We are witnessing yet another act in the tragedy of the historical failure of Germany’s so-called elites to confront genocide and colonialism
Jurgen Mackert is Professor of Sociology at the University of Potsdam, Germany. He was a temporary Professor for the Structure of modern societies at the University of Erfurt, Germany and a visiting professor for Political Sociology at Humboldt University Berlin. His latest books include On Social Closure. Theorizing Exclusion, Exploitation, and Elimination (Oxford University Press 2024). Siedlerkolonialismus. Grundlagentexte und aktuelle Analysen (edited with Ilan Pappe; Nomos 2024).
Cross-posted from Middle East Eye
Photo: Twitter
In a BBC interview in 1996, American intellectual Noam Chomsky was asked by presenter Andrew Marr how he could know that his interviewer was censoring himself.
He replied: “I’m not saying that you are self-censoring. I am sure you believe everything you are saying. But what I am saying is that if you believed something different you wouldn’t be sitting where you are sitting.”
The voluntary internalisation of hegemonic views and the firm belief in them not only turn people into journalists in liberal media but also promotes them to the elites of society.
In light of the genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza, Germany is an excellent example of how this general social mechanism works and what catastrophic consequences it has.
Germany’s “elites” in culture, the media, academia, politics, churches, trade unions, and social organisations would not be where they are if they did not submissively follow those in power.
Submissiveness to the state and its representatives knows no limits for these sycophantic “elites” – even when it comes to crimes against humanity.
With important and notable exceptions, the various “elites” throughout Germany’s history have obeyed and never questioned their politicians whether over the crimes committed by German settler colonialists in Namibia and other parts of Africa; or as reflected in the euphoric support of the German nationalist educated middle class when the political class plunged the world into the catastrophe of World War I; or in their fanatical support for the Nazis’ orgies of destruction.
Their loud and enthusiastic approval of the abominable crimes carried out by the Wilhelmine Empire and the Nazis is matched today by their collaborative silence when Germany denies and finances the genocide perpetrated by the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people.
Self-imposed ignorance
When it comes to the Zionist ideology and regime, for German “elites” two things are forbidden to think about: first they are either unable – or unwilling – to acknowledge the difference between antisemitism and anti-Zionism.
Whether they are intellectually incapable of making this crucial distinction or simply acting against their better judgment, they are simply not allowed to draw it, since equating antisemitism with anti-Zionism allows these “elites” to rant about antisemitism when Palestinians defend themselves – in accordance with international law – against their settler-colonial oppressors in a completely legitimate manner.
Second, if there is a consensus among Germany’s “elites”, it is that there must be no discussion on the role and significance of imperialism, colonialism, and settler colonialism, either in relation to their own history or to that of Israel.
And so, the German “elites” remain silent about the current consequences of these world-historical processes.
Yet, this silence, and the silencing of dissent – which in Germany of course includes the allegedly left party “Die Linke”, is nothing less than tacit support for the genocide in Gaza, the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank, and, not least, the Zionists’ wars of aggression against Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Yemen in order to create a Greater Israel – just as the German “elites” once supported total war to create Großdeutschland.
This expansionist idea is based on the Zionist myth that Palestine was “a land without a people for a people without a land”. It is strongly reminiscent of the Nazis’ claim that Germany was “a people without space”. The idea was first coined by author Hans Grimm, who had popularised this colonial idea in his 1926 book “Volk ohne Raum“.
This idea of “space” – the so-called Lebensraum – was used by the Nazis to justify colonial expansion to the East in order to create “Großdeutschland”, just as it pseudo-religiously glorified as “promised land” today’s Zionist war of expansion to create “Greater Israel”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is being pursued for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the World Court, made this blatantly clear when he presented a map showing it at the United Nations.
Strict adherence to both taboos enables the German “elites” to side with the Zionist regime, defend its racist ideology and barbaric occupation of Palestine, and remain silent about the genocide of the Palestinian civilian population.
Disgraceful conduct
The strong desire to remain in self-imposed ignorance and obediently follow both prohibitions is repeatedly evident in the behaviour of supposed elites, as examples from culture and science show.
During two years of genocide the German PEN centre has not uttered a word of condemnation against Israel’s systematic targeting of Palestinian poets and writers. On the contrary, the German PEN branch distanced itself from PEN international, which called for imposing an arms embargo on Israel and an end to the genocide in a statement last June, arguing that PEN international’s stand against genocide was too one-sided.
Within this cultural “elite”, Nobel Prize-winning author Herta Müller plays a particularly repugnant role. She is not above making common cause with the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv, repeating Israeli occupation forces’ lies and talking points.
Her “open letter”, which is dripping with white supremacist sentiments, is an unworthy pamphlet that reveals Müller’s complete ignorance of the decades-long violent colonial occupation of Palestine. It even makes bizarre Nazi comparisons with Hamas, at a time when many voices, including Jewish ones, have pointed out that Israel is now “a complete copy” of Nazi Germany.
This arrogant letter is an admission of moral failure and proof of historical ignorance and unwillingness to learn – and yet the weekly newspaper FAZ am Sonntag has just included her in its list of “Germany’s best thinkers”.
Germany – the “land of poets and thinkers”.
Furthermore, Robert Schlogl and Joybrato Mukherjee, the presidents of the renowned German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH), said in a “statement on developments in Gaza and Israel” that they were “deeply shocked by the current developments and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza” and then outlined their “mission”.
“We stand in unwavering solidarity with the state, the people, and the scientific community in Israel. We therefore continue to clearly oppose calls for boycotts of Israeli scientific organizations, universities, and scientists, and we advocate for scientific exchange with both Israeli and Palestinian universities and scientific institutions”.
What are these “elite” presidents talking about?
Are they so numb that they actually claim not to know or have heard that Israel has destroyed all Palestinian universities in Gaza?
Why don’t they say a single word about the murdered scholars and students in Gaza, instead of simply standing “in unwavering solidarity” with the perpetrators of genocide?
Furthermore, on 15 September, the Volkswagen Foundation in Hanover hosted celebrations marking the centenary of the Hebrew University and the Technion under the title “Bridges of Knowledge”; the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture and the Technion Society acted as co-organisers.
During their 100 years of existence, these “universities” were deeply involved in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, just as they are today in genocide. Nevertheless, Germany’s scientific “elite” pretends to know nothing about this or ignores the fact that it is collaborating with institutions that enable genocide.
A historical failure
Today, belonging to a German elite that would be worthy of the name would mean, first and foremost, showing backbone and refusing to legitimise the genocide of the Palestinians and its denial by the German and Zionist governments.
Belonging to such an elite would come at a price: you have to take responsibility and act according to principles. It would mean being fearless and courageous and calling evil by its name.
But Germany’s supposed “elite” and its “best thinkers” are too deferential to authority and too fearful to face the negative consequences that an uncompromising stance against the Zionist genocide would entail.
So, they remain silent and continue to be the obedient subjects they have always been.
Despite the ceasefire, the genocide still continues with full German support. We are witnessing yet another act in the tragedy of the historical failure of Germany’s so-called elites.
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