Eine Reaktion auf den deutschen
Botschafter Dressler in Israel
von Dr. Izzeddin Musa
Der Anlass, ein
veröffentlichter Text des Botschafters Dressler:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=509968
A German national interest
By Rudolph Dressler
Four years of life and work in Israel means
constantly coping with a crisis situation, but also a feeling that one
has already been in Israel for 15 years. Where have the four years gone?
Four weeks after my first day of work in Israel (on September 1, 2000),
the second intifada erupted. Since then, Israel has suffered a suicide
attack every 10th day, on average, as well as 10 shooting attacks per
day. It is clear that such horror does not leave a society without scars.
From a distance of a four-hour flight, the question
arises about the views being sounded today in Germany regarding the
Middle East, in general, and Israel, in particular. These views are
developed through reading, listening and watching. How would things be
reported and analyzed in Germany if the tragic suicide shooting at the
Erfurt school in 2002, which claimed 17 lives, was to reoccur every 10
days? Or, would the population remain mostly calm if the media in
Germany were required to report every day about 10 shooting attacks? In
what condition would my country find itself if, over a four-year period
(relative to population size), there were more than 12,000 people killed
and nearly 70,000 injured?
Every place in Israel, every step, is saturated with
history. Whether a person is religious or not, it is hard to ignore the
aura of this region. Life in Israeli society reminds me again and again
of the central German question: How was it possible for the murderous
views of Hitler – his anti-Semitism that led to genocide - to succeed in
Germany? Why was the majority a party to this, witnessing it and turning
its head? Facing up to Nazism and the uniqueness of the crime,
especially when in Israel, makes it clear that the defiant demand of a
few to end the discussion on the Nazi past is contrary to Germany's own
interests. One can only be pleased by the repeated failure of these
attempts.
Nearly 60 years after the demise of Nazi Germany and
almost 40 years since diplomatic relations were established between
Israel and the second German republic - in May 1965 - the German Embassy
in Tel Aviv operates in a unique environment for German diplomacy.
Germany is today seen in the eyes of many Israeli leaders as the second
most important partner after the United States in the fields of
politics, economics, research and technology. Moreover, Germany is
considered one of Israel's important friends in the fields of culture
and intercultural cooperation. The Israeli leadership values us as an
important partner in Europe and the United Nations. We are the second
most important partner in Israel's foreign trade. On the civic level,
there are also close ties. Even in the military field, Germany has no
closer relations, outside of NATO, than those with Israel. This is also
true regarding the German presence in Israel.
Despite all this, the ice is still thin. Nearly 60
years is a long time, sometimes longer than a human lifetime. In
history, 60 years is nothing but a breeze of wind. This truth is also
not an Israeli problem, but more of a German one.
The enlargement of the European Union to 25
countries is a historic event. The single currency, the euro, is
something akin to a miracle. The economic power this generates is still
unfathomed. The inherent possibilities have only been partly elaborated
- more people than in the U.S., greater purchasing power than in the
U.S., more economic strength. These facts and possibilities are now at
Israel's doorstep. This also has political significance: Whether one
likes it or not, Europe is destined to play a more important role in the
Middle East. And herein lies the implication: Israel must decide -
economic relations only or also a renewed political approach? Israel
will not be spared a debate over partially freeing itself from the
United States.
During my 40 years in politics - in government,
parliament, party and unions - I have internalized a thought from John
F. Kennedy: Whoever seeks to change reality must first be prepared to
recognize it. I have never had to think about my country's right to
exist (even though Germany led the world to the brink of destruction
twice during the previous century), and this is an essential difference
in comparison to Israelis. There are no daily perils in my country, no
threat against our very existence. For this reason, I use the word
"security" as a key concept for reconvening a constructive process in
the Middle East. The international community must achieve security for
Israel. On this basis of security, it is easier to understand Ariel
Sharon's declaration of "painful concessions." My country wants to
assist Israel. This assistance relates to the principle we defined
during the visit of the president of the State of Israel in Berlin last
spring: Ensuring the existence of Israel is a German national interest
and is thus one of the centerpieces of our political thinking.
The writer is the ambassador of the Federal Republic
of Germany in Israel.
--------------------------
Dr. Izzeddin Musa
Wachtberg, 6. 12. 2004
Mr. Editor in Chief
Hannoch Marmari
Haaretz
Tel Aviv, Israel
Concerning the article by the German ambassador
Dressler in your newspaper
Dear Mr. Marmari,
please could you publish the following letter to the
editor,
when I read ambassador Dressler´s article I asked
myself - a German-Palästinian - what happened to this man in the last
four years in Israels. Before he left for his job he still had a
realistic opinion about Israel. Just before he left Germany he
criticized the Israeli colonial settlement policy as contradictory to
international law. This judgement was correct four years ago and is even
more valid today. The Israeli government criticized Dressler at that
time but reacted cooley
like: let him come to Israel and he will change his
mind. Indeed he did. It looks like he got prain-washed.
His opinon is a slap in the face of every
peace-loving and democratic mined citizen in Germany and elsewhere. He
compares the Israelis terror-statistics and extrapolites it to the
German population which is not serious. He ask no citical questions
which are asked in Israel from Giedon Levy or Amira Hass. which is a
shame. No country in the world - except the USA - would act as
antidemocaraic as Israel. Germany is not an occuping power and does not
strangulate another people. Why does Dressler not ask this question? His
comparison between Israel and Germany is hypothetical and an insult for
Germany. Foreign minister Joschka Fischer should cancel his appointment
immediateley.
To consider Israel part of the German national
interest is even more ridiculous. The USA is an negative example. The
US-Congess is already considered as "Israeli occupied territory". Should
the German Bundestag turn into another negative example? But the German
political class is perhaps more than willing to take this extra burden.
Their masochism is without bounderies. Such an proposal is more than
absurd. It is a pitty that the German public is not fully informed about
the grotesk suggestions which their political representatives make
abroad. It is time that Dressler leaves his job for ever.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Izzeddin Musa
Am Bonner Graben 19
53343 Wachtberg
----------------------
Der veröffentlichte Brief:
HAARETZ.com, Thu. December 9, 2004
Letters to the Editor
A slap in the face
Regarding "A German national interest" by Rudolph
Dressler,
Haaretz, December 5
When I read Ambassador Rudolph Dressler's article, I
asked myself - a German-Palestinian - what happened to this man in the
last four years in Israel? Before he left for his job, he still had a
realistic opinion about Israel. Just before he left Germany, he
criticized Israel's colonial settlement policy as contradictory to
international law. This judgment was correct four years ago and is even
more valid today.
His opinion is a slap in the face of every
peace-loving and democratic-minded citizen in Germany and elsewhere. He
compares the Israeli terror statistics and extrapolates them to the
German population, which is not serious. Germany is not an occupying
power and does not strangulate another people. Why does Dressler not ask
this question? His comparison between Israel and Germany is hypothetical
and an insult for Germany. To consider Israel part of the German
national interest is even more ridiculous. The United States is a
negative example. The U.S. Congress is considered "Israeli-occupied
territory." Should the German Bundestag turn into another negative
example?
Dr. Izzeddin Musa
Wachtberg, Germany
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www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=50996 