Germany’s moment has arrived to tackle European antisemitism

ROBERT SINGER

Germany is at the forefront of the global fight against antisemitism, which is worryingly rearing its ugly head with renewed vigor.

GERMAN FOREIGN Minister Heiko Maas (right) takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union from Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman during a symbolic handover in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin last week. /  (photo credit: HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/REUTERS)

On July 1, Germany took on the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Of course, policy disagreements exist between Germany and Israel, not least over possible annexation. However, none of this can overshadow the deep and warm relations between the two countries, carefully nurtured over many decades. Undoubtedly, Berlin remains steadfastly committed to Israel’s security.

Furthermore, Germany continues to work tirelessly for the continued prosperity of its Jewish community and the well-being of Jewish communities worldwide. As such, Germany is at the forefront of the global fight against antisemitism, which is worryingly rearing its ugly head with renewed vigor.

As the coronavirus crisis continues to grip the world, the age-old disease of antisemitism is also rapidly infecting societies. Like COVID-19, antisemitism too easily spreads undetected. Like coronavirus, it has no respect for borders, nor does it discriminate between communities, between young and old, religious and secular, rich and poor.

Shi’ite Iran and Sunni Pakistan have a history of disagreement and animosity toward each other. Nonetheless, they are united in Jew-hatred. Religious leaders, bloggers and ordinary individuals in both countries point the finger at Jews and the State of Israel, alleging that they are to blame for the coronavirus pandemic. The same ancient conspiracy theories have been propagated recently by the far Right in the United States and also in parts of Europe.

Of course, antisemitism was already on the rise before the onset of the corona age. Figures from the Anti-Defamation League showed that antisemitic incidents in the US in 2019 reached an all-time high since tracking began in 1979. The statistics included a worrying 56% spike in antisemitic assaults. In January, the New York Police Department decided to install 100 security cameras in heavily Jewish-populated areas of Brooklyn, in an effort to deter rising antisemitic crime.

Furthermore, the scapegoating of Jews for the spread of disease is nothing new. When the Black Death overran Europe in the mid-14th century, killing millions, Jews were quickly blamed for the outbreak. The allegations against Jews poisoning wells and water sources persisted from the Middle Ages onward. Of course, the idea that Jews spread disease found a welcome home in Nazi Germany. Der Sturmer populated this antisemitic trope in print, while Joseph Goebbels’s infamous film The Eternal Jew depicted Jews as rats.

Given this context, the increase in antisemitism since the corona outbreak is perhaps no surprise. Nonetheless, a report published last week by the Kantor Center at Tel Aviv University was stark in its assessment. It concluded that the pandemic has “unleashed a unique worldwide wave of antisemitism,” with social media quickly popularizing a discourse that blames Jews and the State of Israel, alleging that they created COVID-19 and are profiting from it. While coronavirus continues to cripple the world, antisemitism is clearly very much alive and well.

ALL OF which gives Germany an exceptional opportunity to lead the response to this new wave of antisemitism, as it spearheads the EU agenda during the coming six months. In fact, it is a double opportunity. Germany also chairs the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an umbrella organization of 34 countries, whose governments promote Holocaust memory and help identify contemporary antisemitism.

Having met Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas several times, I know that, like Chancellor Angela Merkel, he is a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people. Thanks to my familiarity with Maas in his previous role as justice minister, I have deep appreciation and admiration for his work to combat antisemitism, to fight Holocaust denial, to help Holocaust survivors and to ensure the welfare of the local Jewish community. I have no doubt that in his role as both foreign minister and a senior European leader, he will continue this critical work with determination.

Germany sets a wonderful example to other European countries of how to deploy education, international cooperation and political will in the fight against antisemitism.

Minister Maas, I take this opportunity to appeal to you. As you and the government you serve take the wheel of the European Union, redouble your efforts to tackle antisemitism and replicate them across the continent.
The most potent weapon you have in this struggle is education. Change can come about only through knowledge. With healthy budgets for supporting Jewish schools in Europe, Holocaust studies curriculum in non-Jewish schools, serious planning and dedication, tolerance and respect can replace hatred and bigotry. Not only can the new wave of antisemitism be repelled, but perhaps the oldest hatred itself can be consigned to history.

This is a historic mission. It is staring us squarely in the face today. If we work together, it can be achieved.

The writer is a senior adviser to the Combat Antisemitism Movement and chairman of the board of trustees of World ORT.

Żydobanderowiec to on. Czego nauczył mnie Josyf Zisels?

Paweł Smoleński

Josyf Zisels, ukraiński Żyd: jeśli między Ukraińcami i Żydami istnieje wspólna pamięć historyczna, to zajmuje ona tylko niewielką przestrzeń (Fot. AP)

Jaki jest dowód ostateczny, że putinowska Rosja to uczennica Związku Sowieckiego? To Josyf Zisels, ukraiński Żyd z Czerniowiec

Jeszcze w latach 70. XX w., gdy Josyf znalazł się w wątłych szeregach sowieckich demokratów Ukraińskiej Grupy Helsińskiej i odpękał za to sześć lat łagru o zaostrzonym rygorze, KGB odkryło „sojusz tryzuba z gwiazdą Dawida”.

A kiedy podczas rewolucji godności i kijowskiego Majdanu Zisels okazał się ważną postacią demokratycznego buntu, rosyjska propaganda oraz FSB ukuły termin „żydobanderowiec”. To pojęcie miało Josyfa obrazić, jako że „Żyd” i „banderowiec”, a zwłaszcza zbitka obu słów, po rosyjsku brzmi pogardliwie.

Tymczasem Zisels przypiął sobie to określenie do marynarki jak order i mówi ochoczo: „Tak, to ja”.

Ukraiński Żyd, a nie Żyd z Ukrainy

Co jeszcze wiemy o Ziselsie? Po pierwsze – różnił się od sowieckich dysydentów, z którymi współpracował ile sił, gdyż walczył nie tylko z komunizmem, ale też z komunistycznym imperializmem, by Ukraina była niepodległa.

Po wtóre – jest ukraińskim Żydem, a nie Żydem z Ukrainy. Oznacza to, że nie wyemigruje do Izraela – zupełnie jak Marek Edelman – gdyż uważa, że Ukraina jest jego ojczyzną, choć biedna, bijąca się z Rosją o Donbas, pozbawiona okupowanego przez Moskwę Krymu, jedną nogą na Zachodzie, a drugą na Wschodzie (Zisels robi wszystko, by Ukraina skleiła się z Zachodem).

Po trzecie – Zisels czerpie z obu tradycji, ukraińskiej i żydowskiej, świadom, że pola wspólne pamięci historycznej tych dwóch narodów są niewielkie, choć to setki lat życia na tej samej ziemi. Żydzi, nie tylko na Ukrainie, lecz na całym świecie, wskazują powstanie Chmielnickiego, chłopską koliszczyznę i rzeź humańską z końca XVIII w., walki o niepodległą Ukrainę w początku XIX w., Holocaust, antyżydowskie akcje UPA i podporządkowane Niemcom bataliony policyjne jako wielkie tragedie swego narodu. Ukraińcom nie pasuje żydowska współpraca z okupującą ukraińską kolonię Polską, Rosją i Sowietami. Jednak obu opiniom warto przydać kontekst, a dopiero wówczas posłużą do precyzyjniejszego opisania świata.

Czego nauczył mnie Josyf Zisels?

Czego uczy na przykładzie własnego życia Zisels?

Że warto walczyć z imperiami zła, bo nie są takie mocne, zwłaszcza w boju z przyzwoitością.

Że każda generalizacja jest krzywdząca, co wypomniał prezydentowi Izraela Reuwenowi Riwlinowi, który powiedział, że Ukraińcy są współodpowiedzialni za Szoah, a nie zająknął się o ukraińskich Sprawiedliwych.

Że dowódca UPA Roman Szuchewycz i Stepan Bandera nie są jego bohaterami, lecz rozumie, dlaczego są bohaterami wielu mieszkańców jego ojczyzny, i powiada: „Niektórzy Żydzi byli w szeregach UPA”. Czyli Zisels uczy, że nie można załamywać rąk, a w życiu warto kierować się namysłem idącym z serca. Oraz że historia ma jeszcze tak zwane okoliczności.

Lecz przede wszystkim mówi o przyszłości. Bo Chmielnicki i UPA, żydowska współpraca z Polakami i Rosją to przeszłość, a liczy się to, co dziś: demokracja, Europa, rodzina narodów.

Ukraińcy, czyli rezuni, hajdamaki, kacapy

Skąd to wszystko wiem? Wiem, bo kilka razy rozmawiałem z Josyfem, a czapkę skromnie miąłem w rękach i pochylałem czoło, bo to wielki człowiek. Lecz dowiedziałem się o tym wszystkim od Josyfa Ziselsa i Izy Chruślińskiej, która z nim rozmawiała długie dni i wieczory na potrzeby wywiadu rzeki opublikowanego w ukraińskim wydawnictwie Duch i Litera już cztery lata temu. Nie powstrzymała mnie nawet wyniesiona ze szkoły powszechnej co najwyżej letnia miłość do cyrylicy.

Dziwi mnie zaś, że po polskiej stronie wspólnej granicy nikt nie otworzył sakiewki, by sfinansować przekład i druk tej książki. Ja wiem, że Ukraina jest Polsce bliska w momentach heroicznego buntu (lubimy się wzruszać), a potem przepada gdzieś w oddali na euroazjatyckich stepach. Zapytać Polaka o Ukraińców poza czasami burzy i naporu, a odpowie, że rezuni, hajdamaki, kacapy, z wyłączeniem budowlańców oraz producentów owoców i warzyw, bo gdyby nie Ukraińcy, ssaliby palce z głodu.

Nie chciałbym natomiast sądzić, iż tym, czym Polak naprawdę się szczyci, jest własne podwórko, wysoki płot, który broni je przed światem i płynąca z tego niewiedza. Po co być niedouczonym, skoro można przeczytać tę i ową książkę, nawet o Żydach i Ukraińcach, nawet wydrukowaną „krzesełkami”? A gdyby jeszcze udało się przeczytać po polsku, byłoby mega.

Paweł Smoleński, pisarz, publicysta, reporter „Gazety Wyborczej”

French Judges Order Accused Antisemitic Murderers of Holocaust Survivor Mireille Knoll to Face Criminal Trial

Ben Cohen

Mireille Knoll, the 85-year-old Holocaust survivor who was murdered in her Paris apartment. Photo: Knoll family.

French judges on Monday ordered the two men accused of robbing and killing a Holocaust survivor at her Paris home in 2018 to stand trial on a charge of murder aggravated by antisemitism.

Yacine Mihoub, 30, and his associate Alex Carrimbacus, 25, are alleged to have brutally murdered 85-year-old Mireille Knoll — a survivor of the mass deportation of the Jews of Paris in July 1942 — in her apartment on the Avenue Philippe-Auguste on March 23, 2018.

The pair were understood to have targeted Knoll after Mihoub, a neighbor of Knoll’s since the age of eight, told Carrimbacus that she would have plenty of money as she was Jewish.

Firefighters who arrived at Knoll’s building later that night to answer an emergency call discovered her partially-burned body with 11 stab wounds.

French media outlets reported that Mihoub and Carrimbacus — who met each other in prison — possessed lengthy criminal records for offenses that included theft, possession of narcotics and violence. Mihoub additionally had a conviction for sexual assault.

A police investigation following Knoll’s death established that Mihoub was attracted to Islamist ideas and slogans, and was already known to the authorities for having praised the Kouachi brothers, who carried out the deadly terrorist attack against the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January 2015.

According to Le Figaro, Mihoub was also “compulsively addicted to antisemitic websites and a staunch defender of Hamas.”

The news that antisemitism would figure as an aggravating factor in the two men’s upcoming trial was welcomed by Knoll’s family.

“As far as my mother’s murder is concerned, there is no doubt that it was an act of antisemitic hatred,” Alain Knoll, her son, told Israeli broadcaster i24‘s French-language service on Monday.

Knoll said he was “relieved” by the judges’ decision, having feared that they might have “taken a different direction” because of the prevailing political climate in France.

“When we see what is happening in France, that politicians and judges are very often reluctant to recognize the antisemitic nature of [such] acts, we are afraid,” he remarked.

Uppermost in mind was the very different judicial outcome in the case of Sarah Halimi — a 65-year-old Jewish widow murdered in her Paris apartment in April 2017, 11 months before Knoll’s killing, by an intruder who yelled Islamist slogans as he repeatedly beat her before ejecting her from a third-floor window.

To the fury of the French Jewish community, a ruling by the Paris Court of Appeal last December excused Halimi’s alleged murderer, Kobili Traore, from a criminal trial, on the grounds that his intake of cannabis had supposedly wiped out his mental awareness and his judgement.

Gilles-William Goldnadel, a lawyer who has represented both the Knoll and Halimi families, said that he too had feared a repeat of the Halimi decision.

“Without a doubt, the Sarah Halimi case served as a model,” Goldnadel told Le Figaro. With Mireille Knoll, he said, “we were faced with a heinous crime committed against an old lady and, since she was Jewish, it was even better for her murderers.”

While Goldnadel declared himself pleased that Mihoub and Carrimbacus would now go on trial, he regretted the judges’ decision to show leniency to Mihoub’s mother, who had been accused of concealing the evidence of Knoll’s murder.

Mihoub’s mother had “removed evidence, in this case the murder weapons, from the knives which she cleaned, and she also broke her judicial obligations by conversing with her son during his preventive detention in order to agree on the version of the facts,” Goldnadel explained.