Spore hosts: Limits to the Reason of State?
Panel on History, German Memory Politics and the War against Gaza19.00-21.00
Save the Date
for adults
in German
The current killing and death in Gaza following the attack on Israel by Hamas and other groups on 7 October has led to protests around the world. In view of the various sad records that the Israeli campaign has already set, students around the world are protesting. In no other conflict have so many children, young people, journalists and UN employees been killed in such a short period of time. In no other crisis region in the world has hunger spread with such breathtaking speed as in the sealed-off Gaza Strip, although it would be easy to bring humanitarian aid overland to the enclave if Tel Aviv allowed it.
Meanwhile, opinion polls in the USA and Germany show that a majority of the population is against this war, while Germany has become Israel's most important supporter alongside the USA (according to SIPRI, also militarily). However, the way the war is being waged is putting the German raison d'état, which politicians in this country continue to invoke, to the test. The various proceedings before international and German courts also show that there are important reasons to scrutinize the meaning of the vague raison d'état formula.
Political scientist Daniel Marwecki has researched the first decades of German-Israeli relations and has come to conclusions that largely do not correspond to the narrative often used today of a veritable miracle of such relations after the Shoah, but rather place political interests on both sides at the center. The later romanticization of this relationship seems questionable at best.
Publicist Charlotte Wiedemann has worked on questions of German culture of remembrance and memory politics, including the handling of German mass crimes in addition to the Holocaust.
Riad Othman, Near East Advisor for the relief and human rights organization medico international e.V., explores their views on German politics and remembrance against the backdrop of the complete destruction of Gaza and the increasing repression of protests against it.
Organized by medico International e.V.