VEIT F. ERLMANN

Thank you for forwarding the latest edition of herri. Unfortunately, I take issue with its content.

As a German and US citizen, and as the grandson of a man who the Nazis designated as a “Mischling” who narrowly escaped the concentration camps because he was married to an “Aryan,” I am horrified by the misleading, hate-filled and partly antisemitic rhetoric of the majority of articles.

For instance, the massacre committed by Hamas is never mentioned with even a syllable. When the organization is mentioned, it is as a resistance movement. But raping, killing women and parading their dead bodies in the streets of Gaza can never be resistance, it is a heinous crime.

Much the same twisted logic informs the claim that all Israelis are complicit in the actions of their government by virtue of them being members of a “family” along the lines of the mob depicted in The Godfather. Has the author forgotten that huge crowds of Israelis almost daily are out in the streets protesting Netanyahu and his criminal coalition partners?

Which brings me to the charges of genocide and apartheid. The latter is utter bunk whose only purpose is to manufacture some kind of ethical justification for Hamas’ rapists and terrorists. Similarly, the claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza is misleading at best and little more than an attention-grabbing publicity stunt not unlike the claims of Afriforum that the so-called farm murders are akin to genocide. And it is ignorant too of the political and legal implications of enforcing any findings of genocide. It would be much better – and more promising in bringing the perpetrators to book – to speak of war crimes. And this also applies to Netanyahu and possibly Israeli settlers killing Palestinians and burning their houses.

In sum, I am deeply disappointed that an extraordinary website like herri not only opened its pages to such inflammatory and counterproductive talk, but in so doing also does a disservice to the arts, critical thinking, and culture all told.

Best wishes
Veit Erlmann
Emeritus Professor
University of Texas at Austin