Rjevan
29th June 2011, 10:40
After the drama about Gesine Lötzsch actually daring to name communism as a possible goal and the resulting bourgeois furor (both within and outside of Die Linke) about this intolerable boldness it's time for the next round of "stripping Die Linke of leftism". This time the good German citizen has to learn that Die Linke is entrenched by anti-semitism, a breeding ground for far-right extermists and their "downright pathological hatred of Israel".
This campaign has been going on for some time now, fuelled by a downloadable flyer "Never again war for Israel" at the website of Die Linke Duisburg. The flyer was taken down and I never saw it but one quote from it, "Oppose the moralist blackmailing by the so-called Holocaust", suggests that it was indeed anti-semitic. The local Duisburg party officials said their site was hacked and this flyer must have been added without them knowing. This story can be read in German here (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,759367,00.html) and it's also mentioned in the broader English Spiegel article A Map without Israel (http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,769487,00.html).
Flyer and inevitable Spiegel & Co. hysteria set aside, what's more interesing is the reaction within Die Linke. Instead of countering the various ridiculous accusations with their obvious motivation, the party officially condemns "initiatives on the Middle East conflict, calling for a one-state solution for Palestine and Israel, calls for a boycott against Israeli products and this year's trip of a Gaza Flotilla as anti-Semitic ideology and extremist acts." The reason behind this is pointed out by the following from the correspondence section of Marxist-Leninist online news "Arbeit-Zukunft":
For weeks the German public debates over an alleged anti-Semitism problem in the party Die Linke. But the charge of anti-Semitism is being exploited: the background of the dispute is a campaign of the party right, which wants to impose its course for participation in the government.
The sparks fly at least since the 19th May 2011 when it comes to Die Linke. And absolutely justified, it seems, as it is about the question whether anti-Semites have the say in the party. A study by two social scientists, as we read that day in the Frankfurter Rundschau, uncovered evidence for this accusation.
Said study was written by Sebastian Voigt and Samuel Salzborn. Voigt is a founding member of the federal working group "Shalom" in the youth wing of the party, attributable to the extreme right wing of Die Linke. This group devotes its activities to the struggle against "anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, anti-Americanism and regressive anti-capitalism." What this means concretely can be read by anyone on the website of the group: Yes to the Israeli Gaza War of 2008/2009, yes to the U.S. "War on Terror", yes to war in Libya and a clear rejection of anti-imperialism. Salzborn represents similar positions in his regular attacks on Die Linke on the home page of the "axis of good" around the right-wing populist Henryk M. Broder.
Of course the press remained silent about the authors of the study being propagandists for the "War on Terror". In the days following the publication of the article the press flashed over with reports about "anti-Semitism within Die Like" and even the Bundestag [parliament] dedicated a "topical hour" to the issue. MPs of the CDU (the party which had stalwart old and ex-Nazis like Hans Globke, Hans Filbinger or Kurt Georg Kiesinger among their leaders) and the other parties could let loose their contempt for the "anti-Semitism from left". More cynicism could hardly be possible.
But instead of protesting vehemently the parliamentary faction of Die Linke decided to regard "initiatives on the Middle East conflict, calling for a one-state solution for Palestine and Israel", "calls for a boycott against Israeli products" and this year's trip of a "Gaza Flotilla" as "anti-Semitic ideology and extremist acts." Instead of determinedly opposing the equation of Israel, Zionism and Jews as well as the insinuation that Gaza flotilla and boycott calls are right-wing extremism and anti-Semitic - as it could be expected from a leftist party – the parliamentary faction adopted just these demagogic positions.
That Die Linke "overtook with its resolution even the bourgeois parties from the right - none of them has officially taken a similar decision – degenerates it to the laughing stock of the scornfully hands rubbing German political scene", said the Tel Aviv historian Moshe Zuckermann. The party did not become the laughing stock because it badly executed a good intention. It has become a laughing stock because the left-wing of the party allowed that the right-wing forces in the party were able to prevail with their instrumentalisation of accusations of anti-Semitism.
The decision of the parliamentary faction was unanimous - apparently because some leftist deputies left the hall. This fits into the picture: For years the left wing has remained silent about the machinations of the working group "Shalom", its "anti-German" allies and its supporters in the party, such as Petra Pau, Katja Kipping, or Bodo Ramelow. It has remained silent about their attacks on leftist Jews like Moshe Zuckermann and Norman Finkelstein, who are absurdly accused of being anti-Semites. And it also remains silent about the racism of this clientele, which refers to Palestinians and Muslims as "barbarians" and "Nazis."
Instead Die Linke still acts as if it were really about anti-Semitism or the situation in the Middle East. Thus Norman Paech, former foreign affairs spokesman of Die Linke, wrote the "Junge Welt" that behind the accusation of anti-Semitism, "which are pulled up like a modesty panel, the appalling barbarisation of Israeli politics disappears." It's not like Paech was wrong, but his comments in the face of this campaign and its supporters is proof of a naivety that borders on reality abstinence.
Member of the parliamentary faction Sevim Dağdelen, who was one of the few in the party explicitly pointed out "that certain people in the fraction lead this debate solely in order to make internal party territorial gains", does not seek to explain and justify the allegations but goes on the offensive: "At no time should preparation for war and the advocacy of war have a place in our party" she said in the "Junge Welt". Thereby she unveals the actual background of the campaign in a nutshell: the 2013 federal election. If Die Linke wants to be considered as a coalition partner for red-green, it needs to endorse military deployments of the Bundeswehr. So it comes as no surprise that the "anti-Semitism study" of Voigt and Salzborn bears the telling title "Anti-Semites as coalition partners?"
Therefore the Hamburg wing of Die Linke youth organization ['solid] finds harsh words: The decision of the faction was a "capitulation to the governmental ambitions of the party right" it is all about "the participation of Die Linke in the political power game, in the state, about careers, money and reputation." And as if to prove this point the party rightist Stefan Liebich, who represents Die Linke in the Bundestag, unmistakably explained the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" where the journey heads for. If one wanted to change NATO it would be wrong to withdraw from the military alliance. And the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" further quotes him: "The wholesale rejection of all combat missions for the Bundeswehr is a mistake, too."
"For us", said Hamburg's ['solid], "a point has been reached where the project Die Linke itself has been put into question." Even sharper critics of the rightist course of the party, such as the journalist Thomas Immanuel Steinberg, already called for turning the back to the party. If the party's left does not manage to repel the attack of the Realo wing - and with all its playing down the issue and the half-hearted attempts at justification it looks as though it has absolutely no interest in doing that - the German left is the latest in 2013 faced by the task of creating a new – leftist – Left Party. And it is already clear: a Die Linke which supports German wars and collaborates with the Hartz IV SPD can be no coalition partner for such a new party at any rate.
http://www.arbeit-zukunft.de/index.php?itemid=1696 (in German;
"Arbeit-Zukunft" replies that there should rather be a focus on building a genuine communist party with a strong working class base and programme than going for a split and setting up a another vague project, the "leftist Die Linke".)
In any case, it's clear that Die Linke didn't take a turn for the better over the last months. The party left becomes more and more isolated and under attack while careerists and voices like Stefan Liebich's, e.g. calling for further intervention in Afghanistan, are gaining ground.
This campaign has been going on for some time now, fuelled by a downloadable flyer "Never again war for Israel" at the website of Die Linke Duisburg. The flyer was taken down and I never saw it but one quote from it, "Oppose the moralist blackmailing by the so-called Holocaust", suggests that it was indeed anti-semitic. The local Duisburg party officials said their site was hacked and this flyer must have been added without them knowing. This story can be read in German here (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,759367,00.html) and it's also mentioned in the broader English Spiegel article A Map without Israel (http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,769487,00.html).
Flyer and inevitable Spiegel & Co. hysteria set aside, what's more interesing is the reaction within Die Linke. Instead of countering the various ridiculous accusations with their obvious motivation, the party officially condemns "initiatives on the Middle East conflict, calling for a one-state solution for Palestine and Israel, calls for a boycott against Israeli products and this year's trip of a Gaza Flotilla as anti-Semitic ideology and extremist acts." The reason behind this is pointed out by the following from the correspondence section of Marxist-Leninist online news "Arbeit-Zukunft":
For weeks the German public debates over an alleged anti-Semitism problem in the party Die Linke. But the charge of anti-Semitism is being exploited: the background of the dispute is a campaign of the party right, which wants to impose its course for participation in the government.
The sparks fly at least since the 19th May 2011 when it comes to Die Linke. And absolutely justified, it seems, as it is about the question whether anti-Semites have the say in the party. A study by two social scientists, as we read that day in the Frankfurter Rundschau, uncovered evidence for this accusation.
Said study was written by Sebastian Voigt and Samuel Salzborn. Voigt is a founding member of the federal working group "Shalom" in the youth wing of the party, attributable to the extreme right wing of Die Linke. This group devotes its activities to the struggle against "anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, anti-Americanism and regressive anti-capitalism." What this means concretely can be read by anyone on the website of the group: Yes to the Israeli Gaza War of 2008/2009, yes to the U.S. "War on Terror", yes to war in Libya and a clear rejection of anti-imperialism. Salzborn represents similar positions in his regular attacks on Die Linke on the home page of the "axis of good" around the right-wing populist Henryk M. Broder.
Of course the press remained silent about the authors of the study being propagandists for the "War on Terror". In the days following the publication of the article the press flashed over with reports about "anti-Semitism within Die Like" and even the Bundestag [parliament] dedicated a "topical hour" to the issue. MPs of the CDU (the party which had stalwart old and ex-Nazis like Hans Globke, Hans Filbinger or Kurt Georg Kiesinger among their leaders) and the other parties could let loose their contempt for the "anti-Semitism from left". More cynicism could hardly be possible.
But instead of protesting vehemently the parliamentary faction of Die Linke decided to regard "initiatives on the Middle East conflict, calling for a one-state solution for Palestine and Israel", "calls for a boycott against Israeli products" and this year's trip of a "Gaza Flotilla" as "anti-Semitic ideology and extremist acts." Instead of determinedly opposing the equation of Israel, Zionism and Jews as well as the insinuation that Gaza flotilla and boycott calls are right-wing extremism and anti-Semitic - as it could be expected from a leftist party – the parliamentary faction adopted just these demagogic positions.
That Die Linke "overtook with its resolution even the bourgeois parties from the right - none of them has officially taken a similar decision – degenerates it to the laughing stock of the scornfully hands rubbing German political scene", said the Tel Aviv historian Moshe Zuckermann. The party did not become the laughing stock because it badly executed a good intention. It has become a laughing stock because the left-wing of the party allowed that the right-wing forces in the party were able to prevail with their instrumentalisation of accusations of anti-Semitism.
The decision of the parliamentary faction was unanimous - apparently because some leftist deputies left the hall. This fits into the picture: For years the left wing has remained silent about the machinations of the working group "Shalom", its "anti-German" allies and its supporters in the party, such as Petra Pau, Katja Kipping, or Bodo Ramelow. It has remained silent about their attacks on leftist Jews like Moshe Zuckermann and Norman Finkelstein, who are absurdly accused of being anti-Semites. And it also remains silent about the racism of this clientele, which refers to Palestinians and Muslims as "barbarians" and "Nazis."
Instead Die Linke still acts as if it were really about anti-Semitism or the situation in the Middle East. Thus Norman Paech, former foreign affairs spokesman of Die Linke, wrote the "Junge Welt" that behind the accusation of anti-Semitism, "which are pulled up like a modesty panel, the appalling barbarisation of Israeli politics disappears." It's not like Paech was wrong, but his comments in the face of this campaign and its supporters is proof of a naivety that borders on reality abstinence.
Member of the parliamentary faction Sevim Dağdelen, who was one of the few in the party explicitly pointed out "that certain people in the fraction lead this debate solely in order to make internal party territorial gains", does not seek to explain and justify the allegations but goes on the offensive: "At no time should preparation for war and the advocacy of war have a place in our party" she said in the "Junge Welt". Thereby she unveals the actual background of the campaign in a nutshell: the 2013 federal election. If Die Linke wants to be considered as a coalition partner for red-green, it needs to endorse military deployments of the Bundeswehr. So it comes as no surprise that the "anti-Semitism study" of Voigt and Salzborn bears the telling title "Anti-Semites as coalition partners?"
Therefore the Hamburg wing of Die Linke youth organization ['solid] finds harsh words: The decision of the faction was a "capitulation to the governmental ambitions of the party right" it is all about "the participation of Die Linke in the political power game, in the state, about careers, money and reputation." And as if to prove this point the party rightist Stefan Liebich, who represents Die Linke in the Bundestag, unmistakably explained the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" where the journey heads for. If one wanted to change NATO it would be wrong to withdraw from the military alliance. And the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" further quotes him: "The wholesale rejection of all combat missions for the Bundeswehr is a mistake, too."
"For us", said Hamburg's ['solid], "a point has been reached where the project Die Linke itself has been put into question." Even sharper critics of the rightist course of the party, such as the journalist Thomas Immanuel Steinberg, already called for turning the back to the party. If the party's left does not manage to repel the attack of the Realo wing - and with all its playing down the issue and the half-hearted attempts at justification it looks as though it has absolutely no interest in doing that - the German left is the latest in 2013 faced by the task of creating a new – leftist – Left Party. And it is already clear: a Die Linke which supports German wars and collaborates with the Hartz IV SPD can be no coalition partner for such a new party at any rate.
http://www.arbeit-zukunft.de/index.php?itemid=1696 (in German;
"Arbeit-Zukunft" replies that there should rather be a focus on building a genuine communist party with a strong working class base and programme than going for a split and setting up a another vague project, the "leftist Die Linke".)
In any case, it's clear that Die Linke didn't take a turn for the better over the last months. The party left becomes more and more isolated and under attack while careerists and voices like Stefan Liebich's, e.g. calling for further intervention in Afghanistan, are gaining ground.