Davids Medienkritik

Jeffrey Gedmin: Hypocrisy in the West: Iran and the Peace Movement

Proudly presenting the original English version of Jeffrey Gedmin's latest article in WELT.

Hypocrisy in the West: Iran and the Peace Movement
Column in "Die Welt", 21.06.2006
By Jeffrey Gedmin

Look at it this way, says Mohammad Ali Ramin: "So long as Israel exists there will never be peace." The Iranian Presidential adviser also told students in Rasht recently that the holocaust rumour and bird flu were somehow inter-related, the latter being a conspiracy by the West to destract from its failures in the Middle East. Ramin said killing chickens was part of a plot to control prices. He also seems to believe that Jews once caused the plague and typhus because "Jews are very filthy people."

As all this does sound just a tad dangerous, I keep wondering what happened to the peace movement.   The peace movement has always been anti-nuclear. Iran wants the bomb. The peace movement loves the U.N. and international law. Teheran defies the International Atomic Energy Agency. The peace movement condemns the "arms race." When Iran goes nuclear, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey will also want the bomb. The peace movement cherishes human rights. The mullahs stone women. The peace movement is modern, multicultural, and secular. President Ahmadinejad believes in the Hidden Imam and relishes a clash of civilizations. The peace movement likes peace. The Iranian leader has called for a U.N. member state to be wiped off the face of the earth.

The peace movement is once again exposed as a farce and a fraud. During the Cold War it thrived on anti-Americanism and a good dose of Soviet block support. It was back recently when George W. Bush said he would compel Saddam Hussein to comply with U.N. resolutions. In Berlin, half a million people took to the streets. Teachers, students, churches, trade unions. It is hard to remember too many of these folks lifting a finger for the people of Iraq before or ever since.

And those banners declaring "No Blood for Oil"? Do the peaceniks know that Europe depends on Middle Eastern oil even more than the United States? Saudi Arabia is one of Germany's most important trading partners in the region. Iran is the other. During Gerhard Schroeder's last year in office, German exports to Iran rose by 33.4 percent (3.6

Germany's Iran Policy: It's the Economy, Stupid!

Germany is opposed to military actions in the context of Iran's nuclear ambitions, even though purely diplomatic approaches might eventually lead to the annihilation of Israel. And Germany's powerful  trade associations even reject economic sanctions against Iraq. The reason for Germany's peacenick policy?

Definitely not humanitarian considerations.

It's the economy, stupid.

More comprehensive sanctions [i.e. including commercial sanctions] would be tied to ever higher costs also for the West – and, in particular, for Germany. Should commercial sanctions be applied, it would be first and foremost the EU states that are affected. In 2004, Germany was the most important supplier of Iran (12.3% of all imports), followed by France (8.5%), Italy (7.9%), and China (7.5%). (...)

Current German policy in fact actively encourages exports to Iran: notably by having the German state assume the financial risks of German firms exporting to Iran (via the so-called "Hermes" program of export credit guarantees).

Read John Rosenthal's Trans-Int blog for more...

Anglofritz on Medienkritik

A blog named Anglofritz recently posted an interesting take on Davids Medienkritik and Germans' apparent confusion over the United States and Iran.

Germans: U.S. More Dangerous than Iran

According to this poll, more Germans consider the U.S. to be a danger for world peace than Iran.

45 % of Germans call the U.S. a "greater threat to world peace" than Iran. 28 % think that Iran is a greater threat. For 16 %, the U.S. and Iran pose identical threats.

The results don't surprise me at all.

I mean, Iran is economically extremly promising for Germany. And Iran has made it clear what it expects in return for economic favours: "The international deputy of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Fereidoun Entezari, believes that business relations will surely improve if the Europeans do not pollute the economic issues with the political ones."

Germany got the message...

(For more on the topic, check Ray's posting "Appeasing Oppressors: A Proud German Tradition Continues".)

Appeasing Oppressors: A Proud German Tradition Continues

(By Ray Drake)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust "a myth." He's called for Israel to be "wiped off the map." He's the head of one of the most repressive governments on earth. And, as far as most German authorities are concerned, he's a welcome guest at this summer's 2006 FIFA World Cup.

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble (CDU) recently stated that Ahmadinejad is welcome at the World Cup because Germany wants to be "a good host." Schaeuble, who is considered conservative by German standards, said that he would "talk to him about his statements" in the event of a visit and added that "it will not be entirely simple."

"Thank you very much for the kind words, Herr Schaeuble! I am already happy about coming to the land of my great idol..." (cartoon via Politically Incorrect)

Once again, German leaders are paying lip service to ideals that they have no intention of honoring. One day they pose as moral paragons of virtue, the next they are in bed doing deals with the world's most repressive regimes. It doesn't matter if you're the leader of a brutal theocracy who has denied the Holocaust and called for the destruction of Israel. Germany's special historic responsibility to the millions of murdered Jews and the state of Israel is apparently less important than being "good hosts" and rolling over to placate tyrants. What really matters is that the World Cup goes smoothly and serves German interests.

In a story on the potential Ahmadinejad visit, the FAZ newspaper detailed all of the problems with Iran and its President but pointed out: "On the other hand, German-Iranian trade is being promoted." Just another reason not to rock the boat! When in doubt, appease and call for more "dialog." If this is any indication of Germany's sincerity in negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program, the American "friends" ought to be quite concerned.

The only person who seems to have any sense in this is Edmund Stoiber, Governor of Bavaria (CSU). Stoiber warned that Iran's President would be less than welcome for his "tirades against the Jewish state and contesting the Holocaust." But even he wasn't willing to challenge the national government's right to allow Ahmadinejad into the country.

The ultimate question is how other World Cup attendees will react to the German government's weak-kneed stance on a potential Ahmadinejad visit. If a major player decides to pull out rather than participate in an event attended by Iran's notorious head of state, the German appeasement gamble could backfire quite badly indeed.

Endnote: You can contact Wolfgang Schaeuble at: wolfgang.schaeuble@bundestag.de. Read more on this in German here.

On another note, German entrepreneurs of a special sort are busily preparing for this summer: Berlin readies giant brothel for World Cup. According to MSNBC, "Experts estimate as many as 40,000 prostitutes may travel to Germany to offer their services to fans during the tournament." Here is a past Medienkritik post on the topic.

Iranian Humor: Possesses a Distinct Flavor...

We all know by now the sensibilities of Iran about cartoons in the European media. Memri has collected some cartoons published in the Iranian media. Iranian humor seems to possess a distinct flavor...

BTW, I don't understand the headline (of course not...). Do we have folks here fluent in Persian?

Update 1: Solomonia has an interesting posting on how to deal with Iran.

Update 2: frenchfgoli2 kindly offered this translation of the headline: "Holocaust (Hitler's human burning ovens)". Unbelievable.

Another World War Starting in Berlin?

No doubt, Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's energetic president, might use this cartoon* in last Friday's edition of the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel as an excuse to start WWIII.

I suspect there will be an avalanche of apologies from Germany's government in the next couple of days...

(* Left: (most likely) the Iranian national soccer team; right: the 'Bundeswehr' (German military). The cartoon's text: "Why we definitely need the 'Bundeswehr' at the soccer world championships")

Update: According to this report, the caricaturist has received several death threats. He moved out of his home for security reasons. Also, the Iranian embassy in Germany requested an apology from Tagesspiegel. The story is developing...stay tuned. (For the time being we have decided not to correct this posting's headline.)

Update #2: Michelle Malkin is on the case.

Iran: Thank you, Germany!

So you think German foreign policy is sub-optimal, not up to par, maybe rotten to the core?

Think again.

The press spokesman for one of the oldest and most stable democracies in the world has warm words of praise for Germany's foreign policy:

Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham, meanwhile, congratulated the German foreign minister for declaring Berlin's commitment to negotiations over the brewing crisis that intensified on Jan. 10 when Tehran removed U.N. seals from its main uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, central Iran. (...) "The Germans have the right idea," Elham said.

Threats of military force against Iran, he told reporters, "have no legal basis. Iran has not done anything that violates international norms."

On Sunday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his government was committed to a diplomatic solution and cautioned against military action, and Elham said that could signal a shift in the West's position.

"It is better for them to accept Iran's nuclear right in concrete terms," Elham said.

Whatever, Elham. Just let us know your conditions for Germany's surrender.

Germany's Iran Policy: Follow the Money

Have you ever wondered about the German government's soft policy towards the Iranian Mullah regime?

Follow the money...

For the last 25 years, the German government has offered its good offices to the anti-Semitic Mullahs in Tehran with a shamelessness unrivalled by any other western government. ...

Germany is today by far the most important supplier of goods to Iran and its exports are increasing at a steady 20% per year. In 2004, German exports to Iran were worth some €3.6 billion. At the same time, Germany is the most important purchaser of Iranian goods apart from oil and Iran’s most important creditor.

You need to read the complete version of Matthias Kuentzel's analysis (Are 500,000 Keys to Paradise Enough?: Germany "Confronts" Ahmadinejad) at the indispensable Transatlantic Intelligencer...

For a Change, Encouraging Signs in Germany

Yakoov Kirschen of Dry Bones has produced this magnificient cartoon that addresses the latest Iranian death threats against Israel.

Today - Saturday, Oct. 29 - about 300 Islamists demonstrated in Berlin against Israel. The annual worldwide “Al Quds Day” demonstrations ritually call for the destruction of Israel. This year's Berlin demonstration was not as openly anti-Semitic as last year's - because German authorities had requested the removal of hateful anti-Israel banners and posters. Also, about 200 democrats staged their own pro-Israel demonstration.

For a change, the reaction of the authorities and the pro-Israel demonstration are encouraging signs in Germany.