Anti-Germans (political current)

thumb|Anti-German [[communist protesters in Frankfurt in 2006. The banner reads "Down with Germany/Solidarity with Israel/For Communism!".]]

"Anti-German" (; also Antideutsch(e) movement) is a collective term applied to a variety of theoretical and political tendencies within the left mainly in Germany and Austria. The anti-Germans form one of the main camps within the broader Antifa movement, alongside the anti-Zionist anti-imperialists, after the two currents split between the 1990s and the early 2000s as a result of their diverging views on Israel. The anti-Germans are a fringe movement within the German left: in 2006 Deutsche Welle estimated the number of anti-Germans to be between 500 and 3,000. The basic standpoint of the anti-Germans includes opposition to German nationalism, a critique of mainstream left anti-capitalist views, which are thought to be simplistic and structurally antisemitic, and a critique of antisemitism, which is considered to be deeply rooted in German cultural history. As a result of this analysis of antisemitism, support for Israel and opposition to anti-Zionism is a primary unifying factor of the anti-German movement. The critical theory of Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer is often cited by anti-German theorists. This circle adopted a position developed by the Kommunistischer Bund, a decidedly pessimistic analysis with regard to the potential for revolutionary change in Germany. Known as the "fascization" analysis, this theory held that due to the particularity of German history and development, the endemic crisis of capitalism would lead to a move towards the far right and to a new Fascism.

During an internal debate, representatives of the majority tendency said that the minority current, due to its bleak analysis and unwavering pessimism, might as well just emigrate to the Bahamas. the largest of which attracted a crowd of approximately 10,000 people. The 1976 Entebbe hijacking, carried out by members of the Palestinian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations and the West German Revolutionary Cells, became an important reference point in later debates because the hijackers separated Israeli and Jewish hostages from other passengers. These debates contributed to a later reassessment of anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist traditions within parts of the German left.

Development in the 1990s

thumb|[[Never again Germany graffiti in Vienna, 2009]]

The notion of a revival of German nationalism and racism as a result of the reunification seemed to confirm itself over the course of the 1990s, as shown by such events as the Rostock-Lichtenhagen riots and a murderous attack on a Turkish family in the West German town of Solingen. This wave of anti-immigrant violence led to tightening of Germany's hitherto liberal asylum laws.

As a result of these conflicts, through the 1990s, small groups and circles associated with anti-German ideas began to emerge throughout Germany, refining their ideological positions by dissenting from prevailing opinions within the German Left. These positions became particularly prominent within "Anti-fascist" groups. The Gulf War in 1990 consolidated the Anti-German position around a new issue, specifically criticism of the broader Left's failure to side with Israel against rocket attacks launched into civilian areas by the regime of Saddam Hussein. The text became part of a wider left-wing discussion about whether anti-Zionist and anti-imperialist politics had reproduced antisemitic patterns, especially by viewing Israel solely as an outpost of Western imperialism rather than also as a refuge for Jews after the Holocaust.

The outbreak of the Second Intifada provided another focal point for the emerging Anti-German movement. According to Assaf Moghadam, the Anti-German movement's unconditional support for Israel, in contrast to the position of most left-wing organizations, was further intensified by the September 11 attacks on America, with anti-Germans strongly criticising other leftist positions that claimed that Al-Qaeda's assault on the United States was motivated by anti-imperialist or anti-capitalist resistance against American hegemony,

In 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of the bombing of Dresden, anti-Germans praised the bombing on the grounds that so many of the city's civilians had supported Nazism. The war was not justified "despite but because of Auschwitz". This judgment is often combined with the analysis of the genesis of a new national self as the "Aufarbeitungsweltmeister"

Positions and self-understanding

The anti-German current is a heterogeneous political tendency within the German radical left. It emerged most visibly around opposition to German reunification in 1989–1990 and was further shaped by debates within the left during the 1991 Gulf War, especially over Iraqi missile attacks on Israel and the German peace movement's response to them. Its central themes include opposition to German nationalism, criticism of antisemitism and anti-Zionism within the left, and solidarity with Israel, which adherents commonly understand as a necessary refuge for Jewish life after the Holocaust. In particular, they have criticized parts of the radical left for supporting or excusing authoritarian or reactionary regimes and movements under the banner of anti-imperialism, and for adopting forms of anti-Zionism that Anti-German authors interpret as structurally antisemitic.

According to Haaretz writer Ofri Ilany, "Incensed Germans, some of them descendants of Nazis, don't hesitate to attack Jewish and Israeli left-wingers" and "besmirch Jews" and violate their freedom of expression "under the banner of the struggle against anti-Semitism." Left-wing Austrian-Jewish activist Isabel Frey said that "Jews are fetishized in this pseudo-tolerant way and assumed to have unified interests" by the political mainstream in Austria and Germany. According to Frey, "Jewish leftists are being accused of antisemitism by non-Jewish leftists. To me, these accusations are a way of denigrating our Jewish identities, of saying that we’re the “wrong kind” of Jew. I keep asking myself, are these accusations themselves a kind of antisemitism?" Michael Sappir, an Israeli-born German-Jewish anti-Zionist activist affiliated with Jewish-Israeli descent in Leipzig, has said in +972 Magazine that the experience of being an anti-Zionist Jewish leftist in Germany can be disempowering and "very isolating" because the German left is often associated with the Antideutsch movement. According to Sappir, Jewish leftists and other pro-Palestinian voices are marginalized in part because "Antideutsch groups have managed to bully them into silence" and that Jewish leftists "felt very insulted by the idea of calling this struggle 'antisemitic'".

The Anti-Deutsch movement has faced criticism for its perceived unconditional support of the State of Israel. Critics argue that this position often leads to the marginalization of Palestinian perspectives and struggles. Some sources note that Anti-Deutsch groups have defended Israeli government actions including the Gaza genocide. These positions have sparked debate within the German and international left, with opponents asserting that the movement's stance may conflict with broader anti-imperialist and human rights principles.

References

Primary sources

Harald Bergdorf and Rudolf van Hüllen. Linksextrem – Deutschlands unterschätzte Gefahr? Zwischen Brandanschlag und Bundestagsmandat. Schöningh, Paderborn and others (2011), .

External links

Anti-German for Dummies
Assaf Uni: The good men of Leipzig, Haaretz, January 3, 2007
Interview with Thomas Becker, a contributor to Bahamas
Homepage of the group "Initiative Sozialistisches Forum"
Homepage of the group "Café Critique"