We don't have to be enemies

"We don't have to be enemies"
Speech by Svetlana Novoshenova (Palestinians and Jews for Peace), held at the "Arsch Huh" demo in Cologne

by Svetlana Novoshenova
[This speech posted on 1/5/2024 is translated from the German on the Internet, https://www.linksnet.de/artikel/48739.]

Under the title "'Give Peace a Chance' - Humanity and Peace instead of Terror and War", a rally of the anti-fascist initiative "Arsch huh, Zäng ussenander" took place in Cologne on December 3, 2023. We document the speech given there by Svetlana Novoshenova as well as excerpts from a speech she gave on November 19 at the first demonstration of the group Palestinians and Jews for Peace (1), which had been founded in Cologne shortly before. (GWR-Red.)

Before I begin my speech: I am a German Jew and I distance myself from Benjamin Netanyahu and Olaf Scholz.

I am Svetlana and I am a co-founder of Palestinians and Jews for Peace. We are a group of young people with Jewish, Palestinian, Israeli and other roots. In just five weeks, we have organized two peace demonstrations, made friends and built a community of solidarity. We came together because we want to show the world that we don't have to be enemies. We were able to give ourselves and the people around us a sign of hope that peace is possible. We have shown that the things that unite us are stronger than the things that divide us. It turned out that we are united by much more than our love for falafel. But what sounds so natural and hopeful that it could almost be kitsch, makes us the target of an incredible amount of hatred.

Solidarity between Jews and Palestinians is portrayed as impossible, radical, even dangerous. The list of insults we have to listen to could be funny if the situation wasn't so sad. Sometimes we are anti-Semitic Hamas sympathizers, sometimes an identitarian cross-front, sometimes a pseudo-Jewish campaign, sometimes we ignore the suffering in Gaza. The accusations could not be more contradictory, but they are united in their judgment: we are always traitors. Because we are in solidarity with those who should be our enemies.

Being a Jewish woman in the public eye today, being politically active, feels more dangerous than ever before in my life. My ancestors survived countless pogroms, attacks and the Shoah so that I can stand here today. Sometimes very narrowly. I owe this not only to the incredible resilience of my ancestors, but also to the people who protected Jews. Those who stood up to anti-Semitism in their society and sometimes risked their own lives to do so. These people have inspired me and I have always hoped to be as brave as them one day.

For this reason, I cannot remain silent when my Jewish identity, our collective trauma and our justified fear of anti-Semitism are exploited for right-wing agitation and war propaganda.

The German-Israeli Society, the Alliance against Anti-Semitism Cologne and the Central Council of Jews are calling for unrestricted solidarity with the Israeli government and the IDF. In their press release, they claim that murderers are hiding behind the call for peace. They describe Israeli warfare as "prudent, proportionate, just and, above all, justified". The oh-so-moral IDF (2) bombs schools, refugee homes and hospitals.

Israeli politicians call Palestinians animals and announce that Gaza will be razed to the ground. The Israeli government calls it self-defense that 15,000 Palestinians in Gaza are dead, the majority of them women and children. Half of all homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, and 1.5 million people are homeless as a result of the Israeli military's attacks.

Anyone who dares to criticize this brutal action is accused of sympathizing with Hamas and being anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism is a real problem that threatens Jews - not an accusation that can be thrown around inflationarily and indiscriminately to justify Israeli war crimes and silence critics.

For months, thousands of Israelis have been protesting against the most far-right government their country has ever had. A government that is well on its way to abolishing its status as the "only democracy in the Middle East" through totalitarian judicial reforms. A government that has long been a thorn in the side of human rights organizations and is threatening to deport Israeli peace activists and protesters to Gaza by bus. A government that is now also trying to put an end to freedom of the press and criminalize newspapers that are critical of the government.

On October 7, the Israeli government and the IDF failed to protect Jews from terror and violence. An article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz criticizes the fact that Israeli female soldiers had been warning their superiors about the planned Hamas attack for months - but their superiors did not take the young women's warnings seriously. This arrogant chauvinism is unfortunately not an isolated case in the IDF and has contributed to the deaths of over 1,200 people; countless Israeli women have been victims of the most brutal sexual violence at the hands of Hamas.

Jewish women:Jews no longer feel safe in Germany either. Most of us came here as quota refugees from the countries of the former Soviet Union, just like my family. We came to Germany because we were promised protection from anti-Semitism. But instead of really doing something against anti-Semitism, for example investigating right-wing violence, uncovering right-wing networks in the police and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution or investing money in political education, German politicians prefer to point the finger at others. The "bad foreigners", "the Muslims", the "aggro-Arabs". Fighting anti-Semitism with racism and deportations, what an original idea.

Anti-Semitism and racism are life-threatening, whether in Germany, in Gaza, in Israel or worldwide. We should stop looking for evil only in others and instead engage in a critical conversation with ourselves. If we learn to listen, then we take steps towards dialog, towards peace.

Our call for a ceasefire is neither naive nor radical, but pragmatic. It is the only way to ensure peace, security and justice in the long term. We are not alone in this demand. Every day we receive messages of gratitude and solidarity with us and our message. People who finally feel heard and seen, including many Jewish, Israeli and Palestinian voices. These voices ensure that we do not give up hope and believe in a peaceful future after the war.

Dunja Hayali recently posted on Instagram: "In a war in which people die, there are no two sides. There are only people who die, and every death is one too many."

I can only agree with that.

The lives of Palestinian civilians are worth just as much as the lives of Israeli civilians. Human rights are so called because they apply to ALL people. The freedom and security of Israel and Palestine are not conflicting interests, they are inextricably intertwined. Peace only works together and not against each other. In Israel, in Palestine, in Germany and all over the world.

"It has never felt so scary for me to be Jewish"

Excerpts from a speech by Svetlana Novoshenova, held on 19.11.2023 at the "Sharing Sorrow. Bringing Hope - Sharing Sorrow. Bringing Hope" demo organized by Palestinians and Jews for Peace in Cologne.

(...) I was seven years old when my grandmother pulled me aside and warned me in a low voice not to tell strangers that I always went to ballet class at the synagogue on Wednesdays. At the time, I didn't understand why she told me to hide this part of my life and not the fact that I always have recorder lessons on Mondays.

Today, 25 years later, I know. It has never felt so scary for me to be Jewish. It has never felt so scary to be Jewish in public. But silence is no longer an option.

Because our justified fear is being instrumentalized to promote right-wing agitation and war propaganda. Concern for our safety as Jews is being used to label people as terrorists, Hamas supporters, radical Islamists, barbaric "aggro-Arabs" and to demand their deportation. Calls for freedom for the Palestinian people are being branded as anti-Semitic incitement and criminalized. Under the pretext of "security concerns" and "special responsibility towards Jews", basic democratic rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are being trampled underfoot while Nazis continue to chill in the Bundestag.

In Israel, right-wing extremist armed mobs shout "Death to the Arabs", settlers throw Molotov cocktails at the homes of their Palestinian neighbors. Israeli politicians deny the Palestinian people their right to exist and the IDF invokes "Israel's right to self-defense" to commit war crimes against innocent civilians in Gaza. Israeli and Palestinian peace activists are insulted, threatened and criminalized as traitors.

In Germany, Jews no longer dare to enter synagogues and Stars of David are sprayed on Jewish people's houses. Tough Nazis, right-wing conspirators and Islamists are using the opportunity to radicalize people and spread their hate ideologies. In Russia, Jews are being hunted down by an anti-Semitic mob at an airport. I could cry because I have the feeling that people have learned nothing from history.

As always, the German government's response is the same. Clean a few stumbling blocks, make pompous speeches about dead Jews, recite "Never again" like a prayer wheel, lay down a wreath of flowers - and don't forget the most important thing: express unconditional solidarity with the Israeli government. After all, Germany has a special historical responsibility towards the Jewish people.

But what is the German government supporting in the name of solidarity with Jews?

In response to the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, the Israeli government is causing a military escalation of appalling proportions, which is responsible for over 11,000 civilian casualties in Gaza, more than 60% of them women and children. Half of all homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless by Israeli military attacks. The IDF continues to bomb refugee homes and hospitals.

For months, thousands of Israelis have been protesting against (...) a government that has long made no secret of the fact that it does not regard Palestinians as human beings. (...) The German government continues to stand unwaveringly by the side of the Israeli government. In doing so, it is not only putting the lives of millions of Palestinians at risk, but also those of the Israeli hostages who are still being held captive by Hamas. Our calls for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages are growing louder and more desperate. German politicians and the media keep repeating that only Hamas would benefit from a ceasefire. Honestly, are you still in your right mind? So I'm not at all surprised when some swindlers claim again that the Jews control the media and the German government. But instead of really doing something to combat anti-Semitism, for example investing in political education, the German government is cutting funding for this of all things. I don't feel protected by this, but simply fooled. Unconditional solidarity with the far-right Israeli government and the IDF does not protect Jews in Israel, Germany or anywhere else in the world.

We call on our government to stand in solidarity with ALL victims of this war. A human life is of equal value, whether in Tel Aviv, in Ramallah, in Haifa, in Jerusalem or in Gaza. Palestinians in Gaza and around the world are not responsible for the crimes of Hamas. Jews are not responsible for the war crimes of the Israeli army. Human rights are called human rights because they apply to ALL people.

We demand a ceasefire. The release of the hostages. An end to the military occupation of Palestine. We stand side by side with our Palestinian friends.

There is no alternative to peace in Israel and Palestine. Not for Jews, not for Palestinians and not for the other people who live there. This is not naïve, but realistic and pragmatic. It is not radical, but the only option to end the suffering of innocent people. (...)