A Newsletter on American Jewish - German relations

1. AN AMERICAN JEWISH – GERMAN INFORMATION & OPINION
NEWSLETTER
dubowdigest@optonline.net
AMERICAN EDITION
April 16, 2011
Dear Friends:
Spring has sprung (sort of) and Passover is almost upon us. It is the best of the
Jewish holidays. There is just nothing like the family Seders to turn us away from the
disasters that seem (as always) to be consuming much of the world and give us
pause to focus on the love of our history and the joy of coming together. So, to my
Jewish readers I want to wish you a Sweet Passover with my annual warning about
the danger of an excess of Matzoh balls and Matzohbrei.
Too bad my grandmother wasn’t around during the Civil War. If Robert E. Lee had
used her Matzo balls in his cannons he probably would have defeated the Union
forces at Gettysburg.
To my Christian readers I want to wish you a wonderful and peaceful Easter holiday.
If by some chance you’re invited to a Seder the M & M warnings are for you as well.
Enough foolishness! Let’s get on with the news…
IN THIS EDITION
THE MERKEL - NETANYAHU POW-WOW – A needed meeting – for both.
ELECTION FALLOUT: FREE DEMOCRATS – The Germans would call it
“Katastrophe”.
GREENS – For the Green Party just the opposite.
A FAILED MISSION – Sad! Will he keep trying?
THE IRAN OIL DEAL: THE CHANCELLOR INTERVENES – Better late than never.
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2. A DANGEROUS FOREIGN POLICY DOCTRINE – The “go it alone” vote in the UN
on Libya isolates Germany from the rest of the EU.
ANOTHER SUBMARINE – Not yellow! Blue and white with a 6 pointed star.
GERMANY’S HOLOCAUST RESPONSIBILITY – A little good news.
CONTINUING INTEREST – In the Holocaust.
NEO-NAZIS IN BRANDENBURG – Hooray for the cops!
THE MERKEL - NETANYAHU POW-WOW
The Prime Minister and the Chancellor needed a meeting of reconciliation after the
fractious phone call they had which I reported on in the last edition. It’s politically
important for both parties to have a relationship free of public acrimony.
S-o-o- o, Prime Minister Netanyahu stopped off in Berlin prior to a scheduled
meeting he had in Prague. The Jerusalem Post reported, “After media reports about
a diplomatic row in February between Netanyahu and Merkel over the peace
process, both leaders showed no signs of frosty relations during their meetings.
“When I talk to the prime minister, I am never put out, never irritated, “said Merkel,
continuing: [Our conversations are] “close, very candid...
They are fun. Apart from being fun, they are allowing us to make progress.”
I can just imagine what fun they must be. Ha! Ha! Ha!
These sorts of “Let’s patch things up” meetings normally produce nothing other than
a press report that, well, things are patched up. This one was an exception. Again,
The JP reported, “German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday voiced her
government’s opposition to a possible United Nations resolution creating an
independent Palestinian state. “The Federal Republic of Germany is championing a
two-state solution...Any kind of unilateral recognition does not promote this goal.
This will be our position in September,” she said, during a joint press conference
here with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Considering that Germany is party to some sort of EU peace plan that Israel is
opposed to, Germany’s opposition to the unilateral peace plan that Palestinians are
trying to push through the UN General Assembly is a big plus for Israel. It’s a
question whether the rest of the EU nations will join them.
Other issues were discussed seemingly without any conclusions. They can be read
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3. about by clicking here. http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?
id=215564
ELECTION FALLOUT: FREE DEMOCRATS
The dust has now settled after the three state elections I wrote about in my last
edition and so there’s much to report. The Free Democrats (FDP) did so poorly in all
(shut out in two and barely made the necessary 5% of the vote in the third) that the
head of their party, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was forced out as party
head and Vice Chancellor. Whether he will be able to maintain his post as Foreign
Minister remains to be seen. He is pretty much shorn of power and my guess is that
he will be removed sooner rather than later. His replacement is much more
interesting. Read on.
According to Spiegel On-Line, “Germany's business-friendly Free Democrats
have nominated Vietnamese-born Philipp Rösler to replace outgoing party leader
Guido Westerwelle. Rösler, 38, has pledged to give the beleaguered party a fresh
start. He faces the mammoth tasks of uniting the FDP and reversing its slide in
popularity.
The FDP's executive board agreed that Rösler, 38, should stand for the
chairmanship at a party conference in May. He is expected to remain health
minister, a job in which he has had only modest success since taking it on as the
youngest minister in Merkel's cabinet in 2009.
Rösler was born in a southern Vietnamese village in 1973 during the war, and was
adopted by a family in Germany at the age of nine months. He joined the pro-
business FDP while he was still a teenager in 1992. He studied medicine in Hanover
and Hamburg before becoming a medical doctor in 2002.
Rösler is affable and eloquent and less confrontational than Westerwelle, who is
famous for his outbursts of combative rhetoric. He has shown an interest in
immigration issues and could herald a shift to a softer, more social FDP, if the
stridently pro-business party lets him.
Rösler, who physically looks Vietnamese, has a big job in front of him. He has to
rebuild confidence in his party so that they can be a force in the 2013 national
elections. Without them, most likely Chancellor Merkel and the CDU, who needs
them as coalition partners, would be cooked. An Asian and a woman! Germany has
sure changed in the last 65 years.
GREENS
The big election winner across the boards, without question, is the Green Party. So
well did they do that not only did they capture a state governorship (Minister
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4. President). After winning regional elections in Baden-Württemberg in March the
Greens are set to lead the coalition government with the Social Democrats as their
junior partner in this key southwestern state.
According to DW-World, “The Greens are now the largest opposition party in
Germany, according to the independent pollster Forsa in a survey conducted for the
news magazine Stern.
Support for the center-left environmentalist party has risen to 28 percent, seven
points higher than in Forsa's previous survey.
The Social Democrats (SPD), traditionally Germany's largest center-left party, are
polling at 23 percent. The SPD is normally the senior member in coalition
governments with its partner-of-choice, the Greens.
The Greens' recent surge of support has put them in a position of power unseen
since they entered Germany's political stage in the early 1980s.
After winning regional elections in Baden-Württemberg in March, the Greens are set
to lead a coalition government with the Social Democrats as their junior partner in
the key southwestern state.
That is a first in the history of the German Republic. And the latest poll suggests the
Greens' regional success is currently reflected nationwide. If the results of Forsa's
survey were replicated in national elections, Germany would likely see its first Green
chancellor.
"We are witnessing major changes in the opinions of voters," said the Green party
chairwoman Claudia Roth. "That has to do with the insecurity spread by the
unbelievable flip-flopping of the federal government."
Let’s not get carried away! The national elections are two years away and a lot can
happen in that period of time. It wasn’t all that long ago that the CDU and the FDP
scored a national victory which relegated the Greens to a very minor role. Their
strong anti-nuclear position enormously enhanced by the tragedy in Japan gave
them a lot of political strength which may not last all that long. In addition, as above,
the FDP is in a rebuilding mode and so all is not lost for the ruling CDU-FDP
coalition.
You also do not want to count out the Green Party’s partners, the Social Democrats
(SPD). They’ve been around since the beginning and they may also gain new
strength.
Again, two years is an eternity in politics. It’s a little early for the Green Bundestag
members to start measuring the drapes for their new majority party offices.
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5. A FAILED MISSION
It has been almost five years since Gilad Schalit, an Israeli corporal was kidnapped
by Hamas in a cross border raid into Israel. In the last few years Gerhard Konrad, of
the German intelligence service (BND), has served as a negotiator between the
Israeli government and Hamas trying to gain Schalit’s freedom. Hamas, using
Schalit as a bargaining chip, has demanded the release of a large number of Hamas
prisoners being held in Israel.
Recently the Jerusalem Post reported, “A senior Hamas official said that German
mediator Gerhard Konrad had failed to make any progress in talks to return captive
soldier Gilad Schalit, the London-based Al-Hayat Arabic-language newspaper
reported Saturday. He rejected further involvement by the German mediator.
Deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk, told Al-Hayat
that Konrad had not succeeded in advancing the prisoner exchange and had been
unable to make any breakthroughs and that "there is no way back."
He "did not succeed in changing the attitudes of Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu," Abu Marzouk said, adding that he had "adopted [Netanyahu's]
positions instead of addressing them."
Explaining the failure, he said that Konrad had not made an adequate effort to
incorporate previous understandings reached under the previous government of
Ehud Olmert into the current negotiations. The Hamas leader added that "now a
breakthrough is no longer possible."
Abu Marzuk noted that while Konrad's role in the negotiations had ended, Hamas
would "not oppose his return if the Israeli government wants it."
The failed negotiations have been going on for a long time but it is my guess that the
BND will continue its efforts. It is a plus for Germany in its relationship with Israel.
As far as a chance for success is concerned, it has very little to do with Schalit or the
Hamas prisoners. Again, it is my guess, that when the proper political situation
arises for Hamas or enough political pressure can be applied they will quickly come
to terms. However, since they seem so well ensconced in Gaza I don’t see where
pressure can come from. It’s not a good situation – especially for Schalit.
THE IRAN OIL DEAL: THE CHANCELLOR INTERVENES
This story ends better than it begins. It ends with Chancellor Merkel stepping in to
stop a practice which was running counter to her announced feelings that Iran
should be further isolated.
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6. In early March, in my Germany Edition I reported on the release of two German
reporters by the Iranian government. It required that German Foreign Minister Guido
Westerwelle travel to Iran and appear in a public meeting with Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad which included an embarrassing photo op with the two
leaders shaking hands.
At that time I wrote, “The trip that Foreign Minister Westerwelle made to Iran to get
the two reporters back to Germany required paying a heavy price. While those that
know how these sorts of things work in the world of “realpolitik”, it certainly gave off
the wrong sort of a message as far as what Germany’s relationship with Iran is
advertised to be. One recognizes blackmail when one sees it. One also recognizes
the weakness of the paying of the ransom – especially by a nation that is supposed
to strong and independent. It’s certainly not the first time it has happened but that
certainly doesn’t make it any better.
When I wrote that it was only the disheartening photo I was talking about. It
subsequently came out that more than a photo was involved. Spiegel On-Line
recently reported, “With Berlin's approval, the German central bank provided
assistance to India in an oil deal with Iran. The US has vociferously criticized any
such dealings with Tehran, but according to information received by SPIEGEL
ONLINE, the deal was connected with the release of two German reporters detained
by the Ahmadinejad regime.
The controversial involvement of the Bundesbank in an oil deal between India and
Iran is possibly more politically sensitive than previously thought. According to
government sources in Berlin, the deal was made in connection to the release of two
reporters from the weekly paper Bild am Sonntag from Iranian detention last
February. The sources say the German government approved the Bundesbank's
help in the Iranian-Indian transaction in exchange for the release of the two
prisoners.
The government's official response to questions from SPIEGEL ONLINE has been
reserved. A connection was neither confirmed nor denied. When asked what role
the Indian-Iranian deal played in the release of the two prisoners, a spokesperson
for the Foreign Ministry said: "The federal government became active at the very
beginning of the detention of the two German journalists in October 2010, so that
they could be brought back to Germany as soon as possible."
The spokesperson referred to the statements made by Foreign Minister Guido
Westerwelle, of the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP), after the return of the
journalists. At that time, Westerwelle thanked "all those who worked together to find
a solution for this very complicated case."
That Germany would help Iran, despite sanctions against the regime in Tehran, to
make the oil deal is not universally smiled upon -- and could create trans-Atlantic
problems. The US has viewed Westerwelle's diplomatic course critically, even
before the government abstained from the United Nations Security Council vote on
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7. Libya in March. In particular, Berlin's stance on the debate over Iran's presumed
nuclear program is seen as too soft by many. The oil deal would be considered
further proof that Germany is distancing itself from its most important allies. A
representative of the US Treasury Department was quoted in the New York Times
on Thursday as being "concerned" about the German government's compliance with
the deal.
After the above story was published and both the Central Council of Jews in
Germany (Zentralrat) and the Obama administration turned up the heat, Chancellor
Merkel stepped in and put an end to “India through Germany to Iran” deals.
Spiegel On-Line reported, “The sources cited by Handelsblatt said the Bundesbank
would process payments for oil deliveries that have already taken place, but would
not permit further deals in the future. Both the Bundesbank and the controversial
European-Iranian Trading Bank (EIHB) had been used by India previously to
transfer payments to Iran in a move American officials believed had been designed
to circumvent sanctions against Tehran.
Do I think that this is the end of various countries trying to skirt around attempts to
isolate Iran? Absolutely not! India will find another country in order to pass the
money through to Iran. Doing business with Iran entails financial deals worth billions.
That will not end soon. However, at least Germany has removed this one avenue
and that is all to the good.
A DANGEROUS FOREIGN POLICY DOCTRINE
Ralf Neukirch writing in Spiegel On-Line noted, “With its abstention in the UN
Security Council vote on Libya, Germany has abandoned its strict alignment with the
West, a basic tenet of German foreign policy for decades. Foreign Minister Guido
Westerwelle's new doctrine is a dangerous one. It would be disastrous for
Germany's Western partners began doubting Berlin's commitment.
By abstaining in the United Nations Security Council vote on the resolution to
impose a no-fly zone over Libya, the government has given up what had been a
cross-party consensus on German security policy. Until now, Germany was
committed to siding with America and France. That wasn't always easy. Sometimes,
for example before the 2003 Iraq war, it was impossible. On Iraq, Germany had to
choose between one of its two most important partners. But it remained convinced
that on no account should it oppose both nations at the same time.
The government has now given up this basic tenet of German policy.
The official explanation is an excuse: Germany doesn't want to take part in a war
against Libya,… In fact, much more is at stake than the question of a German
military contribution. Chancellor Angela Merkel and Westerwelle have called central
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8. principles of German foreign policy into question.
His supposed new foreign policy doctrine smacks of domestic populism.
Westerwelle has succumbed to such temptations before. He opposed the Iraq war,
but then complained that Germany's "no" had damaged the trans-Atlantic alliance.
He has been demanding the withdrawal of militarily redundant nuclear weapons
from German soil although they are an important symbol of Germany's cooperation
with the US. He's more worried about scoring political points at home than about the
damage he's doing to Germany's standing in the world.
It has been the same pattern with Libya. Westerwelle's advisors in the Foreign
Ministry recommended that Germany should vote "yes" in the Security Council. He
ignored their advice because that would have diluted his domestic message: no
involvement of German troops.
Angela Merkel didn't stop her foreign minister. She has often shown the right foreign
policy instincts. But she probably wanted to avoid a public debate about German
military involvement ahead of important regional elections. That kind of thinking
would be in line with her character.
Perhaps she agrees with Westerwelle's view that the old certainties no longer apply.
In that case a Christian Democrat chancellor would be jettisoning Germany's policy
of Western loyalty -- a stance that was part of her party's creed for decades.
There’s more to the Neukirch’s article but I think what I have above captures its
essence. International politics is a complicated game. In the Libyan abstention
Germany joined with Russia – from whom it gets a great deal of its natural gas. In
seemingly going along with the Indian – Iran deal and voting yes in the UN on the
settlements resolution is it edging away from Israel, the U.S. and the West? I have to
leave all that to the political scientists – and history. We’ll just have to see how it
turns out? However, at present I’m feeling a little, as the Germans say, “angst”.
ANOTHER SUBMARINE
No, it’s not a Beatles “Yellow Submarine”, it’s a German built diesel submarine that
Israel is trying to buy at a “deep discount”. When you’re in the market for this sort of
vessel at a bargain price you don’t walk into Costco or Target and plunk your credit
card down. This sort of purchase requires the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to
hash it out which they did at the recent stopover Netanyahu made in Berlin.
Why is a sixth German built sub so important that the leaders of the two countries
have to pow-wow about it? Well, Israeli nuclear armed subs stationed off the coast
of Iran are Israel’s best deterrent against an Iranian attack of any sort – nuclear or
otherwise.
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9. The Jerusalem Post reported, “Talks on the Dolphin submarine deal stalled last year
after the Germans declined to underwrite it, as they had done with previous
purchases. Israel sought up to a third off the $500 million to $700 million price for
the new Dolphin.
"We're still hoping for a discount, and the prime minister will raise this matter" in a
meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel scheduled for Thursday, the Israeli
official said without elaborating.
Political turbulence in the Middle East has led Israel to float higher defense
spending, which may allow it to absorb more of the cost of a new Dolphin. The
diesel-powered submarines are widely regarded as an Israeli vanguard against foes
like Iran.
Israel has three Dolphins in service and two on order from Germany with delivery
expected in the next two years.
Germany is dedicated to the security of the Jewish state, founded in the wake of the
Holocaust. Merkel has championed an international campaign to rein in Iran's
contentious nuclear program, which Israelis consider a potentially mortal threat.
But Berlin has budgetary constraints and in the past heard misgivings from German
opposition parties about exporting weapons to crisis areas. Israel is reputed to have
the region's only atomic arsenal, including submarine-fired nuclear missiles.
We’ll have to wait to see whether the bargain basement deal can be made. Too bad
my mother is no longer alive. After a little discussion with the Chancellor she would
have the sub in her shopping bag and probably a box of German chocolates to boot.
GERMANY’S HOLOCAUST RESPONSIBILITY
How about some good news? According to JTA, The German government will
increase funds given to Holocaust survivors by 15 percent.
The new deal reached Tuesday between Germany and the Conference on Jewish
Material Claims Against Germany, known as the Claims Conference, means that the
German government's contribution to homecare funding for Holocaust survivors
around the world will rise from $156 million in 2011 to about $180 million in 2012.
The allocations will rise to nearly $200 million by 2014.
“With restitution-related sources of funding on the decline, this long-term agreement
obtained by the Claims Conference is vital to addressing the growing social welfare
needs of aging Holocaust survivors,” said Claims Conference Chairman Julius
Berman. “It will provide survivors and the agencies that care for them the certainty
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10. that funding will be available to meet the anticipated growing demand over the next
few years.”
“Once again, the German government has recognized its historic responsibility to
help care for Jewish Holocaust victims in their final years,” said Stuart Eizenstat, the
Claims Conference's special negotiator. “Over the decades, the government has
demonstrated its commitment to alleviating the plight of elderly victims who need the
care that these funds will provide.”
I think I’ll leave it to Stuart Eizenstat. He said exactly what I would have. We should
all live up to our responsibilities as well as the Germans do in this instance.
CONTINUING INTEREST
In the last dozen years or so I’ve heard a lot about young Germans being sick and
tired of hearing about the Holocaust. I’ve even been told (very diplomatically) that in
whatever negotiations we American Jews have with Germany it’s best not even to
mention it. I was even beginning to believe that, perhaps, the time had come to tone
it down and focus on the future rather than the past.
However, a non-scientific survey of the German media (by yours truly) tells me that
the time to “forget” the Holocaust has yet to arrive in Germany. Perhaps not
surprisingly, it is the German media that keeps the issue front and center. Media, like
all businesses, focus on what they think “sells” and, without question the Holocaust
is still a matter of deep interest to the German public. In the last two weeks I saved
all the Holocaust stories I came across.
1. An exhibit which opened in the German capital on Tuesday examines the role
Adolf Eichmann's 1961 trial in Israel played in shaping modern understanding
of the Holocaust and World War II, giving survivors an unprecedented chance
to tell their stories on a public stage.
Click here for more information.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4053163,00.html
2. The myth that the Nazi-era German armed forces, the Wehrmacht, was not
involved in war crimes persisted for decades after the war. Now two German
researchers have destroyed it once and for all. Newly published
conversations between German prisoners of war, secretly recorded by the
Allies, reveal horrifying details of violence against civilians, rape and
genocide. Click here for more information.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,755385,00.html
3. The SS officer responsible for the arrest of Anne Frank was one of many
Nazis employed by Germany's Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) foreign
intelligence agency after World War II, Focus reported. Click here for more
information. http://www.thelocal.de/national/20110410-34297.html
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11. 4. Under the Nazi regime, the police were not obligated to commit murder.
But many did. A new exhibition in Berlin reveals the extent to which the police
were involved in Nazi atrocities. Click here for more information.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14973508,00.html
5. Adolf Eichmann, who masterminded expulsion and transfer of millions of
Jews from their homes to death camps, expresses regret on the tape for not
being able to complete his task. Click here for more information.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/in-newly-released-tape-eichmann-
heard-boasting-about-his-role-in-holocaust-1.353723
6. Before his arrest by Israel's Mossad intelligence service, Adolf Eichmann
boasted openly to other foreigners in Argentina of the war crimes he had
committed. He confided in one journalist that his only mistake was not having
murdered all the Jews. "We didn't do our work correctly," he said. Click for
more information.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,754486,00.html#ref=nlint
So, as you can see, the Holocaust still “sells”. German researchers and the
media are beginning to dig more deeply than they have in the past especially
since more and more material has become available to be looked at.
Elements of the Nazi machine which previously drew a pass are now being
examined in greater detail. The Germany of today is being confronted with
information about those who previously were seen as being free of guilt.
Germans, young and old, are being force fed with very uncomfortable
information, perhaps about fathers and grandfathers. No matter, their interest
seems deep and they seem not to be able to get enough of it.
Forget forgetting about the Holocaust. |
NEO-NAZIS IN BRANDENBURG
The State of Brandenburg actually totally surrounds Berlin (Berlin is not only a
City but also a State) with Potsdam as its capital. The fact that it was part of
East Germany and is adjacent to Berlin makes it important. Its East Germany
antecedents have left it a legacy of unemployment and so it has become a
spawning place of neo-Nazi activity. Over the years the State government has
tried to stamp out this blemish. The Local recently reported, “Interior Minister
Dietmar Woidke announced in Potsdam that the Freie Kräfte Teltow-Fläming,
or the "Free Forces of Teltow-Fläming," would be the sixth such organization
to be banned in the state since 1995.
The last right-wing extremist group to be banned was the Schutzbund
Deutschland in 2006.
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12. A large police contingent of some 175 stormed group locations in
Blankenfelde-Mahlow and Zossen early on Monday, confiscating evidence.
"To enforce the ban, raids have been ongoing since the early morning hours
today as part of a major search and confiscation operation by the police," the
ministry said in a statement.
According to domestic intelligence service reports from 2010, the neo-Nazi
Freie Kräfte Teltow-Fläming has been active since 2006. Last year it had
about 50 members, mainly in the northern cities of the Teltow-Fläming
county.
Its influence has been responsible for a rise in right-wing extremist activity in
the region, the report said.
The attempt to wipe out neo-Nazi activity in Germany is an on-going process.
As long as there is unemployment, especially youth unemployment, the neo’s
will continue to exist and flourish to some degree. However, my reading of the
situation is that their presence is a genuine embarrassment and the States
are doing all they can do to keep it under control and, where possible, wipe it
out. However, Germany is a democracy and so, as here in the U.S., as long
as laws are not being violated citizens have a right to organize themselves
into groups and political organizations. Eternal vigilance is the keyword in
keeping them under control. Germany is, indeed, exhibiting that.
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