The German government financed and was complicit in the events of Holocaust deniers, who compared the murder of 6 million Jews to the Palestinian "Nakba" and accused Israel of exploiting the Holocaust for political purposes, according to a number of Israeli reports.
The events took place in recent months at the Einstein Institute in Potsdam, near Berlin. The institute is funded, among other elements, by the German government, and the events mentioned bear the following outrageous names: "Understanding the pain of others: the Holocaust, the Nakba and the German culture of remembrance"; "The Holocaust in Israel: between tragedy and strategy"; "Hijacking the memory of the Holocaust for the benefit of dehumanization in Palestine", and also - "Zionism can motivate antisemitism."
#Holocaust, #Nakba and the German culture of remembrance: the Einstein Forum in Potsdam facilitated a discussion banned in Tel Aviv. https://t.co/AypsRCRLJY
— QantaraEN (@QantaraEN) February 8, 2023
Among the demands made by the German author Charlotte Weidmann, who wrote the book comparing the Holocaust to the Nakba, and spoke at some of these events, is that a culture of remembrance must be created that promotes solidarity between the victims of the Holocaust and the Nakba. “Instead of them competing over who suffered more, alongside the well-worn claim that lessons must be learned from the Holocaust.” Charlotte went on to speak on comparisons between Israeli Human Rights violations and Nazi ones, adding that her father was a member of the Nazi Party.
The German Foreign Ministry responded: "The clear and well-known position of the German government is that the uniqueness of the Holocaust must not be questioned at any time. This principle also applies to German cultural and educational policy and is an important basis for our cooperation with all the organizations that mediate that policy."
Disgraceful. The German government-funded @GoetheInstitut is hosting an event entitled “Holocaust, Nakba and German culture of remembrance.”
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) November 8, 2022
Worse, it’s being held on the anniversary of Kristallnacht. pic.twitter.com/dABEP5UHpE
News of these Holocaust-denying events in Germany comes after German representatives in Israel attending official events did not want the background of the Old City of Jerusalem since the German government views them as occupied territories. The German embassy in Tel Aviv said in response: "There are no restrictions on where delegation members can go or what to photograph. The German embassy only advises official delegations regarding the federal government's position regarding the status of East Jerusalem and the occupied territories, a position based on international law."
According to Israeli diplomats who handled visits by German delegations in the past, it appears that in the past there was no objection to German representatives taking pictures against the walls of Jerusalem; leading to the assumption this policy must be relatively new.
