Berlin, Germany: Protests against employee of the Federal Agency for Civic Education
The Jewish Community of Berlin and the Coordinating Council of German Non-Governmental Organizations Against Antisemitism have urged Germany’s Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble to intervene against Dr. Ludwig Watzal, an employee of the Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung).
According to a letter from the two entities, Watzal “crossed the boundary” of antisemitism with his statements on Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Israeli-American businessman Haim Saban. In the article “Israel’s Dilemma in Palestine. A land with people, for a people with a plan”, published on November 5, 2007, in the Internet magazine counterpunch.org, Watzal wrote: “It (Israel) succeeded in 1948 in expelling and keeping out a large number of Palestinians, but Israel was never able to cleanse the land of Palestine entirely.” In the article “An Israelization of the World?”, published in 2004, Watzal implied that attacks on civilians can be justified: “If the USA further Israelizes its domestic and foreign policy, conflicts à la Palestine will become globalized.”
The Central Council of Jews in Germany sent another letter to Schaeuble suggesting that Dr. Watzal should not be working for a federal agency. Also, Abraham Foxman, the Director of the Anti-Defamation League, sent a letter to Thomas Kruger, president of the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Foxman wrote that Watzal’s remarks are antisemitic according to the “Working Definition of Antisemitism” of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights; “We hope that the Bundeszentrale will promptly sever its ties to Dr. Watzal in order to avoid further damage.” In March, Watzal published a statement in his own defense entitled, “Tricks, Manipulations and Defamations”. In the statement, he spoke of a “newly planned defamation campaign against me by anti-German and neo-conservative extremists, with the goal of destroying my career”.
Gert Weisskirchen, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe [OSCE] Chairman-in-Office's Personal Representative on Combating Antisemitism, says that Watzal crosses the line.
Even the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported about the case on April 6. The IRNA wrote that “Germany’s powerful Zionist lobby has called for the dismissal of a renowned German Mideast expert for his critical position on Israel.”
Sources: Tagespiegel.de, 04-05-2008; JTA.org, 04-04-2008; IRNA, 04-06-2008; counterpunch.org, 11-05-2007
