. deescalate the conflict with Iran. It isn't always easy to secure a majority for a given
cause on the site.
Until Haase intervenes, that is. The linguistics professor has a sort of virtual alliance
backing him on Liquid Feedback. Up to 167 fellow party members have periodically
delegated their vote to him on the site, which is more than any other Pirate Party
member can claim.
Polls show the Pirate Party enjoying the support of up to 7 percent of voters
nationwide. It has secured seats in the parliament of the city-state of Berlin, and in a
few weeks it could also enter the parliaments of two other states, Saarland in the
west and Schleswig-Holstein in the north.
Many voters aren't quite sure what exactly the Pirates stand for. Perhaps its open
and straightforward participation in the political process will attract more public
support. And it's possible the party will only become attractive through careers like
that of Haase, who became arguably the most powerful Pirate without even holding
an office in the party.
The Pirates call their political approach "liquid democracy," meaning that for them
everything flows, and there is indeed something fluid about the way they reach
consensus on the Internet. Once gained, though, influence can disappear just as
quickly.
There is more to the article which I will link below. I am the first to admit that I do not
quite understand the program of the Pirate Party. It’s hard to figure out. Perhaps it is
something like the Tea Party or the Occupy Movement but it doesn’t appear to be
left or right. It seems to be focused on more direct involvement of citizens (especially
its own members). I think many people just sloughed it off. However, it has
representatives in state legislatures and has a national following of 7% of voters.
That should not be cavalierly dismissed. In any case, Prof. Haase seems to be a
very interesting person and, who knows, he might become a real power person
sometime in the future. If you’re interested, you can read about him by clicking here.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,818683,00.html
EUROPEAN UNION FOREIGN POLICY: A GENUINE NON-STARTER
Two years ago the EU decided that it should have a unified foreign policy. Before
ironing out all the problems that trying to get 27 independent nations to agree on
anything might bring about, the EU set up a foreign service called the External
Action Service (EAD) and appointed a “foreign minister”, Lady Catherine Ashton of
Great Britain to the post with the title of “High Representative for Foreign Affairs and
Security Policy”. Lady Ashton’s greatest problem is (and was) the fact that most
(all?) of the countries were not willing to give up their independent views on most
important matters. As far as I could tell (and I tried to follow her career as best I
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11. could) about 90% of what she has had to say was critical of Israel and the way it was
handling the Palestinian problem.
DW recently reported, “EU foreign ministers are concerned about the bloc's role on
the global stage. During a meeting in Copenhagen, the debate focused on the EU's
waning influence and its foreign policy towards Syria and Iran.
A closer look at the bloc's diplomatic services was to be on the agenda when EU
foreign ministers met for two days of informal talks in Copenhagen: establishing joint
embassies abroad as well as making better use of the fledgling External Action
Service (EAD) - at least according to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
When asked by reporters at the outset of the gathering about her choice of topics in
the face of mounting violence in Syria, Ashton - who has been in charge of the EU's
new external action service since its inception two years ago - was unperturbed. The
EU, she said, has expressed a joint point of view on Syria and was trying to push
diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis.
Ashton faces quite some criticism of what is perceived as her lack of initiative.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe criticized her diplomatic efforts, calling for
better policy coordination. "We must improve the workings of the European external
action service and the way they mix with diplomatic efforts of union members," he
said
Poland's Minister for Europe, Mikolaj Dowgielewicz on the other hand, urged more
patience. "Don't forget, the EAD is still a tiny baby, it has to grow and become more
visible and stronger." Finland's Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja declared it is not
Ashton's fault, nor is the EAD to blame - it's the member states, whose willingness to
cooperate is waning.
"What we are actually losing is relevance. Who listens to the EU?" Tuomioja said.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said he was content with Ashton's
work, but concerned about European policies becoming more national. He warned
that Europe could only assert itself worldwide if it continues to develop further. In
order to strengthen common ground, Westerwelle called for a European president,
elected by the people, and a European constitution. He brushed aside objections
that such projects were far in the future. "We should start this discussion now - if 500
million people are involved, it'll take a few years."
In my opinion the possibility of a European President is just not in the cards. Even if
such an office was established, the holder would as powerless as is Lady Ashton. I
think Finland’s Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja has it right, “Who listens to the EU?”
As long as the strong countries such as France, Germany and the UK are not willing
to give up their foreign policy independence having a high Representative and an
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12. External Action Service is useless. They might be able to deal with a few non-
controversial problems but the big stuff is going to be handled in Paris, Berlin &
London. If anyone “listens to the EU” it’s only because there is agreement in those
three places.
Of course, Lady Ashton can continue to be critical of Israel to get a few headlines.
Frankly, when she started out I was concerned about her troublesome role. I’m not
anymore. I treat her pronouncements as static – nothing more!
P.S. If you think I am critical of Lady Ashton you should read Tom Wilson, Research
Director at the Institute for Middle Eastern Democracy, where he also heads the
Transatlantic Affairs Project. Writing in The Times of Israel he is stronger in his
distaste for the Lady than I am and he feels that the EU foreign policy generally is
bankrupt when it comes to Israel. Click here to read his thoughts.
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-moral-bankruptcy-of-european-foreign-policy.
TROUBLE FROM A MAJOR FIGURE
Criticism of Israel in Germany normally comes from the extreme left. The moderate
extreme left (I know I’m splitting hairs) camouflages its discontent in pro-democracy
statements and other language that appears “progressive” and freedom loving.
Rarely (Never?) do we hear the leader of one of the two major parties refer to the
Israeli government as an “apartheid regime”. Unhappily, that came to pass just
recently, of course, immediately followed by an apology.
The Local reported, “Germany’s Social Democratic Party leader Sigmar Gabriel has
apologized after calling Israeli policy towards Palestinians an “apartheid regime”
following a visit to Hebron in the West Bank.
Gabriel, one of three possible Social Democratic challengers to Chancellor Angela
Merkel in next year’s general election, later admitted he had used a “very drastic
formulation,” but said that he was only describing the situation as experienced by
people in the town.
"For Palestinians this is a lawless zone," Gabriel wrote on his Facebook page. "It is
an apartheid regime, for which there is absolutely no justification."
He had previously met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian
Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and wrote about his desire to see a stop to
Israeli settlement expansion.
He said it was clear to him that the apartheid comparison was an extreme one. “But
Palestinians experience exactly that in Hebron in their situation. The drastic
description is what I, and not only I, thought of during the discussions and tour in
Hebron.”
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13. But he apologized to Israel for the comparison. “If my formulation led to the
misunderstanding that I wanted to put Israel and its government on the same level
as the old apartheid regime in South Africa, I am sorry," he said. "I did not and
explicitly do not want to do this, as this comparison would be more than unfair to
Israel and would downplay the old South Africa.”
He said he had simply tried to express the anger he felt even as a supporter of
Israel, at what he had seen the Palestinians experience in Hebron.
Gabriel was immediately denounced by CDU politicians as well as Jewish leaders in
Germany and, perhaps the matter will die down. However, I hope it is not forgotten.
It may come to pass that Mr. Gabriel will become a Chancellor someday. While
apologizing for (perhaps) misspoken words what he truly believes down deep is
another matter.
I think it goes without saying that there are many in Germany that have the same
sort of feelings about Israel. Should Gabriel become Chancellor, Israel, the German
Jewish community and the rest of us will have our hands full.
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See you again in April
DuBow Digest is written and published by Eugene DuBow who can be contacted by
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