oatmeal

2025-06-30 13:47:43

Quoting Iris Hefetz:

As part of the “new chapter” in its history, #Germany has become a kind of #Jewish shtetl. Descendants of #Nazis adopt Jewish symbols, worship #Zionism and persecute Jews who criticize Israel – in the name of fighting #antisemitism, of course.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Hefetz describes how Germany has undergone what she calls “convertion to Zionism,” that is the transformion of descendants of Nazis into “the new Jews.” But she starts with a joke she heard from a Jewish child in #Berlin:

“What’s the difference between Jews and Muslims? The Jews are already past that.”

Muslims have become the new target for traditional German racism and intolerance. She contrasts today’s Germany with the country she found 23 years ago:

“Germany 23 years ago was truly a different Germany. It was still an anti-militaristic and anti-nationalist society and state, which respected its constitution and international law to some extent, where a million people marched against the horrific and internationally illegal war by the US in Iraq, which Germany refused to participate in.”

She traces this transformation back to Germany’s first chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, who stated: “We caused the Jews such great injustice, we committed such terrible crimes against them, that there was a need to atone for them or repair them to some extent, if we wanted to regain honor among the nations of the world.” However, Adenauer’s antisemitic reasoning was revealed when he added: “The power of the Jews – even today, especially in America – should not be underestimated. Therefore, I consciously and carefully invested my entire being, to the best of my ability, to bring about reconciliation between the German people and the Jewish people.”

Hefetz says that Germans have now collectively “converted to Zionism” without the need for actual conversion:

“An entire wing of the German ‘left’ consists of men who ‘engaged in identity searching’ and found it in the form of Israel. They sound as if Noa Tishby is speaking from their throats, wrapping themselves in Israeli flags and IDF flags, going to see folk dance performances celebrating diplomatic relations between the states, and saving Jews from ‘antisemitism.’”

She explains that “according to data published in the Israeli magazine in Berlin, ‘Spitz,’ in an article later removed, more than half of the complaints about antisemitic incidents in Germany are by German Christians with Nazi grandparents, who are attacked by Jews demonstrating against Israel, for example.” The irony, she notes, is that “descendants and great-grandchildren of Nazis are very sensitive to ‘antisemitic attacks against them,’ especially if they come from Jews and Israelis.”

Hefetz describes Germany’s creation of an artificial Jewish identity: “Germany has become a kind of Jewish shtetl. There is no place in the world where you can hear more #klezmer music (traditional Eastern European Jewish music) , adapted to the German ear. The popular names in recent decades in Germany are Hebrew Jewish names.” She explains how “the German state began funding Reform conversion of Christians to Judaism, and recreated the destroyed German liberal Judaism, a ‘new Judaism’ that is of course more desirable than the ultra-Orthodox, who are ‘Ostjuden.’”

Note: The original derogatory term #Mizrahim as used by Ashkenazi Jews, referred to Jews of Eastern European heritage. In #Israel this term was then repurposed to describe Arab Jews, mostly, as part of what Aziza Khazzoom described as de-orinetalization of the largest Jewish diaspora, see “How the Polish Peddler Became a German Intellectual” sup.org/books/sociology/shifti…

Hefetz details how this “Israelization” serves #Germany’s return to #militarism:

“Identification with Israel helps Germany return to being a militaristic state: it helps break the taboo of nationalism; it helps rehabilitate the image of the German man, who in the years after the war tried to be ‘non-German’ by emphasizing soft qualities, non-authoritarian education for children.”

She quotes recent statements by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said Israel “does the dirty work for us” regarding attacks on Iran, while a security expert from his party stated “we are also ready to die for Israel.” She notes the antisemitic nature of these statements:

“These antisemitic statements about Jews doing Germany’s ‘dirty work’ are not new, and the reference to killing civilians as ‘dirty work’ recalls Himmler’s Poznan speech, or what Rudolf Hess said at the Nuremberg trials.”

She concludes that “Germany is making a comeback” through authoritarian measures disguised as fighting antisemitism, while “Germany supplies Israel with at least a third of the weapons for the genocide in Gaza.” Despite this official support, Hefetz notes that “there is an absolute majority in the German public that consistently opposes supplying weapons to Israel; and with all the pro-Israeli propaganda and Israeli flags flying over every government office in Germany, 73% think what Israel is doing in Gaza is genocide.“​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Hebrew mekomit.co.il/%D7%9E%D7%AA%D7%…

Photo: Iris Hefetz arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest (screenshot)

@palestine
@israel
#GazaGenocide
#OatmealQuotes

מתגיירים לציונות: כך הפכו צאצאי הנאצים ל"יהודים החדשים" - שיחה מקומית

בשנה הראשונה להגעתי לברלין, שמעתי מילד בית ספר את ה"בדיחה" הזו: מה ההבדל בין יהודים למוסלמים? היהודים, הם כבר אחרי זה. זה לא היה מצחיק אז, ועוד פחות מצחיק עכשיו, מכיוון שכמו בכל בדיחה, גם כאן היה גרעין של אמת.

^{שיחה מקומית}