developedworld:

saltdragon:

Anti-Zionists of all kinds should be furious about the Wuppertal synagogue “arson” ruling. If you believe there is a difference between verbal and physical attacks, this ruling tramples that distinction. If you believe there is a difference between the Jewish people and the state of Israel, this ruling tramples that distinction. If you believe there is a difference between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, this ruling tramples that distinction.

Whatever your politics, you should be furious that a molotov cocktail was thrown into a German synagogue, that terrorism against Jews has been redefined as “awareness-raising protest,” and that this redefinition has been carried out by an member of the current government of a country that orchestrated the Holocaust and, in collaboration with the rest of Europe, very nearly cleansed an entire continent of its Jewish population.

the anti-Semitism in Europe has been rising steadily, along with violent Islamophobic and anti-Roma sentiments. neo Nazi parties organize regularly in many large cities across the continent and culturally the people never really entered any semblance of American post-racial society.

my one issue, not with the actual crime but with the article, is that it wasn’t necessary to say the three attackers were Palestinian, period. as though the backstory fills in some mental hole, “ah yes, they were Palestinian, makes sense. you know by genetics them Palestinians are predisposed to hatin’ Jews!” like they did these actions as German citizens, they are being prosecuted in German courts and were trying to gain attention for their actions within larger German media/society. whether it was for awareness to the invasion and slaughter of innocent people in Gaza is irrelevant. they are Germans and their heritage is irrelevant. furthermore, the claim that this ruling tramples a distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is the most reactionary thing i’ve ever heard. children being bombed by the Zionist military in Gaza are now anti-Semitic for opposing the Zionist state that bombs them? it’s important to remember that anti-Zionist struggle is an anti-colonial indigenous struggle against an imperial military state and is not defined by the vain actions of a few trendy middle class Westerners (regardless of their country of origin) that use it as a disguise for often violent anti-Semitism.