German perspectives on the Israel-Gaza conflict
The Frankfurt Book Fair has been making videos available on YouTube from this year’s event, which took place October 18 - 22 October 2023.
This is the English version of one on the Israel-Palestine crisis1, featuring the journalist Alena Jabarine and Meron Mendel, director of the Bildungsstätte Anne Frank and the Israeli-German author of Über Israel Reden (2023), which deals with historical-cultural controversies related to Israel in Germany the last several years. This was basically two weeks after the October 7 Hamas attack, and the timing is relevant in listening to this discussion.
Mendel sees himself as part of the Israeli left, which has been getting small over the decades. In his book, he talks about his surprise after moving to Germany about how ideologically sectarian the German left (meaning left of Social Democrats in this context) can be. And for someone who grew up in the fractious politics of Israel, that’s saying a lot!
Germany’s foreign policy has been firmly and largely uncritically on Israel’s side during the current crisis. Here is an English-language report on the position Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) has been taking.2
Israel and Palestine - Ways out of irreconcilability. Buchmesse YouTube channel 11/10/2023. (Accessed: 2023-22-11).
Germany's FM Baerbock rejects calls for cease-fire in Gaza. DW News YouTube channel 11/21/2023. (Accessed: 2023-22-11).