'Solidarity with Israel' in Germany (was: Re: Joschka Fischer)

["Johannes Schneider" <Johannes.Schneider@xxxxxxx>]

Paul Flewers wrote:


>
> When I was in Germany during the time of the Gulf War in early 1991, I was
> amazed to see posters on walls proclaiming/demanding 'Solidarity with
> Israel'. I was unable to see who was responsible for the poster. In 20
years
> of political activity in Britain, I have never once seen anything like it
> here, despite there being a bigger base here for a pro-Israel lobby.
>

I think the second Gulf War saw for the first time (since 67) this
agreesively pro-Israel propaganda. At the beginning of that war there was a
huge anti-war movement (actually the last of the eighties movements) against
allied intervention, but that movement collaspsed within days after the
threats by Iraq of attacking Israel with gas. The discussion of that time
was between the 'Bellicists' and 'Anti-Bellicists'. Part of the arguments
from the 'Bellicists' (or better pro-Imperialist fraction) can be found in
Berman's article.

An intellectual current that emerged out of the German left not mentioned by
Berman are the so-called 'Anti-Germans' (Antideutschen), which emerged
during the process of reunification 89/90. More or less this current denies
the existence of any national question and consequently only sees negative
aspects in national liberation struggles. I assume Hardt/Negri will be
welcomed enthussiastically by these circles when the German translation will
have been appeared.

Foremost the 'Anti-Germans' oppose German nationalism (or what they think it
is), leading them to a total rejection of German re-unification and German
policies in Yugoslavia. They see German imperialism in an unbroken
continuity to German fascism and consequently see a qualitative difference
between German and US imperialism.

Since anti-semitism is alive and an important aspect of German nationalism
the Anti-Germans see German policies dominated by it and especially the
German policies toward Israel as anti-semitic and aimed at the destruction
of the state of Isreal. Basically they deny the moral and political right of
any German (because for obscure reasons all Germans are anti-semites) to
criticise Jews or the state of Israel.

Their main publictions are:
konkret:
http://www.infolinks.de/medien/konkret/
Bahamas:
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/periodika/bahamas/
Their most influential ideologue is Jürgen Elsässer:
http://www.juergen-elsaesser.de/
Further Links at: http://www.antideutsch.de/

Johannes