Jewish groups criticise German panel on anti-Semitism

[Behind the Aegis]

Jewish groups have strongly criticised the German government for creating a commission to tackle anti-Semitism that does not include a single Jew.

A spokesman for the Moses Mendelssohn Centre for European-Jewish Studies in Germany said it was a "scandal".

The centre announced on Tuesday that it was creating a rival panel of experts.

Germany's interior ministry set up the independent commission to fight anti-Semitism and support Jewish life.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31385145

[hr]

Sounds about right.

[Jesus Malverde]

1. Waves of young Israelis find a home in the former Nazi capital

BERLIN — When Nir Ivenizki told his grandmother back home in Tel Aviv that he was emigrating from Israel to Germany, the first thing she did was produce a gun. The tenacious 88-year-old had wielded the antique pistol during World War II, when she fought with a band of Jewish partisans in Nazi-occupied Poland.

“Be careful in Germany,” Ivenizki recalled her saying as she displayed the weapon to emphasize her point. “Do what you want, but I hope you’re sure.”

Ivenizki was sure enough to kiss grandma on the cheek, pack his bags and follow an unlikely trail being blazed by thousands of young Israelis who are moving to Germany. The vast majority are landing in Berlin, the former Nazi capital that is fast emerging as a beacon for young Jews escaping a surge in anti-Semitism in surrounding countries, including Hungary and France.

“You cannot forget the past,” said Ivenizki, 32, who opened a cafe-record store in the exceedingly hip Berlin neighborhood of Neukölln last month. “But I’m interested in the present and the future. Germany is now one of the most socially accepting countries in the world.”

The wave of newcomers from Israel is accelerating the rebirth of Jewish culture in the country that nearly extinguished it, bringing the long-lost scent of freshly baked rugelach and hamantaschen cookies back to the streets of Berlin. But the flow of new arrivals is also sparking an uproar in Israel, where everyone from leading politicians to Holocaust survivors is denouncing the exodus to Germany.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/waves-of-young-israelis-find-a-home-in-the-former-nazi-capital/2014/10/21/7ecd02bf-70fa-4b9f-b226-c4be22049a2f_story.html

Germany or Israel, an easy choice for many.

[Exhibit A]

3. Does the idea of a "wave" of Jewish immigrants disturb you? n/t

[Jesus Malverde]

5. I think it shows that people of Jewish faith and background.

Can find a thriving progressive multicultural community in Europe, England and America.

I think it's awesome.

[Behind the Aegis]

10. Except they aren't.

Most Jews are leaving Europe. Germany is the only exception.

[Jesus Malverde]

13. Most people of Jewish faith and background are NOT leaving Europe.

I'd love for you to back up your claim with something other than hyperbole.

What is happening in Europe and the United states is that people of Jewish faith or background are intermarrying, rejecting old religious traditions, rejecting an apartheid Israel and getting on with their lives, in the lands of their births.

Young people of ALL faiths are choosing secular lives over religious dogma.

[Behind the Aegis]

14. "Most" was the wrong word.

But, there are a number of Jews leaving Europe. Again, this isn't about Israel, but about anti-Semitism. Why do you insist on changing the subject?

[JustAnotherGen]

28. Yes - they are

http://www.newsweek.com/2014/08/08/exodus-why-europes-jews-are-fleeing-once-again-261854.html

A survey published in November 2013 by the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union found that 29% had considered emigrating as they did not feel safe. Jews across Europe, the survey noted, “face insults, discrimination and physical violence, which despite concerted efforts by both the EU and its member states, shows no signs of fading into the past”.

Two-thirds considered anti-Semitism to be a problem across the countries surveyed. Overall, 76% said that anti-Semitism had worsened over the past five years in their home countries, with the most marked deteriorations in France, Hungary and Belgium. The European Jewish Congress has now set up a website, sacc.eu, to give advice and contacts in the events of an attack.

“The tendency is very alarming,” says Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency, which links Israel with diaspora communities and organises immigration. “The level of concern about security in Europe is higher than in Asia or Latin America. This feeling of insecurity is growing. It’s difficult to imagine that in France, Belgium and many other countries Jewish people are told not to go out on the streets wearing a kippah.”

A survey by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in New York found similar results. The ADL Global 100 surveyed 53,000 adults in 102 countries. It found that 26% held deeply anti-Semitic attitudes, answering “probably true” to six or more of 11 negative stereotypes of Jews.

Note - a few days ago I posted my sentiments about Netanyahu-

1. He's no different than Dick Cheney
2. I want to know who in the 1% is paying him.
3. He's a piece of garbage used sales man.



The article at Newsweek is a fairly good snapshot of the problem.

Anti Semitism is on the rise in Europe.
In Western Europe - anger at Gypsies and Muslims and Eastern Europeans is escalating as well.



Eta- more:


http://www.thelocal.fr/20140513/french-jews-heading-to-israel-could-hit-record-high

"I asked some people making aliyah their reasons for moving to Israel and they seemed very upbeat.

"They didn’t cite anti-Semitism. They just felt it was time to come to the homeland. They identified with the Jewish people and the Jewish state. Some had relatives here.

"Their reasons were linked to faith and community more than anything else.”

But Parsons accepted that the impact of the 2012 Toulouse school shooting, in which three Jewish pupils and a Rabbi were gunned down by Al-Qaeda inspired gunman Mohamed Merah could not be discounted.

France's Jewish community is one of the largest in Europe and pegged at around 500,000.

The number of French Jews leaving for Israel has been growing steadily.  A total of 1,907 left in 2012 and it rose to 3,280 in 2013.

It's not hyperbole.

[Behind the Aegis]

6. Which has nothing to do with the topic.

Once again, conflating Jews and Israel. tut-tut

[Jesus Malverde]

8. It's a reflection on the successes of people of Jewish faith and background

Living In Germany.

What is more outrageous is that someone's religious affiliation or ethnic background would be used as criteria in granting them a job.

From the article

A spokeswoman for the ministry told The Associated Press news agency that the question of religious affiliation was not part of the panel's selection process.

This is how secular multicultural societies work.

[Behind the Aegis]

9. No, it's a deflection.

If one is going to discuss racism, you'd best have some people other than white folks in the commission.

"What is more outrageous is that someone's religious affiliation or ethnic background would be used as criteria in granting them a job. "



Yeah, because that is what is happening. Now, I understand your stupid post: it's all about "special privileges."

[Jesus Malverde]

11. Looking at someone ethnicity or family background when considering them for a job.

Is racism pure and simple.

[Behind the Aegis]

12. Uh, no, it isn't.

It is also irrelevant to this conversation. This is a commission charged with discussing anti-Semitism, seems having first-person knowledge would be prudent.

[JustAnotherGen]

36. I disagree on this too

If it is true - then the NAACP is inherently racist.

[COLGATE4]

42. There was a time, not so long ago

when Jews in Germany believed that Germany was the 'new Jerusalem' for them. Certainly there was little of the overt antisemitism prevalent in other European countries. German Jews were proudly German, first, last and always and tended to look down on their more parochial kinsmen from Eastern Europe who failed to assimilate. Jews in that Germany enjoyed equal rights and protection under the law and were prominent in the professions, commerce and government.

[Jesus Malverde]

2. IS BERLIN the new Jerusalem?

IS BERLIN the new Jerusalem? A Facebook page launched in Hebrew this month on how to move to a city far from rockets and rocketing prices in Israel has gone viral, reaching 600,000 people in a week. It is called Olim Le-Berlin, “Let’s ascend to Berlin”, using the same rousing verb Jews reserve for emigrating, or “ascending”, to Israel. An Israeli band sings a similar tune, turning the lyrics of Israel’s favourite song, “Jerusalem of Gold”, into a yearning for a “Reichstag of Peace, euro, and light”. Even Professor Manuel Trajtenberg, a leading economist commissioned by the government to look at the high cost of living, which sparked mass protests in 2011, has piped in. “Berlin is more attractive than Tel Aviv,” he says.

The response from official Israel has been vitriolic. Yisrael Ha-Yom, seen as the mouthpiece of the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, chided Berlin’s ascenders on its front page. The voice of the nationalist right decried them as an insult to all Holocaust survivors. “See you in the gas chambers,” commented one critic on the Facebook page. The finance minister, Yair Lapid, has promised to extend price controls to more food items.

Emigration rates hardly justify such uproar. The German Federal Statistics Office records an increase of just 400 Israeli immigrants per year. Overall, Israel reckons there were about 16,000 new émigrés (inevitably called “descenders”) in 2012, but they were more than offset by incoming Jews from Eastern Europe, America and France, who tend to be more religious and right-wing. Though the Israeli diaspora is growing in Berlin, London and Barcelona, the trend is hardly new. Some 700,000 Israelis have abandoned the Promised Land since its creation, says Sergio DellaPergola, a demographer.

That said, the West’s multicultural cities are exercising a growing attraction, particularly on young, single, non-religious and increasingly female graduates—the type who made Tel Aviv cool. Many Israelis temporarily fled the country during Israel’s summer war in Gaza, after wailing sirens emptied the beaches and kept people indoors. Over Sabbath meals, Israelis who are worried about growing intolerance discuss whether to put their children or their country first.

Snip

Israelis with Ashkenazi, or East European, ancestry are queuing at German, Hungarian and Polish consulates for what was once regarded as a shameful act of seeking European passports. Their numbers will only swell if the Spanish parliament approves a plan to grant nationality to potentially millions of Sephardi Jews, descended from those it expelled in 1492.

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21623796-some-israelis-yearn-new-lives-germany-next-year-berlin

As Israel grows increasingly right wing and embraces intolerant religious dogma, progressives will continue to seek refuge in the west. Living in a right wing apartheid state isn't for progressives. People of Jewish faith and background are thriving in Europe and the Americas.

[Exhibit A]

4. Just bizarre.

I don't see how such a commission could function effectively without input from Jews about the kinds of experiences they are having with anti-Semitism right now. That, and it's always a little alarming when outsiders want to take over the discussion of how to promote a minority's interests. Reminds me of the expresssion about men telling women "how to do feminism," as if they have any idea.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. Not really, as exemplifed by other remarks here.

I have seen commissions like this before. It takes a special kind of stupid to discuss a group and not have any members of that group present.

[msongs]

15. did it include any palestinians? they are semites too nt

[Behind the Aegis]

16. Once again...

an·ti-Sem·i·tism
/ˌan(t)ēˈseməˌtizəm/

noun

noun: antisemitism

hostility to or prejudice against Jews.

Note the word JEWS not "Semites".

How predictable.

[leftynyc]

38. HOw may more times are you

going to have to school people on that very simple concept? It's like they refuse to hear.

[Warren DeMontague]

17. Hopefully the Germans will be sensitive to the concerns and address them.

[Behind the Aegis]

18. More so than others.

Seems every time anti-Semitism is the topic, the "whataboutery" goes into hyper-drive.

[Warren DeMontague]

19. Indeed

Odd, isn't it?

[Behind the Aegis]

20. Predicatable is more like it!

It is amazing how some minorities aren't really minorities when discussion about their issues are invoked. Just recently, I learned that calling a gay man a "faggot" is acceptable if done by a woman because we (gay men) have more rights.

[Warren DeMontague]

21. ***

[reorg]

22. well, the spokesman for the Moses Mendelssohn Centre

Prof. Schoeps was a member of the previous commission which published its report and recommendations in 2011.

The new commission is somewhat smaller, some experts are the same as in the previous commission, others, like Prof. Schoeps, have retired.

This commission of independent experts is selected by all parties in the Bundestag, its members are mostly scientists with proven expertise in the field. I'm not sure what the problem is, apparently there are differences in opinion among the previous commission members over whether the demonstrations against Israel's bombing attacks last year revealed a 'new anti-Semitism' or something.

[Behind the Aegis]

23. The problem is they are discussing issues affecting Jews with no Jews on the commission.

It isn't rocket science. You don't appoint an ambassador from Russia who isn't Russian, so why would you have a commission on anti-Semitism with no one who is a Jew?

[reorg]

24. there is most likely a problem somewhere

but I doubt it has much to do with the religious affiliation of the commission members. Even if they recruit additional members with Jewish heritage, which they will certainly do following the protest by Prof. Schoeps, it is still a commission of independent experts (sociologists, psychologists but not necessarily historians like Prof. Schoeps).

It is not a group meant to represent the Jewish minority, there are better institutions for this such as the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

[Behind the Aegis]

25. Yes, the problem is there are no Jews on the panel.

As I already said, not rocket science. What you and the others seem to fail to grasp is having a member of the affected group makes sense. While Jews have a multitude of opinions, not having their opinions or EXPERTISE on a COMMISSION about anti-Semitism is simply daft and short-sighted. No one said it was meant to "represent" Jews, except for you.

[reorg]

26. what makes you think that 'their' opinions or expertise

will not be heard and included in the next report of that group of independent experts (unabhängiger Expertenkreis)? They most definitely will.

Here is the Google translation of the previous report, it also includes 12 pages with bibliographical references:

I. Anti-Semitism - Definition context and 4
1. Introduction: order, self-concept and operation of the independent
expert group on anti-Semitism 4
2. Anti-Semitism - Definition and forms 10
II. Survey 14
1. Anti-Semitism in the right-wing - both external and internal functions,
formal and ideological variants 14
2. Anti-Semitism and left-wing extremism. An analysis of Israel or
Critique of capitalism in the public discourse 23
3. Digression: For testing of anti-Semitism accusations against the
globalization movement and the network "Attac" 30
4. Crimes motivated by anti-semitism 35
5. Anti-Semitism in Islam 42
III. Antisemitism in the plural society 54
1. Anti-Semitic attitudes in Germany - findings of opinion polls 54
2. Anti-Semitism in political discourse, culture and everyday life 66
3. Migrants and anti-Semitism 78
4. handing down of anti-Semitic stereotypes by societal socialization 84
5. stereotypes, prejudices, resentment and stereotyping in the media 98
Anti-Semitism in the Turkish language media 109
Anti-Semitism in Arabic-speaking Islamist television:
"Al-Manar TV" and "Al-Aqsa TV" 118
German-speaking Iranian and sympathizing with the Iranian regime media 123
6. presence and perception of anti-Semitism in society 127
7. International commitment against anti-Semitism and findings from
other European countries 137
IV. Prevention Measures 146
V. Conclusion - the main findings of the report 176
VI. recommendations

[Behind the Aegis]

27. What makes you think it will? Your paste?

You do realize the previous report, by your own links, included a Jew, right? Why is this a difficult concept to grasp? Do you think and all white commission would be acceptable for a "Commission of Racism against African-Americans"? How about a commission on Islamophobia with no Muslims?

[reorg]

30. several things

my general knowledge of the political platforms of the parties who selected the members of this group, personal knowledge of Germans, attitudes and opinions in Germany, a few semesters studying sociology and politics in Germany, the fact that some members of this group work at the Center for Research on anti-Semitism at the TU Berlin and so forth.

Yes, I am aware that Prof. Schoeps is the descendant of a well-known family of scholars reaching back to the famous philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, but I believe the expert group will be able to produce an objective and valid report even without his personal participation. And if somebody else who identifies himself as Jewish and has the necessary expertise can join the group, great. I don't think anybody would have any objections.

[Behind the Aegis]

32. I don't recall anyone claiming Jewish experts couldn't join the group.

Well, except for your post. No one has claimed, except for you, that Prof. Schoeps is required to create "an objective and valid report even without his personal participation."

Commission announced for "Combatting Sexism", all male panel announced.

Yeah, no issues.

[reorg]

34. I don't recall it either

But I think you were under the impression that someone did not want the participation of Jews in this expert group, and I believe your impression is mistaken.

The actual but somewhat hidden problem seems to be that a former member of this group, Prof. Schoeps, disagrees with some experts of the Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung who are said to 'belittle' what elsewhere (by Prof. Schoeps, among others) has been described as blatant anti-Semitism during demonstrations against the Israel bombing of Gaza last year. Another point of criticism was that the group allegedly has no members with sufficient expertise on Israel and the conflict(s) in the Middle East.

[Behind the Aegis]

45. You made the assumption.

And your impression is wrong, therefore your conclusion is also incorrect.

[Pooka Fey]

31. + 1000

[JustAnotherGen]

29. I have an idea

The Republican House and Senate members should take over the NAACP and fill its leadership ONLY with white males.





Stupid idea - right?


On the one hand I see that perhaps they realize the problem with anti semitism as an "internal feeling/thought" has to be fixed by those who are anti Semitic. And that's good!

On the other hand - their privilege is showing.

[Jesus Malverde]

40. If the NAACP were not a private organization

You might be right. Private organizations and government organizations have different standards and requirements for hiring.

[JustAnotherGen]

43. So can you honestly tell me

Why you are okay with a bunch of people who have never felt the sting of abject racial hatred (most anti semites seem to thing Jews are this other kind of magical being with horns and wings and whatnot) trying to tell the people who HAVE in their country what can be done about the situation?


And it's funny - NAACP - bigoted white folks would disagree with you all day 'til Sunday. They are the same ones who seem to *think* there's all these free rides to college for black folks . . . they scream 'reverse racism'.

[NaturalHigh]

33. It seems sort of like empaneling a group of wolves...

to discuss the welfare of sheep.

[Bluenorthwest]

37. It's like the way Republicans run their panels on Choice, all white men, all the time....

nt

[COLGATE4]

39. and then pissing and moaning when they

get called on it.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

41. Next Up --

Westboro Baptist "Church" appointed to investigate hate crimes against LGBT community.

[Dr. Strange]

44. Reminds me of the Conference on Women held in Saudi Arabia.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/28/saudi-arabian-womens-conference-picture_n_3515062.html