One aspect of the rising tide of anti-Semitism in Europe that is particularly perplexing for onlookers is the way hatred of Israel and Jews has been taken up by leading intellectuals. Perhaps the most egregious example of this trend is that of Gunter Grass. Grass, a Nobel laureate for literature and perhaps one of the leading figures of German letters of the postwar era, is a veteran leftist known for his hatred for the United States as well as his background as a member of the Hitler Youth and the Waffen SS under the Nazi regime. But yesterday, the author of The Tin Drum was back in the news for writing a poem defending Iran and attacking Israel.
Grass not only denied that Iran is working on a nuclear weapon but also denounced German support for Israel and called on the German government to halt the sale of submarines that are key to the Jewish state’s deterrence against aggression. Though Iran’s leaders have repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel as well as denying the Holocaust, Grass promotes a new blood libel when he claims it is Israel that is plotting to wipe out Iran and is the primary threat to world peace.
It is telling that even as hard-core an Israeli leftist as author Tom Segev was willing to denounce Grass’ latest effort in Haaretz. Though he put the poem down as being “more pathetic than anti-Semitic,” Segev made it clear the German’s attempt to paint Israel as the villain and Iran as the victim was absurd:
Grass’ comparison of Israel and Iran is unfair, because unlike Iran, Israel has never threatened to wipe another country off the map. And contrary to Grass’ sanctimonious verses, under no circumstances would a military action against Iran lead to the extermination of the Iranian people, because as far as we know, it would exclusively target the country’s nuclear facilities.
Few could dispute that the world will be a better place without an Iranian nuclear weapon. And not only in Israel – also the northern German town of Lubeck, the capital of marzipan, where Grass writes, paints and sculpts, will be a better place if Iran doesn’t get the bomb. Grass basks in hypocritical moralism and agonizes over not having condemned Israel’s nuclear capacity earlier. … One gets the impression Grass’ act of “breaking the silence” is more a self-contained personal experience than anything else. Neither can one escape the notion that he seeks to recreate the shock waves of his confession six years ago about his service in the Waffen SS during World War II.
Segev was right to note that Israelis are having a debate about whether an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities is necessary or wise. But he is wrong to acquit Grass of anti-Semitism. His work is indicative of a desire to demonize the one Jewish state in the world while whitewashing the record of an Islamist regime awash in Jew-hatred and dedicated to annihilating Israel. Like many other European intellectuals, Grass adopts a pose in which he claims to be innocent of anti-Semitism. His vitriol aimed at Israel and his assistance to the campaign to strip it of its right to self-defense betrays his motives and ideology.
The spectacle of a former Nazi penning a rationalization of a regime that promotes a similar style of hate for Jews may well be pathetic. But that such a person is treated as the conscience of his nation speaks volumes about the debased nature of intellectual discourse in contemporary Europe. Thanks to figures like Grass and other leading lights of the arts such as Britain’s Emma Thompson, anti-Semitism is having its best days in Europe since the author was saluting Hitler in the SS.
Herr Grass is right on the money. Nazi Israel's threats to annihilate 1.5 Billion Muslims and quiet, decent countries like Norway who object is well known. It is high time Germany stooped its endless mea culpas to Israels and stood firm against its Evil. Many civilized people in the world are now realizing that Hitler may have been very prescient.
I don't think the Comments section of Contention should be open to Hitler supporters and posters supporting genocide. After all, we neo-conservative should recognize the difference between free speech and committing suicide.
That's it; scratch that anti-semitic itch. You'll feel much better.
Please tell me this is a parody.
Former? Nazi? I see nothing former about him. There's really nothing else to say.
What must be said n nWhy have I been silent, silent for so long?, nOur generals have gamed it out, nConfident the west will survive. nWe people have not even been considered. n nWhat is this right to “preventive war”? nA war that could erase the Iranian people. nDominated by it’s neighbor, pulsing with righteousness nSmug in the fact that it is they, not Iran, nWho have the Bomb. n nWhy have I so far avoided to identify Israel by it’s name?, nIsrael and it’s ever increasing nuclear arsenal, nBeyond reproach, Uncontrolled, uninspected. n nWe all know these things nYet we all remain silent, fearful of being labeled: nanti-Semitic nhateful nworse n nConsidering Germany’s past these labels stick nSo we call is “business”, “reparation” take your pick, nAs we deliver yet another submarine. nAs we provide to Israel the means to deliver annihilation. nI say what must be said. n nWhy did I stay silent until now? nBecause I’m German, of course. nI’m tainted by a stain I cannot wash out nI’m silent because I want so badly to make it right nTo put my sins in the past and leave them silently there. n nWhy did I wait to say it until now? nAnd write these words with the last of my ink? nDeclaring that Israel threatens world peace? nBecause it is true and it must be said, nTomorrow will be too late. n nWe Germans now carry a new burden of sin on our shoulders nThrough the weapons we have sold nWe are helping to carry out this foreseeable tragedy nNo excuse will remove our stain of complicity. n nIt must be said. I won’t be silent nI’ve had enough of the hypocrisy; nPlease shed the silence with me, nThe consequences are all too predictable. nIt’s time to demand free and permanent control nof BOTH Israel’s nuclear arsenal nAND Iran’s nuclear facilities nenforced with international supervision. n nIt’s the only way, in a land convulsed with insanity, nIsraelis, Palestinians, everybody, will survive. nAnd we too, will survive. n
Grass, " the 84 year-old Nobel prize-winner who was a member of the Waffen SS as a teenager imagines himself as a "survivor" of an Israeli nuclear strike on Iran." n ngunther. don't be too sure you'd be a survivor. in the gotterdammerung to ensue in the event of israeli use of nuclear weapons, germany will not be exempt. you can bet the jew's have a long memory. deutchland erwache! n
I am unperturbed that unregenerate Nazis say the things they say. I am also not bothered that crypto Nazis on the far left are smiling about it. If I throw a rabbit at my dog he will kill it. He's being a dog. If I mention "Jew" to the far left they will do what crypto Nazis do. That is their nature.
“Our lessons talk about the bloodsuckers of the poor… . It’s that old no-good Jew, that old imposter Jew, that old hooked-nose, bagel-eating, lox-eating, Johnny-come-lately, perpetrating-a-fraud, just-crawled-out-of-the-caves-and-hills-of-Europe, so-called damn Jew … and I feel everything I’m saying up here is kosher.” n— Khalid Abdul Muhammad, one of the party’s future leaders, Baltimore, Md., Feb. 19, 1994
here's my reply to Grass. n n nToulouse II n nMarch 2012 nMartin Gray n nTell me Muslim, nWhat victory is there nIn the murder of children? nDoes your holy book command nSlaughter of the innocent, nTo lap their blood like nectar nRejoicing in death like drunken fools. n nTell me Muslim, nWhy you hunt us down like wolves nAnd slaughter us like sheep on the altar? nDo you think we shall cower in our beds nAnd not take our own vengeance nWhile you celebrate with candy and sweets nIn the filthy streets of your camps. n nTell me Muslim, nWhy, we in turn, should not hunt you? nAnd burn your houses and fields nCrushing your children and women nUnder the treads of our tanks nAnd bomb your homes nRejoicing all the while in your death. n nTell me Muslim, nWhy you prepare a table of death nBefore us in the Valley of the Lord? nDo you think your sins nGo unnoticed by the very God nWho smote Goliath and even now nWrites out your doom. n nTell me Muslim, nDo you think we shall disappear nQuietly and go like cattle nTo the inferno you light? nDo you think your subtle words nAnd the hatred you stoke nShall strike us down yet again. n n nTell me Muslim, nWhen it is the end of time nAnd God himself shall judge nThat you shall be among the anointed? nThat your sins and your hate nWill be rewarded nBy the living God? n nTell me Muslim, nWhat will you do nWhen we strike nBold and defiant nOur lives at stake nAnd your cities and farms nTurned to ashes? n n n
After WWII the US had a de-nazification program imposed on Germany. Obviously, it missed some people. Grass also verifies Jonah Goldberg's hypotheis that the Nazis were leftists, not rightists.
The guy is making a pro peace statement and you're saying he can't come in to the country. Who is doing PR for Israel? The MEK? n n
Quickly re-mastered Gunt: nWhy did I stay silent until now? nBecause I’m German, I kick the Jews and take a bow nI’m tainted by a stain I cannot wash out But I can dirty Israel and feel good, no doubt nI’m silent because I want so badly to make it right , so let me simplify, slap Israel. I'll sleep tight nTo put my sins in the past and leave them silently there. Then, as now, a Nazi, to my Fuerher I do swear n n
Actually, Grass has only be seen as a 'conscience of the nation' by a minority – the more left leaning part of the German political spectrum – and of course, by himself.r nBeeing a nobel laureate, he is still a poster child of German culture for the media. His opinions on politics have been dismissed by the major part of German intellectuals though, and his 'poem' is rejected by nearly all media outlets this week. When Grass tried to explain himself giving an interview to German television it became quite clear that he has no clue about the real issues with Iran's nuclear program (you can guess that from the poem itself). He is just quite an old man, narcistically seeking attention and maybe touched by dementia.r nr nThat said it stays true that many younger, left leaning people occupy a bias towards Israel. This has much to do with the victim-offender problem of our past. Additionaly, large parts of the establishment and media perform some sort of wallowing in guilt (German: 'Sündenstolz') that hinders an unbiased attitude towards the Israelean-Palestinean conflict.r nr nI won't go for ages on this – German psyche is an issue on its own. Just that much: I'm really sorry for the plain wrong impression Grass has given concerning German/European intellectuals.
Actually, Grass has only be seen as a 'conscience of the nation' by a minority – the more left leaning part of the German political spectrum – and of course, by himself.
Actually, Grass has only be seen as a 'conscience of the nation' by a minority – the more left leaning part of the German political spectrum – and of course, by himself. The media, always in need for a significant brand tend to call him likewise. His political views have generally been rejected among German intellectuals and had little to no impact on the public. Beeing a nobel laureate and a poster child of German post war culture he still can generate some public interrest.r nWhen he tried to explain himself in an interview on German television this week, it became clear immediately that Grass has no clue about the real reasons of the Israel-Iran conflict. You could see an narcistic old man, mildly touched by dementia, seeking for attention. And with this background you should read his 'poem'r nr nThat said it stays true that many of our younger left leaning people have a biased attitude towards Israel. I could go on at length about the reasons that make it so hard for Germans to rate Israel's policy unbiased. But I just want to apologize for the plain wrong impression Grass has given concerning German intellectuals. The huge majority of Germans can see clearly that Isreal isn't the bad guy in the upcoming nuclear drama directed by Ahmadinejad.r n
I have already asked Herr Grass (never got a reply) how many Jewish children did he kill during his SS service? Michael Isaac Lerman