RSS Feed MenuIn my Wednesday article on Felicia Langer and her receipt of one of Germany’s highest honors, The Federal Cross of Merit, First Class, I cited from the speech given by Baden-Württemberg government representative Hubert Wicker at the awards ceremony. “An uncompromising engagement on behalf of humanity is the very core of Felicia-Amalia Langer’s existence,” Wicker said, “She is still fighting for human rights and a just peace in the Middle East, whereby she steadfastly pursues her goal of building a bridge between Israelis and Palestinians.” These and other similarly vague comments were made available, here, on the website of the Baden-Württemberg government.
But Wicker appears also to have made comments that were far less vague and that reveal that Langer’s anti-Israeli militancy was part and parcel of the reasons for presenting her the award. Thus in a letter that appeared in yesterday’s edition (July 23) of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Evelyn Hecht-Galinski cites Wicker as having said: “For 23 years you fought against expropriations, the destruction of homes and deportations. Your clients told you about torture, forced confessions, deportations in violation of international law, and punishments resembling clan-liability such as the tearing down of suspects’ houses.” Hecht-Galinski also reveals that she was herself the person who proposed Langer for the award. As mentioned in my previous article (and discussed at length here), Hecht-Galinski is another of the prominent “Jewish critics of Israel” who play a central role in German discussions of the Middle East conflict.
Note in Wicker’s remarks the two references in quick succession to “deportations”: an idiom that clearly suggests that the Israelis are guilt of “Nazi-like” crimes. The reference to “punishments resembling clan-liability” [sippenhaftähnliche Bestrafungen] can likewise be read as an allusion to the Third Reich. “Sippenhaft” is the practice of punishing family members for an individual’s alleged crimes. The Nazis were notorious for employing this form of punishment: especially in the occupied territories.
midcon // Jul 24, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Come on John, “deportations” is not an idiom for anything, whether we Americans do it to illegal immigrants or Israel does it to Palestinians. Deportation means exactly what it means and nothing more. Regarding the “punishments,” houses were deliberately torn down. If there people living in the houses then they were not abandoned. Is there an official explanation for the destruction that leads one to conclude that it is was not intended as a form retaliation or reprimand? Would you car to offer an expanation yourself?
ottovbvs // Jul 24, 2009 at 5:36 pm
……….This guy Rosenthal, I have no idea who he is, belongs to that extreme Zionist group who are going to be the death of Israel…….not my opinon but the opinion of a couple of friends of mine who live in Israel…….they’re sophisticated people whose parents and grand parents have been in Israel since before and soon after the war, we communicate by email and I ask their opinion on things……..the think people like Rosenthal who try to make a big deal out of every perceived slight like this awarding a medal to an elderly and obviously distinguished german lawyer who works in civil rights just pisses every one off with the Israelis and then when the next small war starts and a bunck of kids get killed or whatever the Israelis just like bullies posing as victims……..
Ausgezeichnete Verdienste und die zugehörige – problematische – Lobhudelei « abseits vom mainstream – heplev // Jul 26, 2009 at 2:43 am
[...] „Deutsche geben zu, der Preis war für’s Israel-Bashing“, titelt John Rosenthal auf newmajority.com und schreibt, Beleg sei ein Leserbrief von Evelyn Hecht-Galinski in der FAZ vom 23. Juli. Die [...]
Moderate // Jul 26, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I wonder if the authors of these apologias realize just how counterproductive they are.