German Holocaust Victim Foundation Revealed to be Supporting Anti-Israel ‘Nakba’
- Posted on January 26, 2012 at 7:07am by
Sharona Schwartz
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A German government-funded organization whose mandate is to support survivors of Nazi labor camps decided to stop funding a group that promotes the idea that Israel’s founding was a “Nakba” or catastrophe and which endorsed the Gaza flotilla, an Israeli newspaper reported Wednesday.
This decision comes after the Jerusalem Post and the Israeli watchdog group NGO-Monitor revealed a number of anti-Israel and even anti-Semitic activities the German group funded, and accused it of misappropriating funds into programs at odds with its intended mission.
The controversy began this past fall, when Jerusalem Post correspondent Benjamin Weinthal reported that the Remembrance, Responsibility, Future Foundation – known by its German acronym EVZ – was funding the creation of student materials with anti-Semitic images as well as programs for Palestinian and European students comparing Israeli policies to the repressive government of East Germany. Weinthal wrote that EVZ doled out 22,000 euros:
to support a exchange program between the Gerhart-Hauptmann high school and an exclusive Israeli-Arab high school in Nazareth.
Students and educators from the two schools wrote a brochure equating Israel with the defunct East German Stalinist state, and including crude drawings of Orthodox Jewish students. The document depicted Israel as a violent state with an education system that excludes and oppresses Arab pupils.
Critics in Israel and Germany say the brochure seeks to delegitimize Israel’s existence and stokes modern anti-Semitism.
According to its website, EVZ was founded with a 5.2 billion euro investment from the German government and industry. Among its mandates: to help former slave laborers of the Nazi era, to combat anti-Semitism and to promote human rights through educational programs.
Among the groups it was funding: Zochrot, an Israeli NGO whose website includes articles equating Israeli policies with “apartheid” and like many Palestinians calls the 1948 founding of the Jewish state a catastrophe. Zochrot also endorsed the “Free Gaza Flotilla.”
"Nakba" in Arabic and Hebrew
Three months after receiving complaints about its grantee choices, EVZ decided to stop funding Zochrot, according to Ha’aretz:
“EVZ supports educational projects but does not support organizations that also have a political agenda,” one of the German foundation’s directors, Gunter Saathoff, told Haaretz. “Since Zochrot supports the right of return, the foundation cannot extend its cooperation with it.” […]
Several months after promising 25,000 euros for an educational project dealing with the Nakba – the Palestinian term for the catastrophe that happened to them in 1948 – EVZ summoned new Zochrot director Liat Rosenberg to Berlin. “They requested we refrain from mentioning EVZ in our publications dealing with the project,” said Rozenberg. After the meeting with Rosenberg, Bohme wrote a memo stating that “EVZ appreciates Zochrot‘s agreement not to make EVZ’s support public.”
The Blaze reached out via e-mail to EVZ, which did not respond.
After learning EVZ would stop funding Zochrot, Gerald Steinberg of the independent Jerusalem-based research institution NGO-Monitor said:
This is a significant victory in the battle to hold funders accountable for their support of NGOs involved in demonization. Zochrot, a radical Israeli NGO, supports the Palestinian claim to a “Right of Return” – which has no legal basis and would end the existence of Israel as the Jewish nation-state – endorsed the violent “Free Gaza Flotilla, and falsely accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “forcible displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people.”
EVZ’s decision is recognition that such immoral funding is entirely opposed to its declared mission of compensating slave laborers of the Nazi regime. The hate-filled attacks against Israel, which were enabled by EVZ funding, also make a two-state solution based on coexistence more difficult.
Last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton irked Israeli government ministers when she complained about a debate in the Knesset over possibly restricting foreign governments’ funding of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Israel. While hiding behind the title “NGO,” many of these organizations, like Zochrot, are highly political and have enormous sway over the international image of Israel. Though the legislation has been put on hold, the debate over EVZ’s funding choices sheds light on Israel’s sensitivity to the NGOs.
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Mr.Fitnah
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 7:33pmIf only the USA had the same common sense.
Report Post »Lateris
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 2:41pm@ The Blaze- you should do a story on how much of the Nazi party has been elected to German government. Especially in Northern Germany.
Report Post »The_Jerk
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 3:22pmIn that same vein, a very similar, and remarkable story could be done of the Jewish Zionists (as opposed to the Christian Zionists) in the American government.
Report Post »Chrischan74
Posted on January 27, 2012 at 3:51amLateris, the only federal state, where the “NPD” (National Demokratische Partei Deutschland), or the “Nazi Party” as you call it, is represented, is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where they have a total of 5 delegates out of 71. Thus, the political influence is about null.
On the contrary, “Die Linke”, which is the succsessor party of the SED, the former government of the socialist/communist German Democratic Republic, is represented in 13 out of 16 federal states and in the German “Bundestag”, which is the equivalent to your House of Representatives.
So please stop implying, that the biggest political threat to German politics comes from the Nazis or from the right, because it simply is not true. It is “Die Linke”, who wnats to “throw the system over”, which means nothing else as to end democracy.
Additionally, most of the antisemitic, anti-jewish & anti-israel statements and actions here in Germany today have there source on the left side of the political spectrum and from muslim immigrants. But political correctness does not allow to adress these facts.
Report Post »Chrischan74
Posted on January 27, 2012 at 4:25amEdit:
I have to add 8 delegates for the NPD in Saxony. Which is 8 out of 132 = also no political influence.
There is a total of 0,7% (13 seats) of NPD-delegates in the 16 state parliaments. On the other hand, there are 10,7% (199) for Die Linke. So, where is the danger located? On the right or on the left? Who has more political influence? The brown socialists or the red socialists?
Report Post »SoupSandwich
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 12:59pm@ JerkyBoy
Report Post »Again, why the hate of the Jews? Was is a good looking Jewish chick that rebuffed your affections or did you get fired by a wealthy individual? Lets get down to the bottom of your hatred so you can sleep better at the very least. Expand on your hatred a little more, really, let it all out so we don’t see you in a news clip about a homeless man trying to start a fire at a Synagogue.
The_Jerk
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 3:25pmSoup, once again it is not hate. Disagreement is not hate. I’ve given facts to demonstrate my conclusions… prove those wrong. Using the label of hate is the lazy way out.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:51amWhy should the Krauts be immune from the Taxpayers being screwed , not by these leftist organizations but by the Fed Gov that blindly doles out money with no oversight. If the Gov‘s weren’t allow to spew cash out , these problems wouldn’t happen. Here there or anywhere. Barry’s and his band of thieves , thru ACORN and other scams is still sucking Americas treasury dry, just under another name. The Fed Gov , should fund our Military, PROTECT OUR BORDERS, and build roads. There ,, everything’s solved, I feel much better.
Report Post »HuskerDave
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:40amGreat post!
Report Post »The_Jerk
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:40amDefinition of anti-Semite:
Anti-Semite: 1) a word used to end any legitimate debate that involves criticism of Jews, Judaism, Israel, and/or Zionism 2) a screen or buffer behind which Jews can operate free of criticism and scrutiny 3) any person offering critical analysis, assessment, review, judgment, evaluation, examination, appraisal, or commentary of Jews, Judaism, Israel, and/or Zionism.
Report Post »HuskerDave
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:41am“Jerk” – a word to describe someone who throws aside legitimate discussions ino order to get an emotional reaction from people, taking pleasure from his own idiocy.
Report Post »The_Jerk
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:58amHuskerDave, if you look at the posting below you will find the error of your ways. Quite frankly, it is ‘legitimate discussion’ that is squelched with the labels of racism, sexism, antisemitism, xenophobia, homophobia… on and on. This is the only reason for their existence; to squelch, suppress, debate.
Report Post »Think about it. These labels serve no other need.
Bill in Texas
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 11:17amRacist: 1) a word used to end any legitimate debate that involves criticism of the left, the Obama adiminstration, or any of their points of view. 2) a screen or buffer behind which the left can operate free of criticism and scrutiny 3) any person offering critical analysis, assessment, review, judgment, evaluation, examination, appraisal, or commentary of the left, Obama, or the Dumbocrat party.
Report Post »tzion
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 11:23amNot true smack. I have criticized Israel’s political system as being inherently flawed. I have criticized some of their policies. I have even openly opposed the actions of specific Jews. Yet I remain a Jew myself, continue to support Israel on certain policies, and still am not considered an anti-Semite or even a self- hating Jew. Clearly you‘re definition doesn’t work. By my definition, an true anti-Semite is anyone who prejudges someone else based on their Semitic heritage (which you do quite often). Does the label get thrown around too much? Yes. But then again, so does Jewish Marxism, Jewish Bolshevism etc. Are those labels any different?
Report Post »Jaycen
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 2:07pmLegitimate is in the eye of the beholder. You carefully avoid using any words that have objective meaning, so you can structure the debate any way you see fit. Facts have no sway on your side or any other, because you don’t use facts, and your definition of loosely defined words allows you to ignore facts used by your detractors.
You are indeed a Jerk.
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 2:09pmThis a Wiki-tionary version?
Report Post »The_Jerk
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 3:00pmTZion, I agree, in part. The fact is, Marxism came from a Jew named Karl Heinrich Marx. Communism has its roots in Marxism, roots planted in the teachings of another Jew named Moses Hess. So, there is truth to the term Jewish Marxism. As you probably know, a fellow Jew named Malech Epstein wrote a book “The Jew and Communism.” And, as you must also know, there have been many studies, articles, and books on the same. Here’s one, of many examples, that is difficult to argue with: http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v14/v14n1p-4_Weber.html
The problem is, one is labeled an anti-Semite, or self-hater, for stating the above facts. Communism is Jewish. And, that is not anti-Semitic.
Report Post »tzion
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:52pm@smack
Report Post »If your problem is with communists, why do you only ever point out the ones that are Jewish? Regardless of who started communism, even you can’t deny that a large number of communists, including a lot of big names, weren’t Jewish. Jews, a long persecuted group, may have been easy targets just as impoverished minorities today are, but if only the Jews were behind it’s unlikely it could have become as influential as it is. I don’t call you an anti-Semite for pointing out Jewish communists; I do that because you tend to ONLY point out Jewish communists. Communism has taken root in many people, Jewish or otherwise, yet you don‘t bother to identify anyone who isn’t Jewish. True everything you say is fact, but half-truths, while facts, are just as misleading as lies. And you sir are the master of half-truths.
objectivetruth
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:15amThis is a problem with most large scale organizations.They become to big to truly know what they are doing.Left hand has no idea what the right is doing.I’[d say it about time for a downsizing.Not just of this one .but many others as well.All across the globe,I might add.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 8:47amJust another example… of the Liberal Agenda for Twisting public programs into Radical Socialist supports!
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 7:47amAntisemitism has been rampant in Germany for centuries. Check out Martin Luther’s treatise “On the Jews and Their Lies” written in the mid 1500′s. Just because they lost a couple of wars in the last century doesn’t mean it went away.
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 7:58amNo it did not go away. it has spread…After all there was this guy named Hitler that a lot of the German people still love. We are raising one up here in our country too…Wanna know his name? Hint…“We must be fair”…“The rich must pay their fair share”…“GM is strong”…“We must kead the world with green energy”..”.I will sign the NDAA with some reservations”…
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 8:02amDoggy, Hitler didn‘t start it and his defeat didn’t finish it. I think that shocks a lot of people but, it shouldn’t.
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 8:16amAnti semitism has been around since Jesus was a puppy…
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 8:44amNo, since Abraham had puppies.
Report Post »The_Jerk
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:53amGonzo, why single out Germany for antisemitism? Actually, and historically speaking, it was Germany’s acceptance of Jews that made it the place in Europe for Jews to migrate; much like the biblical nation of Pharaoh’s Egypt, to which Abraham freely migrated.
And, if antisemitism is the narrative, you can not exclude the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, or the Balkan states of Croatia… or Russia… Ukraine… Belgium… . Fact is, there was universal ‘antisemitism.’
Next question must be, “Why?”
Report Post »Sirfoldallot
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 12:04pmHate again is on the rise , ur right .
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 12:13pmThe_Jerk,
Report Post »Uh, because the story was about Germany…maybe?
The_Jerk
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 3:16pmGonzo, “Uh, because the story was about Germany…maybe?”
Great point… made me laugh. But, my point is that Germany was in the majority, not the minority, when it came to dislike, distrust, of Jews… and, this dislike and distrust was not limited to just their time.
Many different peoples and cultures, from many different geographical locations, throughout many generations, coming to a common conclusion deserves evaluation, debate, and study. This debate is suppressed, forbidden, by those who use antisemitism. The mere cry of antisemitism leads to omission and censorship. Omission and censorship leads to polarity, which in the end is detrimental to all parties.
My advice is to be open and honest. Debate all comers.
Report Post »tzion
Posted on January 26, 2012 at 11:10pm@Smackthejerkdown
Report Post »“Many different people and cultures form many different geographical locations…”
Well let’s see, we have Christian Europe. Christian Western Europe was controlled by the Catholic church for many centuries, thus they had a cultural aspect that overlapped. Conversely, how many Chinese hate Jews?
It’s true most of Europe had cultural differences but there was also much exchange and overlap. Hatred of Jews could easily spread from one to another within just a few years. After all, this was an age before science, before “innocent until proven guilty”, even before individualism. People acted, behaved, worked, and decided things collectively. Those who defied the collective were shunned. And in the middle of these Christian collectives was a small group who not only defied the collective, but actually had formed their own.
Smack it’s not enough just to state facts and make insinuations. You have to look at the whole picture. How many of the wars in medieval Europe were over cultural differences or minor differences in opinion? Europe in the Middle Ages wasn’t extraordinarily accommodating of people who were different. Did you know that paper was banned by the Church because the Chinese invented it? And few European Christians (if any) had any love for Muslims, Arabs, Africans, and later, Native Americans. Tolerance is only a couple of centuries old Smack. That’s history for you.