Wednesday, December 27, 2017

No friend of Israel - Eldad Beck




by Eldad Beck

With a new exhibit on Jerusalem at the publicly funded Jewish Museum Berlin portraying Jews as invaders and Arabs as victims, Germany has made it abundantly clear where its loyalties lie.

Around two weeks ago, and mere days after U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Berlin was opened at the Jewish Museum. Spanning over 1,000 square feet, the "Welcome to Jerusalem" exhibit is huge and includes hundreds of displays and exhibits.

One would have expected this type of exhibit at such an important Jewish museum to emphasize Jerusalem's unique character as the holiest city in Judaism and also possibly focus a bit on the historical narrative of Zionism and the State of Israel. Such an exhibit could also have presented, in a balanced manner of course, the different religions that coexist in the city in spite of the ongoing conflict. But regrettably, the exhibit does nothing of the sort, but rather serves to strengthen the theory of Muslim-Arab-Palestinian ownership of the city, mainly through a biased presentation of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

A historical documentary about the conflict, one of the exhibit's highlights, portrays Jews as domineering invaders. It notes the massacres and terrorist acts committed by Jewish paramilitary organizations while completely ignoring those same acts when they were carried out by Arab organizations at the behest of Jerusalem Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini; completely ignores the Arab revolt of the 1930s and Husseini's collaboration with the Nazis; presents a fairly long segment from an interview with late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from the early years of his leadership, in which the then-PLO chief explains that the Palestinians have no choice but to take up arms; and repeats the theory according to which the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is what led to the disintegration of the peace process, as well as the proven lie that then-Opposition Leader Ariel Sharon's 2000 visit to the Temple Mount sparked the Second Intifada. In short, according to the Jewish Museum in Berlin, the Jews are bad while the Arabs are victims.

Could one have really expected a different approach from a Jewish museum that, as part of its permanent exhibits, presents Israel as part of the "Diaspora" of German Jewry along with images of left-wing German Jews protesting against Israel? One of the curators of the Jerusalem exhibit is Cilly Kugelmann, a former vice director of the Jewish Museum whose post-Zionist views helped turn the museum into a center of activity for those who negate Israel's existence. It is important to note that the Jewish Museum does not have ties with the local Jewish community and is financed by public funds, meaning the German establishment could influence the content on display and use the museum to relay a message. In fact, that is exactly what it is doing: The Jewish Museum serves the German establishment in its conscious struggle against Israel under the guise of a supposedly Jewish body.

Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital served to reveal Germany's hypocrisy as far as concerns its ties with the Jewish state: Last week, Germany voted in favor of a U.N. resolution submitted by Turkey and Yemen that called U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital "null and void." Germany, along with the other great nations of the European Union, betrayed its alliance with the United States and Israel in order to align with the world's most unsavory regimes in negating the Jewish state's right to determine that its capital is in Jerusalem, the most sacred city to Jews.

The time has come to reveal the true face of Germany, a country that wages a relentless struggle against Israel in both EU and U.N. institutions at the same time that it claims Israel's existence and security are integral to its national interests. Germany is Europe's single largest donor to the Palestinian Authority, but it has never once thought to demand the Palestinians do something for peace in return for all the money it provides, like put an end to the violence and the anti-Semitic incitement. While this should be obvious given Germany's history, it seems it is not so crystal clear to Berlin. Germany prefers to put pressure on Israel only, by funding radical organizations that slander the Jewish state around the world.

Unfortunately, Germany is no friend of Israel. That is at least as long as its current policies remain in place.


Eldad Beck

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/no-friend-of-israel/

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