Norman Finkelstein & Israel's Ties with Germany

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>Yoshie Furuhashi asked:
>
>>  In Germany, has there been any significant
>>  criticism of Israeli-German ties?
>
>No significant criticism of Germany's role, but there is a widespread
>critcism of the policy of Israel towards the Palestinians in the German
>press.
>
>>  Has the issue of the German
>>  support of Israel been raised in the debate on Finkelstein & _The
>>  Holocaust Industry_?
>
>Not that I remember.
>
>>  Or is this topic too hot to handle for the
>  > German Left?
>
>This seems to be true, but you have to keep in mind that anti-semitism is
>more widespread in Germany and criticism of German-Israeli ties might have
>anti-semite reasons. E.g. when the Adenauer government wanted to establish
>diplomatic relations with Israel it did not have a sufficient majority
>within the government parties. It was the SPD who had to provide the
>necessary votes in parliament.
>
>Johannes

It's a shame that the issue of the German support of Israel didn't 
get raised in the debate on Finkelstein & _The Holocaust Industry_. 
It's my impression that all sides of the debate on the Left -- 
Finkelstein, his supporters, & his critics -- are clueless as to how 
to go about discussing German-Israeli ties.  It is possible to 
discuss them _without_ falling into anti-Semitism.  In fact, to 
prevent the German Right's cooptation of Finkelstein's work, I think 
it is imperative for the German Left to raise the issue.  Who better 
to do so than you, Hinrich Kuhls, etc.?  It would be great if you 
guys could write an article, intervene in the debate, & move it to 
the left.

Yoshie