This is worrying. Does that mean that politicians are more principled than the German people?
Not necessarily. It’s a really difficult and nuanced issue within Germany, that’s not easily put into a few sentences I’m afraid. So take my words with a pinch of salt, please.
Due to our history, there is certainly a feeling of responsibility towards Israel and the Jewish people in general. Which I believe is for the absolute most part justified and a good thing. Israeli statehood is seen through this lens around here. And I agree with the broader sentiment, that one of the lessons from wwII has to be the necessity of Israeli statehood.
That makes it difficult to discuss certain things. Because due to the heightened sensitivity, antisemitic people use a lot of dogwhistling to get their points across. And they usually start by mentioning mostly legitimate criticism, for example on the way Israel was founded, the quasi apartheid there and so on. And on that they usually continue with the stuff that’s actually antisemitic. Which is something many people in our society and in politics are quite aware of.
So there have always been instances, where legit criticism served quite abhorrent purposes. And while it’s good that so many people are aware of that, this makes it very tough to voice criticism in a constructive manner.
When it comes to Palestine, there are even more issues at play. There is a general distrust regarding this topic towards left activists, who could otherwise shape the debate more constructively. Mostly because during the time of domestic terrorism in Germany, in the 60s, 70s and 80s, radical left wing groups committed quite a few terror attacks, sometimes in the name of Palestine or at least while sympathising with their cause. That has caused quite a lot of skepticism from the political middle in Germany towards these causes. They remember the supporters of Palestine as radical and violent.
Than there were instances with right wing terror groups, for example the Wehrsportgruppe Hoffmann, where flat out Nazis enjoyed refuge and military training by Palestinian groups or their associates and put this training into practice by murdering Jews in Germany. Which also leads to the middle and some people from the left being even more skeptical towards the Palestinian cause.
So it’s not just wwII that’s an issue here. Many people grew up in Germany with the horrors of the Holocaust present everywhere and then saw all these radical terror groups committing atrocities for this very cause. And the people who grew up like this, who grew up with the history of the Holocaust, terror attacks, conspiracy theories and so on, aren’t that open for criticism of Israel.
Basically the generation of my grandparents and the boomers grew up like that.
And if you’re a politician being critical of Israel, you risk that bad faith actors use that criticism in order to paint you as some sort of radical antisemite. It’s easy to score points this way, especially close to elections.
Add all this and more to the generally rising Islamophobia in Germany, actual issues with communities that are mostly Islamic and open to radical views and voices, actually targeted by Erdogan and the likes and you get a completely poisoned debate. It doesn’t help that many groups protesting this just cause, do this without distancing themselves from Hamas and the likes.
So basically, right wing groups usually don’t protest for the Palestinian cause. If they did, they would not find acceptance. Left groups are also seen with skepticism in regards to this topic and so are Islamic groups. And the middle in Germany doesn’t do protest, usually. So Palestinian support is always seen with the most skepticism there could be. Sadly.