The Holocaust, Gaza and lessons from history: Genocide runs deep in German society!

Germany prides itself for the way the country has owned up to past atrocities of the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945 and here in particular the Holocaust, in which six million Jews but also Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, and disabled people were murdered. The Holocaust represents ultimate evil, and its teaching became mandatory from the 1970s, 1980s onwards. In this blog post, I will reflect on Germany’s and the Germans’ attempts to atone for the Holocaust in particular in relation to the country’s support for Israel, drawing also on my own experiences in the German school system.

 

Fighting for a Free Palestine: What we can do in the UK!

With the genocide in Gaza still ongoing and Israel plunging the whole Middle East into war, solidarity with the Palestinian people is more important than ever. The University and College Union (UCU) joined other trade unions and organisations in the UK to call for a Workplace Day of Action on 10 October ‘Ceasefire Now – Stop Arming Israel’. To mark this day, UCU at the University of Nottingham hosted an online talk by Angie Mindel, the secretary of Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and treasurer of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) as well as a retired member of the National Education Union. This guest post is the written version of her talk discussing not only Israeli atrocities, but also what we in the UK can do in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Atonement for the Holocaust through support of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza: Germany quo vadis?

The Holocaust has weighed heavily on Germany and the German population. Taught widely across almost all years in school, there is a clear sense that Germany today must take responsibility for its past and act accordingly to redeem itself. Nevertheless, while the German government and many of my fellow German citizens believe that this implies unquestioning support for the state of Israel, I will argue in this post that the main focus has to be on opposing Genocide wherever it occurs.