in Mara Gergolet
The German wing of Fridays for Future considers the statements of the founder of the environmental movement, in which she speaks of “genocide” in the Gaza Strip, to be untenable. That in one post you use arguments similar to those of anti-Semitic propaganda
FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
BERLIN — There’s a clash within Fridays for future. At the very least, embarrassment and great inconvenience. For the German branch of the organization, one of the strongest internationally, the statements of Greta Thunberg, 20 years old, are unsustainable, impossible to share due to the charge of hatred against Israel and the latent, or manifest, anti-Semitism they contain. And so, the cultural war – and the conflict in Gaza – ends up infecting and upsetting even the movement which has made cultural wars its instrument.
It was the last post on Instagram that sparked the case in Germany. It was already noted that Greta Thunberg remained silent for days after the massacre of 1,400 Israeli civilians by Hamas. Then the tone against Israel hardened. The latest post, however, specifically talks about “genocide”, uses the term “martyrs” for the Palestinian victims and claims that “imperialist governments” control the Western media.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which has always been very attentive to the issues of anti-Semitism, entrusted a deconstruction of Greta’s pamphlet, published on Instagram, to its head of the media section, Michael Hanfeld. The parallels between the eight theses of the text and the most widespread and old stereotypes that have been part of the classic paraphernalia of anti-Semitic propaganda for decades, if not centuries, are impressive. With references (how ignorant and unaware?), unfortunately, also to theses from very sad historical eras.
Let’s go in order, at least for the most strident statements.
The media is in the pay of the enemy, the premise. “Through Western media, you are brainwashed into being on Israel’s side.” Again: Fridays for Future argues that “those who look at how the ‘Israeli apartheid’ system has emerged since 1947 will understand that it is not a ‘conflict’ but a ‘genocide’ against the Palestinians.” Not only that, but for Fridays for future the “Western media” never report that the existence of Hamas has its roots in the “ethnic cleansing” of the Palestinians.
Other gems: all Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims are declared terrorists by the “Western media” and the Palestinian “resistance” is denigrated as anti-Semitism, while the Palestinians are “dehumanized”. Obviously, Western media are funded by “imperialist governments” that support Israel, pursuing their own political interests and a “racist” agenda, and benefit from “genocide”. The good news – the post ends – is that their “power” can be defeated by not giving in to “propaganda”. “We must resist, all of us.”
The latest news on the war between Israel and Hamas, live
Shocking? In part yes, Faz titles its comment: «Fridays for future speaks like Hamas». Above all, in the part in which the theses of an organization, which should fight for the survival of the planet or at least of the human species on it, prove so easily permeable to conspiracy theories. But the absence of historical thought, or the refusal of much of contemporary activism, post-colonial but not only, to have a neutral, detached attitude – neither angry nor enthusiastic – towards the facts it wants to discuss, are also producing in the the academy a distortion and superficiality that until a few years ago were even unthinkable.
The fact is that in the face of these releases, the Fridays for Future in Germany could not remain silent. The section then sent a statement: «No, the international account does not speak for us. No, the post was not coordinated with us. No, we do not share the contents.” And at least the leaders expressed, it should be noted, support for the Jewish community, and condemnation of the terrorist attack of October 7th. Luisa Neubauer, 27 years old and also known as “the German Greta”, was at the pro-Israel demonstration held last Sunday in front of the Brandenburg Gate, with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also present. However, it is also true that, a few days earlier, activists of the young generation demonstrated in the center of Berlin, in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, shouting “Free Palestine from German guilt”.
The Jewish community, and many political leaders, are now asking the German branch of environmentalists for a clear separation from the international one. Joseph Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said: «I expect from Luisa Neubauer and Fridays for Future Deutschland a real separation, a change of name of the organization and the cessation of all contacts with Fridays for Future International . We don’t need simple declarations, but real consequences.”
The greens are also in the front row. Marcel Emmerich, 32 years old, one of the leading exponents of the younger generation, admits: «Fridays for Future unfortunately often stands out internationally with strongly anti-Semitic positions». Not a little, for an organization that makes intellectual activism the heart of its action, during a war that is only just beginning.
October 27, 2023 (modified October 27, 2023 | 1.45 pm)
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED