_{On the picture: Concentration Camp Memorial Site Dachau – Picture taken by the author}

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Nils is my nephew. Between him and me there are, give or take, three decades in age. Ever since I can remember we are very close. Souls don’t know age difference.

He is living in Neukölln, a district of Berlin known for its energy from its multi-cultural scene, or should I say “scenes”, because like neighboring Kreuzberg, it’s diversity is hard to describe, but wonderful to experience: Spend a spring or summer evening there in street cafes, with a view overlooking waterways and cobblestone scenery, vibrant international people gathering, discussing, having fun, it’s quite magic.

Mariam from Egypt and Nils from Germany are married. Last time I visited, I lost myself in their hospitality, our discussions, lovely Arab food and I had to rush back to my campsite in the “deep southeast” of Berlin (former East-Berlin) before the gates were closing.

When I published my post “The Attack on Humanity by Terrorism: Blinding and manipulating through inciting hatred and fear on an unimaginable scale – The monster hides in plain sight”, Nils wrote me an email, offering his perspective. In subsequent family discussions I sensed how much the public discussion of Israel and Palestine had touched very raw nerves of people in their everyday lives. So I invited him to share his comments on my blog. He translated his text into English, and here it is.

I find it gripping. Nils has put his finger on a very uncomfortable truth here. So, read it. Observe your emotions when you read it. It’s important to do that. I will follow on in another blog entry.

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“Dear Uncle,

I appreciate your post and share your perspective on the horrific loss of life at the hands of Hamas. October 7 is still in our memories and as time progresses I would like to add two perspectives: on Germany and its domestic discourse, and on the conflict itself.

In the weeks after Hamas’ horrific attack on innocent civilians and the ensuing violence in Palestine, I have come to doubt whether we, as Germans, have fully grasped the lessons of our own history. Germany’s historic guilt for the Shoah and WWII enshrined the principle ‘never again’ in our cultural identity. Never again must Jewish life be endangered by violence, in Germany and elsewhere in the world. I appreciate this lesson and its importance becomes ever more urgent as we witness a surge of anti-Semitic violence. It is deplorable and, primarily, a problem of our own making that Jewish life in Germany is threatened by hate crimes. After all, the Federal Criminal Police Office reports that 85% of anti-Semitic hate crimes are committed by native Germans.

Looking at the German public discourse I am very much worried that we reduce the painful lesson of our history selectively. “Never again” must signify “never again for anyone”, regardless of your ethnicity, religion or constructed social identities. Yet we are witnessing a massive shift in political discourse as migrant life is increasingly criminalized by means of legislation and law enforcement, whether in schools, workplaces, or on the streets. We focus heavily on language [is Hamas a terror organisation or a government, is a protest chant insinuating other meaning, is it fair to classify Israeli policies as Apartheid] that we fail to have a genuine discussion about the events on the ground. Jewish and Palestinian voices are loud and clear on these issues, we have so far failed to listen.

In Berlin, Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Muslims call for a ceasefire and a two-state solution, side by side. In this sense your dream is a reality today. However, your dream takes a bizarre if not sinister turn looking at the arrests by German police of Jewish individuals with anti- or left-Zionist beliefs for sedition as they speak out against the violence in Gaza. Yes, German police arrests Jewish life for using the right to freedom of expression on German soil. Civil society organisations such as Oyoun that created cross-cultural spaces for difficult conversations between Arabs and Jews have had funding and therefore their life lines removed.  Artists and cultural workers from the Global South that create truly special alliances with Arabs and Jews and imagine shared futures are being cancelled, forced to resign, or refuse to appear in public from fear of reprisals or being slandered by the German press. Empathy flourishes at the heart of civil society, yet politicians and decision-makers from right and traditionally left-of-centre parties defame and dismantle these non-German perspectives.

Instead, we have a narrative that ignores all of these voices and portrays the two sides as irreconcilable. It seems too uncomfortable for the German public to be called upon by Jewish and Arab groups demanding equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians. It seems so uncomfortable that opinions that challenge this status quo are silenced for sedition or other charges. Meanwhile German mainstream public and private media does their part in communicating only a very narrow perspective on the conflict. Hateful celebrations of a small number of people in the aftermath of the Hamas’ attacks were amplified. Cross-cultural protests, the attitude of protesters and their slogans are misrepresented and racial prejudices are spread. At the same time, media reports about Arabs and Jews in Germany and abroad as a homogenous mass and juxtaposes their interests and needs. This enables alt-right discourses and strengthens their political parties, such as the AfD.

What does that mean for the health of our own democracy and values of Enlightenment?

Palestinian and Arab life in Germany was removed of their right to freedom of expression in the first weeks of October. Children are prohibited from wearing the Kufija or show a Palestinian flag in school, criminalising their identity instead of engaging them on important discussions. Longstanding slogans of civil rights movements are being taken out of context and criminalized, in public spaces and in protests. German muslims and migrants are expected to verbally distance themselves from Hamas in every public and private conversation, fostering that people with a specific background need to prove themselves or cannot be trusted. Do I need to justify myself in every conversation that I am in fact not a Nazi, despite my identity?

The result is a slow erosion of political cultural and rights in Germany today. And reality is unfortunately as harsh as it sounds: non-European migrant and German communities, whether from the Middle East or elsewhere, feel unsafe as their social and political realities are marginalized, criminalized, and their fundamental freedoms restricted.

Stefan, the lessons of “never again” stipulate that the dignity and integrity of ALL life should guide our actions. We must call out injustice wherever it occurs. Israel’s defense against Hamas’ attacks is a logical response to a vile assault on our shared humanity. Let us remind ourselves that Palestinians themselves do not favour Hamas, with only 27% of Gaza’s residents supporting Hamas before October 7. This figure is comparable to German’s support for the right-wing and anti-constitutional party AfD in Germany.

The massive loss of Palestinian life is a direct result from the horrific assaults of Hamas in Israel’s soil. Yet as we look at Gaza and the West Bank today, we cannot overlook and excuse the Israeli government’s collective punishment of Palestinian life at the hand of a government that rejects a two-state solution, builds settlements at an alarming rate and openly endorses apartheid policies. The dehumanizing rhetoric adopted by Israeli officials pave the way for mass atrocities. We witness this today as we observe an unprecedented destruction of civilian infrastructure and loss of life in Gaza. In the West Bank, settler violence flourishes under the protection of the Israeli Defence Force. Back home, in safety and privilege, we label any criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic, no matter if such criticism is vocalized by human rights organizations, governments, the UN or even Jewish-Israeli opposition to the Netanjahu government.

Why can’t we condemn the injustices in the West Bank, the collective punishment in Gaza, and Hamas’s heinous attacks with equal vigor? To what extend are we enabling an apartheid regime that solidifies its control under the guise of war? Why are Palestinians and Arabs not allowed to mourn their dead and voice their outrage with the collective punishment of Palestinian life? Why are we, as Germans with a Nazi history, so focused on Palestinians denouncing Hamas and anti-Semitism while arresting Jewish individuals demanding equality and safety for everyone? As a nation with a complex history, why can’t we engage the multifaceted reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict with empathy and dialogue for both sides? Why can’t we understand that Palestinians cannot pay for our own atrocities?

As per international law, neutral bystanders of crimes against humanity and severe human rights violations bear responsibility. Germany is politically not neutral in this conflict and its military exports to Israel are up nearly 10-fold. We stigmatize Jewish and migrant lives due to our inability to critically engage with our past and our allies. It is uncomfortable to us Germans with Nazi history to look in the mirror and critically reflect for fear of standing on the wrong side of history. Our solidarity with and historic responsibility for Jewish life must not lead us down a path of supporting violence and denying another people’s right to self-determination. We risk betraying our fundamental principles of human dignity and democratic freedoms in reaction to our historical traumas. We alienate and disrespect Jewish perspectives, German and non-German people of color and, in the process, thereof, risk losing our own humanity.

Uncle, I appreciate the conversation that you have started. We are the generations that follow the Shoah and the atrocities of World War II. It is our historic responsibility to uphold and apply its lessons to all life, to uphold their dignity and integrity in Germany and abroad.”

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_{Note as of 25 November: Very small editorial corrections on request from Nils for clarity. Since the blog post has been up since one day and has been read, and since these are not grammar corrections, here the corrections for transparency:}

_{a) German muslims and migrants are expected to verbally distance themselves from Hamas…}

_{b) Do I need to justify myself abroad (remove word)…}

_{c) non-European migrant and German communities…}

_{d) We alienate and disrespect diverse Jewish perspectives, German and non-German people of color and…}