Kudos to Dieter Salomon: according to the Jerusalem Post, the Green mayor of the German city of Freiburg has been brave enough to put up a principled stand against the Palestinian Nakba exhibition due to open at his local library - on the grounds that it ignored Arab pogroms against the Jews. However, the city will not appeal a legal judgement against it demanding that the exhibition go on display after all. (With thanks: Lily)
BERLIN – The mayor of Freiburg, Dieter Salomon, pulled the plug on a Palestinian “Nakba” exhibit, which was slated to open on Friday in the local library, because “from the perspective of the city of Freiburg, the presentation is one-sided,” Edith Lamersdorf, the mayor’ spokeswoman, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
The Café Palestine group filed a law suit against the municipality, and on Wednesday a court there ruled that the exhibit can be displayed. “The exhibit does not violate penal law with regard to content and is protected by freedom of speech,” the court said in a statement.
“We accept the decision,” Lamersdorf said.
It is unclear why the city of Freiburg will not appeal the court's ruling.
“We will show the exhibit, but we stand by what we said about the content, that it is a one-sided presentation,” Salomon told the Badische Zeitung local newspaper.
“One-sided accusations and friend-foe paradigms do not promote insight into the complicated relationships in the Middle East or contribute to understanding and peaceful development in the region,” the Green Party’s Salomon said in a statement last week.
“Palestinian Arabs do not appear in the presentation as responsible and active actors in this conflict. There is, for example, no discussion of the anti-Semitically motivated Arab pogroms that took place since the mid-19th century, and especially after 1945, in the Jewish settlement areas in the Arab regions. The other ‘Nakba’ [catastrophe] meant flight and expulsion for hundreds of thousands of Arab Jews, who had to leave their homes and were taken in by Israel,” (my emphasis - ed ) the mayor said.
Dr. Gabriele Weber, one of the organizers of the exhibit, told the Post on Tuesday that “there is no reason to cancel the exhibit,” because there “was an exhibit about Baden Jews who were deported” during the Holocaust, which was displayed in the city library.
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BERLIN – The mayor of Freiburg, Dieter Salomon, pulled the plug on a Palestinian “Nakba” exhibit, which was slated to open on Friday in the local library, because “from the perspective of the city of Freiburg, the presentation is one-sided,” Edith Lamersdorf, the mayor’ spokeswoman, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
The Café Palestine group filed a law suit against the municipality, and on Wednesday a court there ruled that the exhibit can be displayed. “The exhibit does not violate penal law with regard to content and is protected by freedom of speech,” the court said in a statement.
“We accept the decision,” Lamersdorf said.
It is unclear why the city of Freiburg will not appeal the court's ruling.
“We will show the exhibit, but we stand by what we said about the content, that it is a one-sided presentation,” Salomon told the Badische Zeitung local newspaper.
“One-sided accusations and friend-foe paradigms do not promote insight into the complicated relationships in the Middle East or contribute to understanding and peaceful development in the region,” the Green Party’s Salomon said in a statement last week.
“Palestinian Arabs do not appear in the presentation as responsible and active actors in this conflict. There is, for example, no discussion of the anti-Semitically motivated Arab pogroms that took place since the mid-19th century, and especially after 1945, in the Jewish settlement areas in the Arab regions. The other ‘Nakba’ [catastrophe] meant flight and expulsion for hundreds of thousands of Arab Jews, who had to leave their homes and were taken in by Israel,” (my emphasis - ed ) the mayor said.
Dr. Gabriele Weber, one of the organizers of the exhibit, told the Post on Tuesday that “there is no reason to cancel the exhibit,” because there “was an exhibit about Baden Jews who were deported” during the Holocaust, which was displayed in the city library.
Read article in full
Stop fooling yourself. Israel is the new Nazi regime. a racist against Arabs including Arab Jews. you deported 4 million Palestinians from their homeland and claim that God gave you that right???????? I think g-God is not racist. he is fair and love justice. Time to either start fresh by returning to 1967 border with the right of Palestinians right of return or face decade of insecurity and wars. the choice is yours Israel
ReplyDeleteIt's a pity you are so ignorant and full of hate. Please take this opportunity to educate yourself on this site. It would tell you that the heirs to the Nazis still live among the Arabs.
ReplyDelete