Yesterday in the Frankurter Rundschau there were a number of articles dealing with antisemitism. The discussion stems in part from the Bundestag's discussion of the Hohmann affair, but also from the results of a recent survey of public opinion on questions related to public ideas about Jews in Germany. Very interesting, if slightly worrisome, data (which I think Andrew might have said was reported on NPR last week?).
The survey indicates that antisemitism has found its way back into bourgeois values. Christian Bommarius at the Berliner Zeitung explains with only a bit of irony that when the typical German of the "Mitte" wants to express himself, "dann sagt er nicht "die Juden", nicht "Zionismus", nicht "Weltherrschaft", dann spricht er über "Israel", "das Palästinenserproblem", "die Siedlungsfrage".
From the FR: "69,9 Prozent der Befragten stimmen der Äußerung zu: 'Ich ärgere mich darüber, dass den Deutschen auch heute noch die Verbrechen an den Juden vorgehalten werden.'" This is scary: but on the other hand, exactly how strong an expression is "sich ärgern"? And that single question doesn't allow for any grey area: why it angers the respondent, for example. Is it because "I didn't have anything to do with it" or because "We paid our dues already" ? Those are, in my mind, two very different reasons for agreeing with that first statement. Not that I would say that either of those justifications is acceptable, but I mean to point out that these kinds of sentiments come from different angles, and we'll never understand what's behind this shift in public opinion if we don't allow that those angles exist.
It has long seemed to me that the German discussion of antisemitism is too undifferentiated. The FR and the BZ were both so disappointed with the Bundestag's "debate," or lack of one, because no one in the parliament was willing to argue about the issue. No one wanted to call Hohmann by his name, or to state any specifics. Instead they all seemed to stick to sound bites, platitudes, which certainly won't help further the discussion.
Update: According to der Spiegel, part of the problem was that no one showed up for the Bundestag debate:
Waren zu den vorangegangenen namentlichen Abstimmungen zur Europapolitik die Stühle im Plenum noch dicht besetzt gewesen, dünnten die Reihen - auch auf der Regierungsbank - vor Beginn der Grundsatzdebatte aus. Dem Thema antijüdische Ressentiments schlug zur besten Mittagspausenzeit seitens der Parlamentarier nicht viel Interesse entgegen. Die wenigen die ausharrten, lasen Zeitung oder zogen sich zum Plausch in die hinteren Reihen zurück.
Sounds like Congress.
Posted by Heather at December 12, 2003 10:50 AM
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