In an open letter, well-known Germans such as Alice Schwarzer, Martin Walser and Dieter Nuhr appealed to the Federal Chancellor not to make Germany a party to the war. The reactions are harsh. Some sound more like Russian state television than the free West.
Also one of the signatories: the cabaret artist Dieter Nuhr.
The ability to endure differences of opinion and deal with them in a civilized manner was never very pronounced in Germany. Unlike in Switzerland or the United Kingdom, people here like to create a social consensus as quickly as possible and then, at best, mark the remaining dissenters as funny birds.
The pandemic has reinforced this propensity. And the war in the Ukraine threatens to finally shatter the battered Teutonic nerves.
Insanity! declaration of bankruptcy! Nothing learned from history! Someone probably wanted to “see rape rewarded”. A few dozen well-known intellectuals and artists are confronted with such and other accusations – from parliamentarians, journalists, professors and, of course, from the Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin. since they published an open letter to the German chancellor in Emma this Friday. In it, they warn of the danger of a third world war and ask Olaf Scholz to remember his “original position” and not to deliver any more heavy weapons to Ukraine, either directly or indirectly.
The group of first signatories is diverse in the literal sense: from the actor Lars Eidinger to the writer Juli Zeh and the feminist Alice Schwarzer to the grand seigneurs Martin Walser and Alexander Kluge. But as big as the names are, the writing seems half-baked, which could also be due to the fact that such joint works are often piecemeal. Some people care about this formulation, others that one, and in the end they sign because the whole thing is a matter of the heart and the direction is at least roughly correct.
exploding heads
One of the statements that are now being torn apart is the request that Scholz support a quick ceasefire: for a “compromise that both sides can accept”. If that were the German attitude, an FDP member of parliament railed, then violent border shifts and war crimes would be the new European normal. In front of the sentence he put an emoji whose head exploded. Walser and the others, should I say that, have lost their minds.
Yes, you have? Of course, a ceasefire and a compromise that the Ukrainian government in particular could accept in view of the Russian war crimes and ever-new threats are hardly imaginable at the moment. But if both were no longer goals for which Western politicians could advocate, then only a military victory for Ukraine would remain. One might think that this is possible, but it would be foolhardy to deny the associated risk of an escalation of the war.
The letter is least convincing in its criticism of the alleged “escalating armament”. If Ukraine had nuclear weapons, then there was a high probability that Russia would not have invaded; at least it would have been the first open war between two nuclear powers. And if Poland or the Baltic States were not under NATO protection, then the probability of an attack on their territory would also be many times higher. A well-equipped military does not increase the risk of war in the immediate vicinity of major imperial powers; it reduces them.
The Bundestag is convinced that the population is divided
Perhaps the prominent community of authors would have been well advised to consult a Bundeswehr officer when writing their letter. There are some in the German military who are also critical of arms deliveries and would sign some of the points in the letter. But they tried to dissuade the authors from claiming that disarmament would make a “common, peaceful future” more likely.
All in all, the text is still important. While just under 80 percent of the deputies in the Bundestag voted for more German arms deliveries to Ukraine, only just under half of the population thinks that is correct. Those who see things differently and are concerned for themselves and their families have the right to make their voices heard without being insulted. This also distinguishes the West from Russia. At least that’s how it should be.
Anyone who portrays the opponents of arms deliveries as history-forgotten idiots, lunatics and people who downplay rape may do so in the belief that they are defending the free world. In truth, such rhetoric is more reminiscent of Russian state television.