Germany has come out swinging in its recent support of Israel, condemning the boycott of Israeli products and cultural events as antisemitic. Criticizing antisemitism would have changed the course of history 90 years ago. Is this just a case of bad timing?
Today, it is not Israeli Jews facing racism, violence and the systematic erasure of their culture; it is the Palestinians. Jews in Israel don't need protection any more than the Nazis did during the Third Reich. What the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians is almost exactly what was done to Jews in the 1930's.
Maybe Germany just doesn't get that human rights are for all people, not just for those in power. In the years up to WW II, all the Germans could talk about was racial purity and how they needed other people's lands, about the same things being demanded by Israelis today.
In fact, Germany and Israel have agreed on human rights issues before. Both countries opposed the boycott of apartheid South Africa, and both considered Nelson Mandela a terrorist. Human rights for Black South Africans was about the last thing that either country cared about when it mattered the most.
Germans may think that aligning with Israel will somehow erase the horrors of the Holocaust. It's a cheap fix. Germany is abandoning the Palestinians now for short term commercial and geopolitical gain. Once again, the Germans are on the wrong side of history; they have learned so very little.
Fred Nagel