Germany Again on the Wrong Side of History
To: Amnesty International,
Sec. Gen. Agnès Callamard
Cc: Amnesty International Deutschland (referred to below as “Amnesty Deutschland”)
Sec. Gen. Markus N. Beeko
February 3rd, 2022
We, people of Jewish heritage, are appalled by Amnesty Deutschland response to the excellent and important report by Amnesty International “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity”.
Amnesty Deutschland statement, which was also confirmed in a recorded phone inquiry, is that: “In order to counteract the danger of the report being instrumentalized or misinterpreted, the German section of Amnesty will not plan or carry out any activities in relation to this report.” ¹
In its statement, Amnesty Deutschland is not only oblivious to ongoing crimes against humanity, it outrageously uses the immense suffering of our families during the Nazi genocide of Jews, Romani and others, another crime against humanity, to relieve itself from its human, moral and legal obligation as a human rights organization.
We demand that the suffering of our families during the Holocaust will not be abused to justify the apathy of Germans who stand idly by in the face of ongoing crimes against humanity taking place before their eyes. We do not accept their claim that they did nothing simply because they did not know.
We also urgently call on Amnesty International to:
- Make sure that Amnesty Deutschland acts to end crimes against humanity including where the Zionist race-state is concerned.
- or - - Immediately cut its ties with Amnesty Deutschland, Amnesty’s office in Germany, since they clearly betray their basic mandate as a human rights organization.
Sincerely,
List of initial signatories:
Shelly Steinberg Judith Bernstein
Israeli citizen, Munich Jerusalem born, Munich
Ronnie Barkan David Comedi
Israeli citizen Professor of Physics, Argentina
Liliana Kaczerginski Anabella Birman
French citizen, Madrid Buenos Aires
Adi Shosberger Rotem Revivo
Israeli citizen Israeli citizen, Jerusalem
Nadav Shatil Einat Weizmann
Israeli citizen, Jerusalem Israeli citizen
Ayala Levinger Emily Dreyfus
Dutch citizen US citizen, Berlin
Elizabeth Berman Laurent Cohen
US citizen, Berlin French citizen, Barcelona
Lorien Newman Lena Bloch
Israeli citizen Jazz musician, NYC
Adv. Yaar Koren Ron-Ethan Melamed
Israeli citizen, Tel Aviv Israeli citizen
Rotem Levin Yael Kahn
Israeli citizen Israeli citizen, London
Ilona Schewtschuk Dominique Salomon
Berlin French resident, Barcelona
Shlomi Fogel Lautaro Pedro Brodsky
Israeli citizen, Amsterdam Argentina
Kevin Hadduck Shenaz
US citizen Canada
Tzvia Shapira Yonatan Shapira
Israeli citizen Israeli citizen
Ruth Elkin
US citizen, Maine [1]
Amnesty Deutschland statement: “In Deutschland wurde die systematische Vernichtung jüdischer Menschen geplant und umgesetzt. Antisemitische gewalttätige Übergriffe, Sachbeschädigungen oder Verschwörungsideologien sind in Deutschland präsent und auf einem beunruhigenden Höchststand. Daraus erwächst für die deutsche Amnesty-Sektion eine besondere Verantwortung. Im nationalen aktuellen wie historischen Kontext ist eine objektive, sachbezogene Debatte zu der vom Bericht vorgenommenen Einordnung nur schwer möglich. Um der Gefahr der Instrumentalisierung oder Missinterpretationen des Berichts entgegen zu wirken, wird die deutsche Amnesty-Sektion zu diesem Bericht keine Aktivitäten planen und durchführen.”
English translation: “The systematic extermination of Jewish people was planned and implemented in Germany. Anti-Semitic violent attacks, property damage and conspiracy ideologies are present in Germany and are at a worrying high. This creates a special responsibility for the German Amnesty section. In the national current and historical context, an objective, factual debate on the classification made by the report is difficult. In order to counteract the risk of instrumentalization or misinterpretation of the report, the German Amnesty section will not plan or carry out any activities related to this report.”
Originally published at https://medium.com/@amnestydeletter/germany-again-on-the-wrong-side-of-history-b2da15823d6e on February 5, 2022.
