Friday, April 6, 2012

Tobin - Gunter Grass, Iran and Anti-Semitism

Jonathan S. Tobin..
Commentary/Contentions..
05 April '12..

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.

Link: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/04/05/gunter-grass-iran-and-anti-semitism/#more-790361

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2 comments:

  1. A wonderfully biased piece of writing. If there were such a counterpart to "anti-Semitism,' the man should be accused of blatant "anti-Germanism."

    Biased? Take this:

    "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."

    Is he deaf? Has he not heard the din of Israel beating the war drums? She's just chomping at the bit to hit Iran. If only Obama were a little more inclined to go to war with and for Israel!

    The fact is that Israel has lots of atomic fire crackers while Iran has none. Iran is no threat to Israel. For Iran to attack Israel would be suicidal and Iran knows it. But Israel is a formidable threat to Iran.

    Apart from the military hardware, Israel has the most effective semantic weapons. You can criticize the actions of any government in the world except that of Israel. Criticize anything Israel does and you are anti-Semitic if you are one of the goyim, and you are a self-hating Jew if you are a Jew. This eo ipso takes the wind out of the critics’ sails. They don’t have to be taken seriously.

    And Mr. Tobin gladly subscribes to the Israel-manufactured distortion of what Ahmadinejad said; to wit, that Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth. Ahmadinejad did not say that; the Israeli translator did. Ahmadinejad said “the Zionist crew should be wiped from the earth. “ Millions the world over would agree with that.

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  2. While there is very little to address here, the credile or not translation of Ahmadinajad is a product of the IRIB,Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network, http://web.archive.org/web/20070927213903/http://www.iribnews.ir/Full_en.asp?news_id=200247 01:34:13 È.Ù
    Tehran, Oct 26 - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday called for Israel to be "wiped off the map".

    "The establishment of the Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world," the President told a conference in Tehran entitled 'the world without Zionism'.

    "The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of a war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land," he said.

    "As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map," said Ahmadinejad, referring to the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini.

    Addressing some 4,000 students gathered in an interior ministry conference hall, Ahmadinejad also called for Palestinian unity, resistance and a point where the annihilation of the Zionist regime will come.

    "The Islamic umma (community) will not allow its historic enemy to live in its heartland," he said.

    Regarding the Zionist regime's retreat from the Gaza Strip he said, "we should not settle for a piece of land".

    "Anyone who signs a treaty which recognises the entity of Israel means he has signed the surrender of the Muslim world," Ahmadinejad said.

    "Any leaders in the Islamic umma who recognise Israel face the wrath of their own people."

    Regarding the prolonged conflict between the Islamic Ummah and the Zionist regime, Ahmadinejad said "It dates backs hundreds of years. Sometimes Islam has advanced. Sometimes nobody was winning. Unfortunately over the past 300 years, the world of Islam has been in retreat".

    "One hundred years ago the last trench of Islam fell, when the oppressors went towards the creation the Zionist regime. It is using it as a fort to spread its aims in the heart of the Islamic world."
    Copyright 2004,
    All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network
    Sponsored By IRIB News Computer C

    Concerning Gunter Grass, "Der Antisemitismus will raus" http://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2012-04/guenter-grass-gedicht-israel/komplettansicht from Josef Joffe addresses the issues concerning Grass, and his deviant views.

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