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The Crime of Being a Zionist

(Ha'aretz) Karl Pfeifer - I am an 81-year-old survivor of the Holocaust. A journalist, I had been invited by the left-wing anti-fascist student group Antifa AG at Bielefeld University [in Germany] to give a lecture on "Racism and Anti-Semitism in Hungary" on Nov. 19. Two days before I was to appear, several people raised an objection to my speaking, saying they had received information that during Israel's War of Independence, when I served in the Palmach (the pre-state strike force of the Haganah), I had participated in a massacre in a Palestinian village, alleging that I myself had actively participated in the killing. Those accusing me did not name the place where this alleged massacre was committed, or provide any other details. When pushed for corroboration, they settled the matter by explaining that "Pfeifer is a Zionist." Of course, no one asked me to respond to the accusations before they decided to rescind the invitation. To accuse someone of having participated in a "massacre" - in this case, with no details and no proof - is an act of projection that is unfortunately not unusual in certain European circles. The best-known and most widespread example of projection of guilt is the defamation of Israelis as the "Nazis of today." This is one of the most objectionable forms of anti-Semitism in the era after Auschwitz. As far as I can tell, my real crime apparently is being a "Zionist," which I can only understand as being guilty of being a Jew who defended himself and who favors the existence of a Jewish and democratic state. In Germany, I had the feeling that I was being judged by those arrogant anti-Semites not on the basis of what I have done or am doing, but for what I am.
2009-11-27 08:49:49
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