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Last update - 10:43 19/02/2008 German intellectuals: Israel's creation made Palestinians victims of Holocaust By Cnaan Liphshiz Tags: Palestinians, Germany  A group of visiting German intellectuals called on Berlin on Monday to change what they termed its Holocaust-rooted blind support of Israel, saying the creation of the State of Israel turned Palestinians into victims of the Nazi Holocaust as well. The four, Dr. Reiner Steinweg, Prof. Gert Krell, Prof. Georg Meggle, and Jorg Becker, took part in a debate Monday evening at the Netanya Academic College on the future of German-Israeli relations. They were among 25 signatories to a petition on the issue that was circulated in the German media following the Second Lebanon War. According to the manifesto, German responsibility toward the Palestinians is "one side of the consequences of the Holocaust which receives far too little attention." The paper goes on to argue that it was the Holocaust which Germany perpetrated that brought about "the suffering that has persisted [in the Middle East] for the last six decades and has at present become unbearable." Advertisement This, according to the manifesto titled "Friendship and Criticism," is because "without the Holocaust of the Jews, Israeli policy would not see itself as entitled - or forced to ride over the human rights of the Palestinians and the inhabitants of Lebanon." Without the Holocaust, the document adds, Israel would not have enjoyed the same material and political support from the U.S. The researchers told Haaretz this also applies to support from Germany. "So it is not only Israel which can lay claim to special consideration on the part of Germany. As Germans we share not only a responsibility toward Israel's existence, but also for the living conditions of the Palestinian People," the scholars concluded. The four cosignatories attended the debate at the invitation of former deputy Knesset speaker, Dov Ben-Meir, who organized the event. In December 2006, Ben-Meir wrote what he titled "a friendly response" to the manifesto, which he in turn circulated in the media. In his response, Ben-Meir said the original manifesto reflected a "simplistic" approach. One of the main reasons for the conflict and the current state of Arabs and Palestinians, Ben-Meir said, was intransigence on their part and their reliance on violence instead of dialogue. Conceding that Germany's attitude to Israel is part of a Holocaust-based "special relationship," Ben-Meir said at the debate that this relationship - which included huge reparations payments that Germany made to Israel in the 1950s - was primarily a German interest, more than an Israeli one. "By agreeing to put Germany's Nazi past aside, the Jewish nation has granted Germany an entrance pass into the family of nations after Germany was considered a pariah nation because of its Nazi past," he said. The debate, which drew a crowd of some 150 people, took place in the framework of a panel discussion. Representing the German scholars were Professor Meggle, who specializes in philosophical anthropology at the University of Leipzig, and Dr. Steinweg, a researcher at the Linz branch of the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Steinweg said the group came to clear up misunderstandings about the manifesto, which according to him has been misconstrued as a call to end Germany's longstanding friendship with Israel. Local panelists included former Israeli ambassador to Germany Shimon Stein, correspondent for Die Zeit, Gisela Dachs and Professor Moshe Zimmermann, Director of the Koebner Minerva Center for German History at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Zimmermann said the issue of the Holocaust was currently subject to political manipulation both by Israel and in Germany. "The Israelis try to use this issue to paint people who criticize Israel as anti-Semites. At the same time, this manifesto is an attempt to manipulate German feelings of guilt vis-à-vis the Holocaust, by projecting them onto the Palestinians," he argued. "If the Germans want to feel guilt about the Holocaust, they better stick to the Poles, the Dutch and the Jews. There is no need to go as far as to feel guilty for what happened to the Palestinians," he added. Commenting on the heated discussion that ensued, Herman Bunz from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung - the private non-profit German organization which funded the visit by the German scholars - told the panelists, "This is the perfect chance to misunderstand each other, but I would advise you to do the opposite." "They are a minority, but they educate young German minds and we cannot afford to brush their criticism aside as anti-Semitic. We must confront it," said Ben-Meir. More Jewish World news and features Bookmark to del.icio.us   Bring down the house Knesset speaker calls for wrecking of yeshiva killer's family home. Frum and fabulous Beauty salons offer Haredi women a unique brand of modest glamour.   1.   Nazis still equate Jews with subhumans 04:11  |  Genuine Tosefta 19/02/08   2.   assertion of blind support only to those who are blind. pals 04:16  |  ralph 19/02/08   3.   Assumptions and Conclusions 04:25  |  Brad 19/02/08   4.   Why is it bad for the Palestinians? 04:33  |  igco 19/02/08   5.   Amen 04:37  |  John Bull Capistrano 19/02/08   6.   To #1 Genune Tosefta 05:14  |  Shtarka 19/02/08   7.   Stop blind support of Germans 05:37  |  George Bakalov 19/02/08   8.   Stop accepting Germans "blindly" 05:43  |  George Bakalov 19/02/08   9.   To # 1 and every Jew 05:43  |  Heinrich 19/02/08   10.   Of course they take this position 06:00  |  Nechama 19/02/08   11.   #1, yes thats why jews act like nazis? 06:06  |  raw truth 19/02/08   12.   "Blind"support? Germany has very good relations with Iran 06:19  |  PETER SM 19/02/08   13.   NAZI Genocide of Jews was strongly encouraged by Pal. Mufti. 06:26  |  PETER SM 19/02/08   14.   Isn`t Germany Iran`s Largest Trading Partner? 06:49  |  Leslie-Ann 19/02/08   15.   To igco 07:00  |  Yeshu 19/02/08   16.   "intellectuals" 07:07  |  MarkC 19/02/08   17.   blind support of pal politics, party leads to failed state, faile 07:10  |  ralph 19/02/08   18.   #1 Then why don`t you treat poor palestinians better 07:34  |  whatever 19/02/08   19.   Germans are still evil 07:36  |  David Kessler 19/02/08   20.   10Peter Mufti took active part in Holocaust, in Bosnia 08:08  |  Rob 19/02/08   21.   with all due respect... 08:56  |  scallywag 19/02/08   22.   It is bad for Israel as well 08:58  |  MiddleStanian 19/02/08   23.   The jews had blind support for Iranians 09:06  |  lydia 19/02/08   24.   Raw Truth? You Mean Stale and Stupid Lie 09:19  |  Brad 19/02/08   25.   German Intellectuals or Idiots 09:19  |  Ori 19/02/08   26.   to Tosefta 09:21  |  Puhi 19/02/08   27.   PETER SM is right on track... 09:23  |  Ehud 19/02/08   28.   #8 Response 09:24  |  Ori 19/02/08   29.   raw truth 09:31  |  scallywag 19/02/08   30.   .........AND ALL THE TIME I THOUGHT THAT 09:39  |  Robert 19/02/08   31.   ignorant about history 10:13  |  george 19/02/08   32.   this article has some VERY revealing quotes 10:20  |  eric 19/02/08   33.   Reparations for whom...? 10:24  |  Esther 19/02/08   34.   #9 10:37  |  Rab Burns 19/02/08   35.   Twisted thinking that also sees "Sudeten Germans" as victims. 10:42  |  Dr. L. Brnd 19/02/08   36.   Appendix 10:48  |  Martin 19/02/08   37.   Palestinians are victims of bad leaders 10:48  |  Ilan 19/02/08   38.   Arabs Agression Policies Against the Jews Started Before WWII 10:50  |  Joseph . E 19/02/08   39.   the described position sums 10:50  |  cool 19/02/08   40.   Kessler 10:49  |  Rhett Butler #19 10/03/08   41.   Genuine No 1 11:01  |  American in Paris 19/02/08   42.   what was the point in giving them a platform in israel 11:06  |  harzion 19/02/08   43.   "conceding that isreal`s relationship with germany based on" etc 11:09  |  harzion 19/02/08   44.   Genuine Tosefta, agreed!!! 11:10  |  akiva (zionist) 19/02/08   45.   Brad of Canada 11:15  |  akiva (zionist) 19/02/08   46.   How to re-do History with a "what if?"... 11:18  |  Ari 19/02/08   47.   Quite right, you are! 11:21  |  ana silva 19/02/08   48.   THIS IS A PROGRESS 11:25  |  indrajaya 19/02/08   49.   iran, germany 11:27  |  rico 19/02/08   50.   raw truth = (any) raw material 11:33  |  Uri 19/02/08   51.   the krauts 11:34  |  don 19/02/08   52.   mind without substance 11:34  |  akiva (zionist) 19/02/08   53.   We Jews have so much to be grateful for... 11:42  |  Naftush 19/02/08   54.   This is sad 11:51  |  Jammie 19/02/08   55.   to #7 - stop blind support to jew 11:59  |  cesare 19/02/08   56.   The right of Israel to exist is questioned 12:00  |  Jonathan S 19/02/08   57.   SIT IN A GERMAN 12:05  |  KING DAVID 19/02/08   58.   the so called professors are ignorant of history 12:15  |  v hardman 19/02/08   59.   THERE`D BE NO HOLOCAUST IF NOT FOR NAZI GERMANY 12:16  |  Petra 19/02/08   60.   To a certain extent the intellectuals are correct...... 12:18  |  Swiss (Dino) 19/02/08   61.   "German intellectuals": you have had your pound of flesh 12:20  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 19/02/08   62.   SMALL GROUP OF FRINGE LEFTIST GERMANS, HAARETZ IS ANTI-ISRAEL 12:24  |  Steve Randolph 19/02/08   63.   iraq childre are also victems of holucost 12:35  |  buckrogers 19/02/08   64.   intellectuals hate Israel...Stupid like it 12:38  |  Stein 19/02/08   65.   nazi attitudes 12:43  |  tomkrishan 19/02/08   66.   nazi attitudes 12:43  |  tomkrishan 19/02/08   67.   nazi attitudes 12:43  |  tomkrishan 19/02/08   68.   Well said 26, Puhi 12:52  |  Nihat 19/02/08   69.   RAW TRUTH 12:53  |  danny 19/02/08   70.   This is the sad truth 12:54  |  El-Birawi 19/02/08   71.   German intell. citing Ahmadenijehad´s UN-speech word by word!