GERMAN JEWS FEEL SLIGHTED BY GERMAN GOVERNMENT

David Bedein finds that in Germany, Jews aren't happy with how a current government-sponsored Holocaust memorial is being handled:

Jerusalem — Staging an unprecedented protest, the German Jewish Community Council decided to boycott the official German government state ceremony marking international Holocaust Memorial Day. The event, held on Tuesday at the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, in Berlin.

German President Horst Koehler, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and all of the members of the German cabinet and parliament attended.

The boycott was called because the Speaker of the Bundestag, the host of the memorial service, has refrained from acknowledging the presence of the leaders of the Jewish community in Germany in the chamber, even though they are all Holocaust survivors, including the current chairwoman of the German Jewish Council, Charlotte Knobloch.

“It is inconceivable that Holocaust survivors should be seated in the honorary balcony and be treated there like the audience at the theater, as if the ceremony had nothing to do with them,” said Stephan Kramer, the secretary general of the German Jewish Community Council, to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot.

That treatment attests to the nature of the accepted culture of remembering the Holocaust in Germany. It is not done out of deep intention and understanding but, rather, automatically,” said Mr. Kramer.

“The community leaders find themselves standing like extras at the event, marginal figures,” said Dieter Grauman, the vice president. “We want more respect.”

The Jewish community’s protest follows a growing sense that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Germany, especially with regard to commemorating the Holocaust.

The Israeli incursion into Gaza was accompanied by a number of anti-Semitic incidents, which failed to elicit any response from German authorities.

Furthermore, German public television, ARD, broadcast last week a debate about the situation in the Middle East rife with explicit anti-Semitism.

A year ago, I read that some Israelis have been trying to get citizenship in Germany so in order to enjoy benefits there, and I don't think I need to tell just how stupid that sounds to me. What's the use? And as for the failure of German authorities to deal properly with a lot of the anti-semitic protests that were conducted there, I think that's one more reason why not to have anything to do with a country that's sadly moving back to its old ways.

Can I suggest that a good way to answer to Germany's hypocrisy is to boycott their products and exports? Like, say, their car and truck manufacturers (Mercedes, Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche, Audi, Opel, and M.A.N), most of which, IMO, are junk.