Germany is providing a one-time payment of $236 (€220) to each of Israel’s 113,000 Holocaust survivors to help them cope with the impacts of the October 7 attack by Hamas and its aftermath.
I know it’s trendy to shit on Germany rn (and Isreal obviously and for good reason), but 90 year old holocaust survivors surely aren’t the ones commiting genocide.
And they very well might have had to relive a trauma that Germany rightfully feels a responsibility for.
So what is the problem with giving those old folks that really had to endure some of the worst things anyone ever had to endure a symbolic sum to show them that they are not forgotten?
This is in no way defending Germanys support of Israel, while it is committing cruel war crimes.
But let’s be real here, is this gesture really that outrageous to you?
The question is, what symbolism do people draw from this gesture. The symbolism I see is viewing the current conflict through the lense of 80 years ago. And, in my view, the pervasive of that 80 year old lense to this conflict is the central problem to solving it.
If Germany wants to pay symbolic reparations for the Holocaust, fine. But don’t tie it to something that has nothing to do with the Holocaust.
This very much goes against your claims that Germany is viewing this conflict through the lens of 80 years ago. Contrast the 27 million going to Holocaust survivors (a third of which is living in poverty, by the way) against 197 million donated to UNRWA last year and 48 million this year so far.
my problem is that for some reason we allow groups to distribute these funds who have a long history of shafting the actual holocaust survivors, instead funelling money towards their board of directors and settler projects
I know it’s trendy to shit on Germany rn (and Isreal obviously and for good reason), but 90 year old holocaust survivors surely aren’t the ones commiting genocide.
And they very well might have had to relive a trauma that Germany rightfully feels a responsibility for.
So what is the problem with giving those old folks that really had to endure some of the worst things anyone ever had to endure a symbolic sum to show them that they are not forgotten?
This is in no way defending Germanys support of Israel, while it is committing cruel war crimes.
But let’s be real here, is this gesture really that outrageous to you?
The question is, what symbolism do people draw from this gesture. The symbolism I see is viewing the current conflict through the lense of 80 years ago. And, in my view, the pervasive of that 80 year old lense to this conflict is the central problem to solving it.
If Germany wants to pay symbolic reparations for the Holocaust, fine. But don’t tie it to something that has nothing to do with the Holocaust.
Germany is also the second largest contributor to UNRWA by total amount of money donated since 1952 and the largest donator of food in Gaza in 2023:
https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/unrwa-eur-45-million-new-contributions-germany-services-palestine-refugees-jordan-lebanon-syria-and-west-bank
This very much goes against your claims that Germany is viewing this conflict through the lens of 80 years ago. Contrast the 27 million going to Holocaust survivors (a third of which is living in poverty, by the way) against 197 million donated to UNRWA last year and 48 million this year so far.
my problem is that for some reason we allow groups to distribute these funds who have a long history of shafting the actual holocaust survivors, instead funelling money towards their board of directors and settler projects