Gespräch mit dem Philosophen Peter Sloterdijk über die Finanzmarktkrise

Im Gespräch mit der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung hält der Philosoph Peter Sloterdijk nicht viel von Wirtschaftswissenschaftlern:

“Man muss endlich auch die Wirtschaftswissenschaften als Wissenschaften vom Irrationalen rekonstruieren, als eine Theorie des leidenschaftsgetriebenen und zufälligen Verhaltens. Die Psychologie beschreibt den Menschen seit über hundert Jahren als animal irrationale. Etwas Ähnliches zeichnet sich jetzt langsam in den Staats- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften ab. Auch dort porträtiert man den Menschen zunehmend als ein Wesen, das sich so gut wie nie als vernünftiger Langzeitrechner verhält. Der wirkliche Mensch, wie er außerhalb der theoretischen Modelle erscheint, lebt durch die Leidenschaften, aus dem Zufall und dank der Nachahmung. Für aufklärerisch gesinnte Menschen enthalten diese Diagnosen starke Zumutungen. Wir wollen als vernünftig, organisiert, selbstdurchsichtig und originell gelten und sind in Wahrheit unberechenbar, chaosanfällig, trüb und repetitiv.”

Vollständiges Gespräch lesen.

Simone Veil in die Académie française gewählt

Simone Veil und Jacques Chirac in Auschwitz

Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung porträtiert die erste Präsidentin des Europäischen Parlaments, die beliebteste Politikerin Frankreichs und Holocaust-Überlebende Simone Veil, die jetzt in die Académie française aufgenommen wurde – höchste französische Auszeichnung für eine Persönlichkeit der Kultur, Wissenschaft oder Politik.

“Die 1927 in Nizza geborene Simone Veil wurde zusammen mit der ganzen Familie nach Auschwitz deportiert. Ohne die Eltern kehrte sie zurück. In die Politik kam sie unter Giscard d’Estaing. Als er 1974 Präsident wurde, holte er Simone Veil in die Regierung. Sie wurde Gesundheitsministerin und setzte gegen gewaltige Widerstände die vom Liberalen Giscard im Wahlkampf versprochene Erlaubnis zum straffreien Schwangerschaftsabbruch durch. Noch immer wird sie deswegen von den reaktionären Katholiken und militanten Abtreibungsgegnern angefeindet.”

Zum Artikel.

John Grisham’s New Legal Thriller

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW

And stay tuned to all the latest on John Ray Grisham, a former lawyer, and cousin of William Jefferson Clinton, and his books by:

Fanning his newly launched Facebook page.

Friending his newly launched MySpace page.

And, as always, visiting jgrisham.com.

Cem Özdemir, der Möchtegern-Obama

LEITARTIKEL ZUR ERÖFFNUNG DER JAGDSAISON BZW. BUNDESTAGSWAHL 2009

von Narcisse Caméléon, Ressortleiter Deppologie der HIRAM7 REVIEW

Man kann einen Mensch nur korrumpieren, wenn er korrumpierbar ist. (Graham Greene, aus Dr. Fischer aus Genf oder die Bomben-Party)

Elvis Imitator Cem Özdemir beim Parteitag der Grünen

Der wahre Elvis: sah besser aus, konnte singen, hatte keine Leiche im Keller, und hatte mehr als 2 Drittel der Mehrheit…

Kläglich gescheitert im eigenen schwäbischen Wahlkreis für den heiß begehrten Platz als Direktkandidat für die Bundestagswahl 2009 (Politikerdiäten machen bekanntlich Hunger auf mehr…nachdem er sich jahrelang im EU-Parlament aufgrund der peinlichen Miles-and-Moritz-Affäre verstecken musste), lässt sich Cem Özdemir nun als Parteivorsitzender der Grünen küren, während Amtsvorgänger Reinhard Bütikofer sich einen warmen Sessel im EU-Parlament sichert (End- oder Zwischenstation für gescheiterte Politiker bzw. Lebensversicherung, da ohnehin keine Kontrolle von den Bürgern vorhanden ist). Merkwürdiges Verständnis der Demokratie seitens einer Partei, die sich als bürgernah präsentieren will… und gleichzeitig das eindeutige Nein der Basis zur Özdemirs Kandidatur ignoriert. Ethik ist für die Grüne Parteiführung offensichtlich ein Fremdwort. Ist der Ruf erst ruiniert…

Die Grünen beabsichtigen vermutlich mit diesem vorweihnachtlichen Schmierentheater (Advent, Advent, der frisch umgeschulte Erlöser aus Ankara kommt…) die Minderheiten erneut zu instrumentalisieren – eine Konstante dieser “Partei” von Straßenkämpfern und Studienabbrechern, die Schwule, Ausländer und Frauen politisch missbraucht, um an die Macht zu kommen.

Roberto Blanco, der bessere Obama!

Roberto Blanco wäre eine bessere Wahl gewesen: wie der Kindergärtner Cem Özdemir, versteht der Schlagersänger aus Bayern wenig von Politik, aber er ist ja schwarz und zumindest witzig, das ist “cool”. Der PR-Coup wäre zudem erfolgreicher gewesen, weil die Grünen sich die Stimmen aller Schlagerfans sichern hätten können, und das macht in Deutschland mehr als zwei Drittel der Mehrheit aus, angesichts der von den Medien gefördeten Volksverblödung, die unserer Ansicht nach nicht weit genug geht: bitte gleich das Topmodel der Emanzen-Lobby Alice Schwarzer als Bundespräsidentin und den schwulen Aktivisten Volker Beck (der einst als rechtspolitischer Sprecher der Grünen – obwohl er nicht einmal ein Semester Jura studiert hat – die Freigabe der Pädophilie forderte) als Kinderbeauftragter der Bundesregierung vorschlagen.

Yes we can: die Wähler mit “Migrationshintergrund” (schreckliches Neuwort, klingt wie eine ansteckende Krankheit) und gleichzeitig das Volk für dumm verkaufen.

Der Vergleich mit Barack Obama ist allerdings für den neuen gewählten US-Präsidenten unsäglich, wenn man bedenkt, dass Cem Özdemir weder über Charisma noch über eine weiße Weste verfügt.

Der Opportunist Cem Özdemir ist und wird definitiv kein Barack Obama sein, sondern hoffentlich bald als Frührentner in die politische Wüste geschickt werden, von uns aus wieder ins EU-Parlament auf Kosten der Steuerzahlern, damit er zumindest sein überdimensionales Ego und seine Koteletten à la Elvis weiter aufpolieren, und seine Memoiren unbeschwert schreiben kann.

Ein letztes und ermunteres Wort an die gegenwärtige verzweifelte Jugend, die vergeblich nach Vorbildern sucht: Haste kein Abi und keine Skrupel? Wenn Du äußerlich zu hässlich fürs Fernsehen bist, mach Karriere bei den Grünen, schreib Deine Memoiren über Frankfurter Straßenschlachten oder Claudia Roths Frisur, und schnell endest Du als teurer Redner an einer amerikanischen Uni wie der schlaue Onkel Joschka oder Du verkaufst gleich Deine Seele an die Müllabfuhr, kannste Vorträge über Recycling halten oder selbsternannter Experte in Sachen Global Warming werden. Macht Spass und bringt Geld, und vor allem gutes Gewissen.

Anmerkung der Redaktion: HIRAM7 REVIEW distanziert sich ausdrücklich von diesem unverschämten Artikel, der natürlich nicht die Meinung des Herausgebers widerspiegelt. Cem Özdemir ist selbstverständlich ein großartiger Politiker mit Format und Anstand, der Deutschland, Europa, die Welt und das Universum grundlegend verändern wird. Durch seine gepflegte Koteletten, die er mutig zur Schau trägt, hat er bereits dazu beigetragen, dass auch in Zeiten von Wirtschaftsabschwung das Friseurgeschäft wieder floriert, und die Erinnerung an Elvis Aaron Presley aufrecht erhalten bleibt.

Support the American Jewish Committee

Dear Friend,

Why are we asking you to donate to the American Jewish Committee now?

Because our challenges and responsibilities don’t disappear during times of economic hardship. To the contrary, they only grow. And because our hopes and aspirations for the future speak to our highest values and shouldn’t be put on hold. Your support for AJC elevates our humanity as Jews and protects our interests as Americans, as we face major challenges.

• Iran seeks nuclear weapons and a world without Israel.
• Israel continues to be treated unfairly in the UN.
• Conspiracy theories abound about Jews staying home on 9/11, Lehman Brothers’ partners hoarding billions in Israel, and American Jews controlling US foreign policy.
• Israel’s enemies work tirelessly to shift American’s attitudes away from traditional pro-Israel support.
• Young people need compelling reasons and organizations to engage them as Jews.
• And the world needs strong voices in support of human freedom, human rights and human dignity.

That’s why we’re asking for your support today!

You’ve stood with us in good times and bad. You’ve empowered us. As a result, we’ve had a real impact on events and trends that shape our lives. It’s not by accident that French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently called AJC “the most effective, most influential and most respected of American Jewish organizations.”

We’re counting now, as always, on your friendship and trust.

PLEASE DONATE TODAY. HELP US SHAPE TOMORROW.

David A. Harris, Executive Director

Transatlantic Relations under the new US Administration

Transatlantic Dialogue Luncheon

A joint event series of the Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit (German Liberal Party) and the Transatlantic Institute

Charting a new Course?

Transatlantic Relations under the new US Administration   

Speakers

Dr Tim Stuchtey – Senior Research Fellow, American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), Director Business and Economics Program, AICGS

Dr Dana Allin – Senior Fellow for Transatlantic Affairs, The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Editor of “Survival” Magazine

Thursday, 20 November 2008 – 12.30 – 14.30

Sofitel Brussels Europe Roy Jenkins I+II Place Jourdan 1, B-1040 Brussels 

The number of seats for this event is limited.

RSVP by 18 November 2008 to fellow@transatlanticinstitute.org
Please indicate clearly your organisation/institution and position.

11.11.1918: World War I Memorials

Ceremonies across the world today marked the ninetieth anniversary of the end of World War I. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty looks at the Balkans as one of many examples of regions where the war’s legacy is still playing out geopolitically.

Read full story.

Remembering Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht: Murder by Euphemism

by Rabbi Benjamin Blech

To remember Kristallnacht properly, we must first renounce its German-given name.

A boy cleans the street after Kristallnacht.

Seventy years ago, on the nights of November 9 and 10, 1938, rampaging mobs throughout Germany, Austria and Sudetenland freely attacked Jews in the street, in their homes and at their places of work and worship in a carefully orchestrated outbreak of government sponsored violence. At least 96 Jews were killed and hundreds more injured, hundreds of synagogues were burned, almost 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed, cemeteries and schools were vandalized, and 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps – many of them never to return alive to their loved ones.

Many historians consider that as the real beginning of the Holocaust, the first step in the planned extermination of the Jewish people leading to the eventual deaths of six million victims of the Nazi program of genocide.

For that reason it is certainly proper to commemorate this harbinger of horror, the infamous dates that mark the onset of the spiral of unimaginable hatred unloosed among a supposedly civilized people.

What is unfathomable to me, though, is the name by which this commemoration continues to be known.

This November Jewish communities throughout the world will again gather to recall Kristallnacht – and will unwittingly allow themselves, in some measure, to verbally embrace the very heresy that abetted the Holocaust.

Kristallnacht is German for “the night of crystal.” And 70 years after the horrible events of 1938 should have given us by now sufficient perspective to expose the lie of a horrible WMD – Word of Mass Deception – that epitomizes the key to the most powerful methodology for murder perfected by the Nazis.

How, after all, were the Nazis able to commit their crimes under the veneer of civilized respectability? Upon analysis, the answer is obvious. They glorified the principle of murder by euphemism.

Special Treatment

In the language of the Nazi perpetrators: Sonderbehandlung (“special treatment”) was the way to describe gassing victims. Euthanasie was the “polite” way to speak of the mass murder of retarded or physically handicapped patients. Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Makes you Free) were the words that greeted new arrivals at the entrance to the death camp of Auschwitz. When the Nazis launched their plan to annihilate the remaining Jews in Poland in the fall of 1943, they called it “Erntefest,” or Harvest Festival.

And perhaps most cynical of all was the use of the term, “Endloesung der Judenfrage” – in English “The Final Solution” – to express the concept for which civilized language as yet had no term. (The word ‘genocide’ was introduced in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin, who had escaped from German-occupied Poland to the US.)

Euphemisms, as Quentin Crisp so brilliantly put it, are “unpleasant truths wearing diplomatic cologne.” On the simplest level the name Kristallnacht suggests that the only terrible thing that happened was breakage of a tremendous amount of glass that would have to be replaced – a financial loss caused by wasteful vandalism that the government subsequently dealt with by taxing the Jewish community to pay for the damages inflicted upon them.

Kristallnacht was the German euphemism for a time of sanctioned killing. The word takes into account only the loss of kristall, and is one reason why its continued usage is so appalling.

But there was more to it than that.

Dr. Walter H. Pehle, a historian specializing in modern Germany, has already pointed out that Kristallnacht’s original intent was cynically propagandizing the violence into something metaphorically holding “sparkle and gleam” for Germany. Almost by way of confirmation, in googling the English for “crystal night” I was startled to find among the many references that related to the night of Nazi terror, the inclusion of the following ad: “For an extra-inviting glow, consider using Sylvania’s new C7 Crystal night light bulbs in your electric candles. The multi-faceted crystal lights provide a warm, sparkly glow.”

It is that very connection that played no small role in Goebbel’s choice of descriptive for a moment that the German Minister of Propaganda wanted to immortalize as a sparkling and glowing portend of a future rid of its “Jewish parasites.”

Why then would we choose to identify the night of initial mass murders with a word that not only ignores everything other than broken glass, but in fact glorifies its results as gifts of crystal clear light to the distorted truths of Nazi ideology?

To remember Kristallnacht properly we must first renounce its German-given name.

We must proclaim that we commemorate not broken windows but shattered lives.

We must pledge never again to allow evil to enter our lives disguised as the good and the noble.

We must declare that no euphemisms will ever again be permitted to cloak the horrors they intend to conceal.

Kristallnacht must be observed, but let it be known by a name that realistically captures its iniquitous essence. Allow me to suggest that we call it instead Kainsnacht, the “Night of Cain,” the first murderer at the very beginning of human history, who was cursed by God and condemned to carry a mark of his crime on his forehead for the rest of his days as a warning to mankind of the severity of his sin. That would link its commemorative date not with mob acts of breakage and vandalism, but rather with the far more heinous crime of unforgivable murder first committed by Cain.

Author Biography: Rabbi Benjamin Blech is the author of 12 highly acclaimed books, including Understanding Judaism: The basics of Deed and Creed. He is a professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and the Rabbi Emeritus of Young Israel of Oceanside (California) which he served for 37 years and from which he retired to pursue his interests in writing and lecturing around the globe. He is also the author of If God is Good, Why is the World So Bad?

Reprinted with kindly permission of Aish HaTorah International.

Obamas Sieg oder die List der historischen Vernunft

Die von G.W.F. Hegel erwähnte List der Vernunft sieht Andreas Zielcke in der heutigen Ausgabe der Süddeutschen Zeitung beim überwältigen Sieg Barack Obamas am Werk, der gewiss eine zweite amerikanische Revolution darstellt:

“Hegels Figur der ‘List der Vernunft’, die in seiner Geschichtsphilosophie eine zentrale Rolle spielt, die aber implizit jeder Theodizee und jedem Fortschrittsglauben zugrunde liegt, drängt sich auf. Es scheint, als habe die ominöse geschichtliche Vernunft jene Negativfaktoren just in dem historischen Moment gehäuft, in dem es darum ging, in Amerika eine positive Epoche zu begründen. Ein Schwarzer auf dem Präsidentenstuhl, das ist ein ungeheurer Fortschritt. Um ihm zum Durchbruch zu verhelfen, haben üble Versager und Desaster beigetragen.”

Zum Artikel.

Beyond Dependence:How to deal with Russian gas

In a report published today by the Berlin-based think tank European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Pierre Noel argues that the most effective strategy for the European Union to counter Russia’s divisive energy diplomacy would be building a single European market in natural gas.

The analysis is published a few days prior to the next EU-Russia summit. It also comes two months before the start of the Czech EU presidency which has designated energy security as one of its top priorities.

Read full story.

President Barack Obama’s foreign policy priorities

The Washington Post reports President Barack Obama will get his first national intelligence briefing today, as he prepares for several security challenges.

Obama will receive the same briefing as outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush from Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell. The article says Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, and the Guantanamo Bay detention facility could figure prominently in the briefing.

Op-ed columnist David Ignatius considers Barack Obama’s foreign policy priorities, and says he’ll focus first on personnel before he turns to substance. He notes the speculation that Obama will appoint a Republican to a senior foreign policy post, perhaps Condoleeza Rice or Colin Powell.

Meanwhile, Obama has chosen Illinois Representative Rahm Emanuel to be his White House chief of staff, one of the most influential positions in the new administration. Rahm Emanuel, a former Bill Clinton adviser, is the son of a Jerusalem-born pediatrician who was a member of the Irgun, a militant Zionist group that operated in Palestine between 1931 and 1948. Emanuel served briefly as a civilian volunteer on an Israeli military base during the Persian Gulf war of 1991.

Also in The Guardian, an editorial lists what it calls the elephant traps facing the new U.S. president: how to disengage from Iraq without destabilising it; how to end the Pashtun insurgency in Afghanistan without sparking a bigger one in Pakistan; how to achieve a breakthrough over the intractable problems of Israel-Palestine.

Last but not least: In today’s New York Times, columnist Nicholas D. Kristof writes that Barack means blessing in Swahili, and this election feels like America’s great chance to rejoin the world after eight years of self-exile. He argues: “America is more than a place. At its best, it also is an idea.”

Israels Glückwünsche für Barack Obama

Der Bürger der Vereinigten Staaten lernt von klein auf, dass er sich im Kampf gegen die mancherlei Schwierigkeiten des Lebens auf sich selbst verlassen muß; er hat für die Obrigkeit nur einen mißtrauischen und unruhigen Blick und ruft ihre Macht nur zu Hilfe, wenn er es gar nicht vermeiden kann. Das kann man schon in der Schule beobachten, wo die Kinder sich bis in ihre Spiele hinein Regeln unterwerfen, die sie selbst aufgestellt haben, und einander für selbstgeschaffene Vergehen bestrafen. (Alexis de Tocqueville)

Amerika hat heute gezeigt: alles ist möglich. (Barack Obama)

Israels Staatsspitze hat Barack Obama ihre Glückwünsche zum Sieg bei der US-Präsidentschaftswahl übermittelt.

Israels Präsident Shimon Peres erklärte:

„Es war eine amerikanische Wahl und eine weltweite Entscheidung. Ich kann mich an keine andere Wahl erinnern, die die gesamte Menschheit mit Hoffnung und Sorge verfolgt hat. Ich möchte dem neu gewählten Präsidenten gratulieren; jung, frisch, viel versprechend, repräsentiert er einen Wandel und leitet er einen Wandel ein. [...] Es ist eine Gelegenheit, der gegenwärtigen Weltkrise zu entkommen und in eine neue Ära der Zusammenarbeit, der produktiven Wirtschaft und der menschlichen Solidarität einzutreten. In gewisser Weise ist dies eine Ende des Rassismus. Es geht nicht länger, dass irgendein weißer Mann Überlegenheit beanspruchen oder eine schwarze Person Diskriminierung fühlen kann. Wir sind die gleichen Menschen, und diese Wahl ist eine großartige Bestätigung in dieser Hinsicht.

Ich muss sagen, dass diese Wahlen selbst ein großartiges Ereignis für die amerikanische Demokratie waren. Ich habe auch allergrößten Respekt für den anderen Kandidaten, John McCain, der mit großer Tapferkeit und Ausdauer gekämpft hat. Und als es vorbei war, haben sie sich die Hand geschüttelt. Für uns ist Amerika ein großer Freund und eine große Hoffnung. Wir sind uns verbunden durch die Bibel, und wir stehen gemeinsam für den Frieden. Als Präsident Obama hier war, fragte er mich, was er für Israel tun könne. Meine Antwort war: Seien Sie ein großer Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika. Wenn Sie ein großer Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika sein werden, versprechen Sie auch viel für Israel und für die gesamte Region und für alle unsere Nachbarn. Niemand sollte gucken, auf wessen Seite der Präsident steht – er soll nur auf der Seite des Friedens stehen. Und wenn er auf der Seite des Friedens ist, wird der Frieden näher rücken. Ich glaube, dass wir alle aufgeregt und hoffnungsfroh sind, und sende unsere besten Wünsche aus der ewigen Hauptstadt Jerusalem.”

America has spoken: Barack Obama elected 44th president of the United States

HIRAM7 REVIEW congratulates president-elect Barack Obama and vice president-elect Joe Biden on their historic victory at the end of this lengthy and arduous campaign. The election of the first African-American president is an occasion for American pride.

The 47-year-old Senator Barack Obama finished his nearly two-year run and shattered more than 200 years of history by winning election as the first African-American president of the United States of America, riding a message of change and reform that resonated with a country on the brink of recession and engaged in two wars.

After years of international disgrace, the new president of the United States opens a new chapter of the American Dream.

Whatever his achievements in the White House, Barack Obama has already achieved something remarkable in his path to it. Against all odds, he has restored lustre to American democracy, making it once again an inspiration to the world.

The greatest U.S. presidents – George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt – were great precisely because they overcame huge challenges. Today’s circumstances mean Barack Obama has the chance to join their number.

United States presidential election, 2008: The final countdown

With one day to go before the United States presidential election 2008, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain made their final push for votes.

Both presidential candidates have op-eds in the Wall Street Journal today laying out their policy agendas.

Barack Obama repeats his pledge to “end the Iraq war responsibly” while ramping up efforts to defeat al-Qaeda and “restore our moral standing so that America remains the last, best hope of Earth.”

John McCain argues that U.S. forces have dealth “devastating blows to al-Qaeda, especially in Iraq,” but warned about the unraveling of the situation there in the event of a premature troop withdrawal.

Check out also HIRAM7 REVIEW‘s full coverage of the US Presidential race since June 2007 under http://hiram7.wordpress.com/category/us-presidential-election-2008.

Thank you for your interest during this astonishing campaign, and God bless America, whoever becomes the next President.

Lyndon B. Johnson: A Friend in Deed

by Lenny Ben-David

U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s actions to rescue hundreds of endangered Jews during the Holocaust   

A few weeks ago, the Associated Press reported that newly released tapes from US president Lyndon Johnson’s White House office showed LBJ’s “personal and often emotional connection to Israel.” The news agency pointed out that during the Johnson presidency (1963-1969), “the United States became Israel’s chief diplomatic ally and primary arms supplier.”

 

Lyndon Baines Johnson in navy uniform (1942)

 

But the news report does little to reveal the full historical extent of Johnson’s actions on behalf of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Most students of the Arab-Israeli conflict can identify Johnson as the president during the 1967 war. But few know about LBJ’s actions to rescue hundreds of endangered Jews during the Holocaust – actions that could have thrown him out of Congress and into jail. Indeed, the title of “Righteous Gentile” is certainly appropriate in the case of the Texan, whose centennial year is being commemorated this year.

Historians have revealed that Johnson, while serving as a young congressman in 1938 and 1939, arranged for visas to be supplied to Jews in Warsaw, and oversaw the apparently illegal immigration of hundreds of Jews through the port of Galveston, Texas .

A key resource for uncovering LBJ’s pro-Jewish activity is the unpublished 1989 doctoral thesis by University of Texas student Louis Gomolak, “Prologue: LBJ’s Foreign Affairs Background, 1908-1948.” Johnson’s activities were confirmed by other historians in interviews with his wife, family members and political associates.

LEO FRANK’S LYNCHING

Research into Johnson’s personal history indicates that he inherited his concern for the Jewish people from his family. His aunt Jessie Johnson Hatcher, a major influence on LBJ, was a member of the Zionist Organization of America. According to Gomolak, Aunt Jessie had nurtured LBJ’s commitment to befriending Jews for 50 years. As a young boy, Lyndon watched his politically active grandfather “Big Sam” and father “Little Sam” seek clemency for Leo Frank, the Jewish victim of a blood libel in Atlanta. Frank was lynched by a mob in 1915, and the Ku Klux Klan in Texas threatened to kill the Johnsons. The Johnsons later told friends that Lyndon’s family hid in their cellar while his father and uncles stood guard with shotguns on their porch in case of KKK attacks. Johnson’s speechwriter later stated, “Johnson often cited Leo Frank’s lynching as the source of his opposition to both anti-Semitism and isolationism.”

Already in 1934 – four years before Chamberlain’s Munich sellout to Hitler – Johnson was keenly alert to the dangers of Nazism and presented a book of essays, Nazism: An Assault on Civilization, to the 21-year-old woman he was courting, Claudia Taylor – later known as “Lady Bird” Johnson. It was an incredible engagement present.

Five days after taking office in 1937, LBJ broke with the “Dixiecrats” and supported an immigration bill that would naturalize illegal aliens, mostly Jews from Lithuania and Poland. In 1938, Johnson was told of a young Austrian Jewish musician who was about to be deported from the United States. With an element of subterfuge, LBJ sent him to the US Consulate in Havana to obtain a residency permit. Erich Leinsdorf, the world famous musician and conductor, credited LBJ for saving his live.

GET AS MANY JEWS OUT

That same year, LBJ warned a Jewish friend, Jim Novy, that European Jews faced annihilation. “Get as many Jewish people as possible out [of Germany and Poland],” were Johnson’s instructions. Somehow, Johnson provided him with a pile of signed immigration papers that were used to get 42 Jews out of Warsaw.

But that wasn’t enough. According to historian James M. Smallwood, Congressman Johnson used legal and sometimes illegal methods to smuggle “hundreds of Jews into Texas, using Galveston as the entry port. Enough money could buy false passports and fake visas in Cuba, Mexico and other Latin American countries…. Johnson smuggled boatloads and planeloads of Jews into Texas. He hid them in the Texas National Youth Administration… Johnson saved at least four or five hundred Jews, possibly more.”

During World War II Johnson joined Novy at a small Austin gathering to sell $65,000 in war bonds. According to Gomolak, Novy and Johnson then raised a very “substantial sum for arms for Jewish underground fighters in Palestine.” One source cited by the historian reports that “Novy and Johnson had been secretly shipping heavy crates labeled ‘Texas Grapefruit’ – but containing arms – to Jewish underground ‘freedom fighters’ in Palestine.”

On June 4, 1945, Johnson visited Dachau. According to Smallwood, Lady Bird later recalled that when her husband returned home, “he was still shaken, stunned, terrorized and bursting with an overpowering revulsion and incredulous horror at what he had seen.”

DEFENDER OF ISRAEL

A decade later while serving in the Senate, Johnson blocked the Eisenhower administration’s attempts to apply sanctions against Israel following the 1956 Sinai Campaign. “The indefatigable Johnson had never ceased pressure on the administration,” wrote I.L. “Si” Kenen, the head of AIPAC at the time.

As Senate majority leader, Johnson consistently blocked the anti-Israel initiatives of his fellow Democrat, William Fulbright, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Among Johnson’s closest advisers during this period were several strong pro-Israel advocates, including Benjamin Cohen (who 30 years earlier was the liaison between Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis and Chaim Weizmann) and Abe Fortas, the legendary Washington “insider.”

Johnson’s concern for the Jewish people continued through his presidency. Soon after taking office in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, Johnson told an Israeli diplomat, “You have lost a very great friend, but you have found a better one.”

Just one month after succeeding Kennedy, LBJ attended the December 1963 dedication of the Agudas Achim Synagogue in Austin. Novy opened the ceremony by saying to Johnson, “We can’t thank him enough for all those Jews he got out of Germany during the days of Hitler.”

Lady Bird would later describe the day, according to Gomolak: “Person after person plucked at my sleeve and said, ‘I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for him. He helped me get out.’” Lady Bird elaborated, “Jews had been woven into the warp and woof of all [Lyndon's] years.”

1967 WAR

The prelude to the 1967 war was a terrifying period for Israel, with the US State Department led by the historically unfriendly Dean Rusk urging an evenhanded policy despite Arab threats and acts of aggression. Johnson held no such illusions. After the war he placed the blame firmly on Egypt: “If a single act of folly was more responsible for this explosion than any other, it was the arbitrary and dangerous announced decision [by Egypt] that the Strait of Tiran would be closed [to Israeli ships and Israeli-bound cargo].”

Kennedy was the first president to approve the sale of defensive US weapons to Israel, specifically Hawk anti-aircraft missiles. But Johnson approved tanks and fighter jets, all vital after the 1967 war when France imposed a freeze on sales to Israel.

Israel won the 1967 war, and Johnson worked to make sure it also won the peace. “I sure as hell want to be careful and not run out on little Israel,” Johnson said in a March 1968 conversation with his ambassador to the United Nations, Arthur Goldberg, according to White House tapes recently released.

Soon after the 1967 war, Soviet premier Aleksei Kosygin asked Johnson at the Glassboro Summit why the US supported Israel when there were 80 million Arabs and only three million Israelis. “Because it is right,” responded the straight-shooting Texan.

The crafting of UN Resolution 242 in November 1967 was done under Johnson’s scrutiny. The call for “secure and recognized boundaries” was critical. The American and British drafters of the resolution opposed Israel returning all the territories captured in the war. In September 1968, Johnson explained, “We are not the ones to say where other nations should draw lines between them that will assure each the greatest security. It is clear, however, that a return to the situation of 4 June 1967 will not bring peace. There must be secure and there must be recognized borders. Some such lines must be agreed to by the neighbors involved.”

Goldberg later noted, “Resolution 242 in no way refers to Jerusalem, and this omission was deliberate.” This historic diplomacy was conducted under Johnson’s stewardship, as Goldberg related in oral history to the Johnson Library. “I must say for Johnson,” Goldberg stated. “He gave me great personal support.”

Robert David Johnson, a professor of history at Brooklyn College, recently wrote in The New York Sun, “Johnson’s policies stemmed more from personal concerns – his friendship with leading Zionists, his belief that America had a moral obligation to bolster Israeli security and his conception of Israel as a frontier land much like his home state of Texas. His personal concerns led him to intervene when he felt that the State or Defense departments had insufficiently appreciated Israel’s diplomatic or military needs.”

President Johnson firmly pointed American policy in a pro-Israel direction. In a historical context, the American emergency airlift to Israel in 1973, the constant diplomatic support, the economic and military assistance and the strategic bonds between the two countries can all be credited to the seeds planted by LBJ.

 The writer served as deputy chief of mission of the Israeli Embassy in Washington.

Büchnerpreisträger Josef Winkler über Willkür und Brutalität unserer Epoche

Ein lesenswertes Gespräch führt die Neue Zürcher Zeitung mit dem österreichischen Schriftsteller und diesjährigen Büchnerpreisträger Josef Winkler, in dem der sensible Bauersohn aus dem Kärtner Dorf Kamering das Leben auf dem Land, den Tod und den Kampf gegen das Patriarchat (das angesichts der gegenwärtigen anonymen Brutalität harmlos wirkt) thematisiert:

“Vielleicht hätten viele, und vor allem österreichische Schriftsteller, nicht geschrieben, wenn es den Patriarchen nicht gegeben hätte. Aber die Patriarchen, unter denen wir aufgewachsen sind, gibt es vielleicht tatsächlich nicht mehr. Es gibt Autoritäten, die viel unfassbarer sind, die ihre Macht viel heimlicher ausüben. Wir hatten unsere Autoritäten direkt vor Augen, sie waren da. Und so konnten wir auch lernen, sie zu bekämpfen. Ich weiß nicht, ob die Autoritäten im heutigen Gefüge der Gesellschaft angenehmer sind. Sie sind anonymer und sind deshalb auch nicht zu zertrümmern. Und wir wissen nicht, mit welcher Wucht diese unsichtbaren Kräfte auf unsere Kinder dreinschlagen. Ich habe meinen Schmerz noch benennen können.”

Vollständiges Gespräch lesen.