The greatest threat to Israel
A people whose entire existence depends exclusively on military power is not threatened by Iran or Hamas, but by its own hubris.
Looking at Israel, one can marvel at how infallible and confident of victory this country considers itself to be. Time and again, it attacks its neighbors and then uses their hostility as an excuse to attack them again. It seems almost delusional how far the Israeli government is willing to go, how risky it acts, as if nothing could happen to it, as if it were not logical that this kind of policy would eventually backfire. In accordance with the principle of a self-fulfilling prophecy, Israel is thus bringing itself ever closer to its greatest fear: the threat to its own existence.
by Manova’s World Editorial Team
by Orly Noy
[This article posted on 6/18/2025 is translated from the German on the Internet, https://www.manova.news/artikel/die-grosste-bedrohung-fur-israel.%5D
It has now been more than 46 years since I left Iran with my family at the age of nine. I have spent most of my life in Israel, where we started a family and raised our daughters, but Iran has always remained my home. Since October 2023, I have seen countless images of men, women, and children standing next to the ruins of their homes, and their cries are etched into my memory. But when I see the images from Iran after the Israeli attacks and hear the cries in my mother tongue, Persian, the feeling of collapse inside me feels different. The thought that this destruction is being caused by the country of which I am a citizen is unbearable.
Over the years, the Israeli public has come to believe that it can exist in this region while deeply despising its neighbors — by allowing its government to carry out murderous rampages against anyone, anytime, any way it pleases, relying solely on brute force.
For nearly 80 years, “total victory” has been just around the corner: all that remains is to defeat the Palestinians, eliminate Hamas, crush Lebanon, destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities — and paradise will be ours.
But for nearly 80 years, these so-called victories have proven to be Pyrrhic victories; each one drives Israel deeper into isolation, threat, and hatred. The Nakba of 1948 created the refugee crisis that persists to this day and laid the foundation for the apartheid regime. The victory of 1967 led to an occupation that continues to fuel Palestinian resistance. The war of October 2023 escalated into a genocide that turned Israel into a global pariah.
The Israeli military—which has played a central role in this entire process—has become a senseless weapon of mass destruction. It maintains its high status in a numb public through spectacular actions: pagers explode in the pockets of men in a Lebanese market, or a drone base is built in the heart of an enemy state. And under the command of a genocidal government, it is becoming increasingly entangled in wars from which it sees no way out.
Under the spell of this supposedly all-powerful army, Israeli society has convinced itself for so many years that it is invulnerable.
The total worship of the military on the one hand and the arrogant contempt for its neighbors in the region on the other have fueled the belief that we would never have to pay a price. Then came October 7, 2023, and destroyed — if only for a moment — the illusion of invincibility. But instead of grappling with the significance of that moment, the public indulged in a campaign of revenge. For only through carnage did the world make sense again: Israel kills, Palestinians die. Order was restored.
That is why the images of bombed buildings in Ramat Gan, Rishon LeZion, Bat Yam, Tel Aviv, and Tamra, an Arab town in Galilee, were so shocking. They were eerily similar to those we are used to seeing from Gaza: charred concrete skeletons, clouds of dust, streets covered in rubble and ash, children’s toys collected by rescue workers. These images briefly shattered our collective illusion that we were immune to everything. The civilian casualties on both sides — 13 Israelis and at least 128 Iranians — highlight the human cost of this new front, even if the scale is nowhere near the devastation that Gaza regularly suffers.
The army as doctrine
There was a time when some Jewish leaders in Israel understood that our existence in this region could not be sustained by the illusion of complete immunity. They may not have been free of a sense of superiority, but they understood this fundamental truth.
The late left-wing politician Yossi Sarid once recalled how Yitzhak Rabin said to him: “A people that flexes its muscles for fifty years will eventually tire.”
Rabin understood that living forever by the sword, contrary to Netanyahu’s horror-ridden promise, is not a viable option.
Today, there are no Jewish politicians of this kind left in Israel. When the Zionist left cheers a reckless attack on Iran, it reveals its stubborn attachment to the fantasy that the army will always protect us, no matter what we do or how much we alienate ourselves from the region we live in.
“A strong people, a determined army, and a resilient home front. That’s how we’ve always won, and that’s how we’ll win today,“ wrote Yair Golan, chairman of the Democratic Party — a fusion of the Zionist left-wing parties Meretz and the Labor Party — in a post on X after Friday’s attack. His party colleague, MK Naama Lazimi, echoed him, thanking ”the advanced intelligence systems and the superiority of the secret services. The IDF and all security systems. The heroic pilots and the air force. Israel’s defense systems.”
In this sense, the fantasy of immunity granted by the army is even more deeply rooted in the Zionist left than in the right. The right’s response to its security fears is annihilation and ethnic cleansing — that is its ultimate goal. The center-left parties, on the other hand, place their trust almost exclusively in the supposedly unlimited capabilities of the army. Without question, the Jewish center-left movement in Israel reveres the military far more passionately than the right, which sees it merely as a tool for implementing its vision of annihilation and ethnic cleansing.
We Israelis must understand that we are not immune. A people whose entire existence depends solely on military power is doomed to end up in the darkest corners of destruction and ultimately be defeated. If we have not learned this fundamental lesson from the past two years, let alone the past eighty years, then we are truly lost. Not because of Iran’s nuclear program or Palestinian resistance, but because of the blind, arrogant hubris that has gripped an entire nation.
Orly Noy is an editor at the Israeli online magazine Local Call, a political activist, and a translator of Persian poetry and prose. She is chair of the board of the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem and an activist in the political party Balad. In her writing, she explores the intersections and definitions of her identity as a Mizrahi, a left-wing woman, a woman, a temporary migrant in the midst of a permanent immigrant society, and the constant dialogue between these identities.
Editorial note: This article first appeared under the title “Israel’s greatest threat isn’t Iran or Hamas, but its own hubris” on +972Magazine. It was translated by Elisa Gratias and edited by the volunteer Manova proofreading team. A longer version of the article was previously published in Hebrew on Local Call.
There is little point in stewing in your own, albeit exquisite, juices. That is why Manova’s world editorial team regularly collects and publishes voices from around the world. How do critical contemporaries in other countries and cultures think about geopolitical events? What ideas do they have for solving global problems? What developments are they observing that may soon be coming to Europe? Looking beyond our own horizons is also encouraging, as it makes it clear that we are many, not alone!+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Middle East in flames
Israel is trying to reorganize the Middle East in line with the US empire.
The situation in the Middle East is escalating once again. With an attack on Iran that violates international law, Israel has lit the fuse on a powder keg that now seems ready to explode. Since then, the countries have been at war. However, this conflict has been in the making for some time and ultimately serves the geopolitical and economic interests of the US, while Europe, Russia, and China, along with Iran, are on the losing side. Not to mention the ordinary people who just want to live in peace.
[This article posted on 6/18/2025 is translated from the German on the Internet, https://www.manova.news/artikel/nahost-in-flammen.%5D
On the night of Friday, June 13, 2025, Israel launched a massive attack on Iran. Around 200 fighter jets attacked targets in the country, including nuclear facilities and military installations. This operation was flanked by drone attacks that were apparently launched from within the country itself. According to reports, drones had been smuggled into Iran over a long period of time and then launched during the night — an operation very reminiscent of the Ukrainian drone attacks on the Russian strategic bomber fleet. The Israeli Air Force was initially able to operate unhindered because Israel had taken control of Iran’s air defenses through a cyberattack, thereby disabling them. According to unconfirmed reports, a hacker calling himself Mr. Soul has managed to return control to Tehran.
Since then, the conflict has escalated. Israel and Iran are showering each other with drone and missile attacks. Western media outlets are exaggerating their coverage, particularly in favor of Israel, with headlines such as “Tehran is burning” and downplaying Iran’s successes. Telegram is a more useful source of information, with videos from the scene circulating and a better assessment of the damage than sensationalist media reports.
RT is also reporting in a live ticker, and for details in video form and assessments from all kinds of experts, we recommend the livestream from Al Jazeera, which is also reporting on the war in English. The events are not significantly different from any other war: attacks are carried out, people die, buildings are destroyed and burn.
The details are buried under the fog of war, consisting of propaganda and censorship, but they are not that relevant. What is more interesting is the big picture, which is more difficult to paint than simply publishing sensational reports. However, a few things can be said for certain.
With its attack on Iran, Israel launched a war of aggression against a sovereign country and its population in violation of international law. The fact that such news is not heard in the German media speaks volumes, given that no opportunity is missed to make such claims in connection with the Russian war in Ukraine.
Germany and the West clearly stand behind Israel. According to reports, at least one German tanker aircraft was even spotted over the region, assisting the Israeli Air Force by refueling its aircraft. The German government, of course, has not commented on this. According to reports, numerous NATO countries are involved in the war on Israel’s side.
US President Trump claimed that the US was not involved in the attacks on Iran, but this is implausible. Israel depends on US support, especially in the military sphere, and the US armed forces supported Israel at least in repelling the Iranian counterstrike. It is very likely that the US was also involved in planning and executing the attack on Israel, especially in view of the drone operation, which bears suspicious similarities to that carried out by Ukraine in Russia.
It is possible that Trump himself was not involved in the planning—the plans may have originated with his predecessor Biden. But that says a lot about the power of the president, who does not seem to have his military and intelligence apparatus under control. Assuming that Trump’s claim reflects his ignorance, this makes it clear that a transatlantic “blob” of warmongers is acting independently of government authority and pushing through its own interests. This influential group extends at least ideologically into the MAGA movement and across the Atlantic to Europe, where the majority of governments stand behind Israel.
The Trump camp also appears to be divided by the war. At least Tucker Carlson has expressed criticism of the warmongering and has also attacked Trump himself, even though he was previously a major supporter of Trump. In Germany, even the opposition is divided. While many on the conservative to right-wing spectrum support Israel’s attacks, the AfD is at least rhetorically striving for moderation. However, this party fundamentally supports Israel, including its actions in the Gaza Strip, and AfD members of parliament, including Alexander Gauland, have already stated in the past that solidarity with Israel means dying for this country if necessary.
Tel Aviv launched its war of aggression in violation of international law on the grounds that Iran was working to obtain nuclear weapons in order to wipe Israel off the map. And even if Iran’s rhetoric toward Israel has been anything but friendly, this statement is an easily transparent protective claim. Even US intelligence agencies have consistently denied this claim in the recent past. Moreover, it was Trump who unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear agreement with Iran during his first term in office and reimposed sanctions on the country.
In addition, Iran had participated in talks on a new nuclear agreement, agreements that are now history for the time being due to Israel’s attack.
Israel may therefore have shot itself in the foot with this war and pushed Iran toward the atomic bomb, although the official rhetoric in Tehran still claims that Iran is not seeking a nuclear bomb—but who knows what to make of that.
This is therefore a rehashing of the propaganda about weapons of mass destruction that the enemy allegedly possesses. Such propaganda was used to justify the US’s war of aggression against Iraq, which was contrary to international law.
However, even if Israel’s accusations are confirmed, this is still no justification for an attack on Iran. This would be a violation of the United Nations Charter’s prohibition of the use of force, which, according to Article 51, only allows a war of defense. Whether this can also be carried out preventively is highly controversial in legal theory. This concept is mainly supported by US lawyers. But even if one accepts the concept of a preventive or preemptive strike, it is subject to strict limitations. A preventive strike is only permitted if an attack by the enemy is imminent and the time available to eliminate the threat is short. However, neither of these conditions was met, as even Israeli and US propagandists claimed that Iran was still weeks or months away from having a nuclear bomb, and even then it would be unclear whether Tehran would simply attack Israel.
This seems rather unlikely given the US presence in the region, as Iran would be entering into a direct conflict with the US. Furthermore, attacks on nuclear facilities are also prohibited under international law. Israel is therefore in any case violating international law and committing a war of aggression contrary to international law.
Iran also criticizes that the latest resolution submitted by France, Great Britain, Germany, and the US to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has given Israel justification for its attack.
However, Israel has probably been planning a war with Iran for some time. To this end, the government first systematically eliminated the Gaza Strip and Hamas, weakened Hezbollah in Lebanon through direct attacks and the overthrow of the Syrian regime, separating both groups from Iran, and occupied parts of Syria.
A war against Iran was only a matter of time, as Israel has long sought to eliminate Iran.
It is likely that the primary goal in this war is not the destruction of Iran’s nuclear capabilities — most of which are located underground, beyond the reach of missiles and bombs — but rather regime change in Iran. That is why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Iranian people and called on them to rise up against their government. Netanyahu has now even declared that the death of revolutionary leader Khamenei could end the war. Iran has already experienced such attempts at violent regime change from outside in the past. The name of the Israeli operation, “Operation Lion’s Roar,” also suggests that this could happen again. The lion was the symbol emblazoned on the Iranian flag when Iran was still ruled by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The goal could therefore be a coup d’état with the enthronement of Pahlavi’s son — who promptly spoke out from exile and called on the population to resist the government.
While the US and Europe support Israel and the US is moving parts of its navy and air force to the region to possibly attack Iran directly, the Yemeni Houthis are coming to Iran’s aid. On Sunday, June 15, they attacked Israel with several ballistic missiles in close coordination with Iran. According to reports, Pakistan has also declared its solidarity with Iran and is threatening Israel with nuclear annihilation in the event of a nuclear attack on Iran. Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons and has a Muslim majority population.
In addition to its war of aggression against Iran, which violates international law, Israel launched another one: it attacked the Yemeni capital Sanaa with targeted airstrikes. According to its own statements, the military targeted high-ranking Houthi leaders.
Far-reaching consequences
The entire war has the potential to escalate into a conflagration that would plunge the region into chaos, but also have consequences beyond. A regime change in Iran in favor of the West would bring the country into line with Western, especially US, interests. Unsurprisingly, the current attempts at regime change are in line with strategy papers from US think tanks, such as the Brookings Institute, and follow their script fairly closely. Moreover, such a regime change is in line with the US strategy developed after September 11, 2001, to reorganize the entire region and subject all countries that oppose US hegemony to regime change and civil war — from Syria, Libya, Egypt, Iraq, and Somalia to Iran. Iran is the last country on the long list of countries that the US intelligence apparatus wants to overthrow.
As Russia and China’s closest and last remaining ally in the region and a member of the BRICS, Iran would be turned against these countries and join the long line of US puppet regimes in the region. This would weaken resistance to US hegemony. The next targets would be Russia and China, as has long been foreseeable. A collapse of Iran, followed by war and civil war, as is conceivable, would create another civil war country ruled by terrorist regimes that would divide the country among themselves.
The masses of refugees are also a weapon that could be used to plunge the entire region into chaos. Since Shiite refugees would be unlikely to move to Sunni-majority Syria or Sunni Iraq or Afghanistan, their only option would be to head north.
Armenia is probably out of the question as a destination, leaving Shiite Azerbaijan, Transcaucasia in Russia, and Turkmenistan. Although Turkey is also predominantly Sunni, it has served as a gateway for refugees on their way to Europe in the past.
Such refugee flows could destabilize the region. This would affect not only the Middle East, but also Central Asia, all the way to Russia, where there is a large Muslim population. In such a case, Europe could also expect new refugee flows, which would likely destabilize this region as well.
A prolonged war with Iran would also drive up oil prices massively. This would hit economically stricken Europe, which is in recession and facing a wave of bankruptcies, particularly Germany, even harder. Europe would slide even further into economic decline, making it even less of a threat to the US and more vulnerable to takeover by US corporations. But China would also be hit hard. Iranian oil imports account for around 10 to 15 percent of Chinese oil consumption. Iran is already considering blocking the Strait of Hormuz, which is the most important route for oil exports from the Persian Gulf.
All of this is likely the reason why Russia and China are not actively intervening in the conflict, but are instead trying to resolve it diplomatically. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone over the weekend with the leaders of both countries, as well as with Donald Trump, and offered diplomatic support. China condemned the Israeli attacks, but also offered support for negotiating a peace agreement.
However, this is likely to be difficult, as the Israeli government, like the transatlantic blob, appears determined to start a war in the region and defeat Iran. Iran, for its part, is determined to resist Israel and sees itself as resisting hostile aggression. Simply labeling the leaders on both sides as insane is an infantile simplification of the situation. Both sides have their respective geopolitical interests and have no desire to submit to the other in any way.
The interests of both parties are diametrically opposed: The Iranian government has stated that it is ready to negotiate as soon as Israel stops its attacks on the country, but also emphasizes its determination to fight. The Israeli government, in turn, is calling on Iran to return to the negotiating table—from which the Iranian government was driven away in the first place by Israel’s actions. Iran continues to strive to shut down the Israeli war machine, while Israel wants to destroy Iran’s nuclear and missile systems.
All in all, the conflict threatens to escalate and plunge not only the Middle East but also Europe and Russia into chaos. Once again, the US would be the beneficiary, as refugees would not reach its shores and it would be able to expand its hegemony due to Europe’s economic decline and China’s weakening as a result of declining oil imports from Iran.
At the same time, the conflict has the potential to escalate into a nuclear conflict. But even if this does not happen, it could quickly turn into a conflagration. As always when governments fight for supremacy, it is ordinary people who suffer, losing their livelihoods or their lives and being plunged into fear and terror.
Therefore, further escalation of this conflict must be prevented by all means. Here in Europe, we can do nothing else but prevent our governments from intervening and urge them to pursue diplomacy.
However, no one is likely to be interested in diplomatic mediation by the EU states. The West has revealed its hypocrisy and double standards too clearly. Condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine while covering for Israel, despite the major differences between the two cases, shows the world what interests the West represents and that it does not care about ethics, morality, or international law. Whatever the outcome, Europe has presumably already suffered some losses. But diplomatic and moral failures should not be compounded by civilian casualties or direct military confrontation.
Germany should therefore not involve its military in this war and should urge both sides to end the hostilities as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, this cannot be expected from the German government, which is clearly pro-Israel.
Felix Feistel, born in 1992, studied law with a focus on international and European law. He worked as a journalist during his studies and has been working full-time as a freelance journalist and author since passing his state exam. He writes for manova.news, apolut.net, multipolar-magazin.de and on his own Telegram channel. Training as a trauma therapist according to Identity-Oriented Psychotrauma Theory and Therapy (IoPT) broadened his understanding of the background to world events._____________________________________________________________
Support for Gaza
Palestinian peace activist Aida Al-Shibli asks her German fellow citizens to take concrete action to end the genocide in Gaza.
Anyone who follows the situation in the Gaza Strip finds it difficult not to despair. When you then realize that your own government is showing solidarity with the perpetrators rather than the victims, it is not far from complete resignation. But despair and resignation not only achieve nothing, they are also a breeding ground for inaction, which citizens who are committed to human rights can hardly afford. Palestinian Aida Al-Shibli addresses her words to precisely those who always say, “What can we do? We feel so helpless.” And to all Germans who still believe that criticism of Zionism is anti-Semitic.
[This interview posted on 6/17/2025 is translated from the German on the Internet, https://www.manova.news/artikel/unterstutzung-fur-gaza.%5D
Zeitpunkt: You are under enormous pressure because of Israel’s genocide against your people, while the governments of the Western world support it. My country, Germany, continues to supply weapons. In light of this, I don’t even want to ask you how you are doing.
Aida Al-Shibli: Thank you for that, because sometimes I lose the ability to distinguish between myself as a human being and the murder of my people. I feel threatened even though I live in Europe and not under bombs. And that is really not an easy situation.
I have been living with Germans for 20 years and have also accompanied dying people who were themselves active in World War II or whose parents were. And they said again and again, our parents and we didn’t know. That’s why we kept quiet. I really believed them that they didn’t know.
But when I meet Germans today who say they know nothing about the genocide in Gaza, I feel ashamed for them. I feel ashamed that in an age when we have round-the-clock access to the internet, people still know nothing because they rely on the official mass media to provide them with information.
How can it be that this nation has so many thinkers and yet holds such a radically ignorant position?
History will no longer accept these excuses. German history will not accept that you knew nothing.
Yes, the German government supports the Israeli government. But we should distinguish between people and governments.
We should empower people and show them that the systems that act in our name are not ours. Not in our name!
History will teach us the same lessons over and over again until we learn them. Eighty years ago, your people, your parents, your grandparents did not act. Now you have a duty to act, especially as Germans, because that is what you must learn from history.
The Holocaust taught us that we must stand up for life, for every form of life.
That we must say: Not in my name. Germans said: Never again. But it is happening again. Where do you stand on this? History is giving you another chance. I am sad that this next chance to stand up for life is coming at the expense of my people.
There are so many ways to stop genocide. But our actions must be based on and rooted in love. I have written down several points (see below) that you can take to actively show your solidarity and take a stand. In principle, it is always the same: stand up, take a stand, show solidarity, amplify the voices of others! There are so many Palestinians living in Germany. They tell me how oppressed they feel.
Invite these people into your homes. Sit down with them, listen to their stories. Let them touch you.
Don’t let your heart accept that you are frozen! Do something!
I know a community in Germany that is 800 meters away from a weapons factory, an eco-village, a spiritual community. I love these people. And 800 meters away from them is a weapons factory. This contradiction lives among you and within you. Go there, dress in white, sit down, just sit there and say: Not in my name. There are so many things you can do.
Boycott Israeli products and products that come from the settlements. That is your right and your power as customers. We live in capitalism. You are the money you have. Change the world, change it in a nonviolent way.
I feel that the most important thing that has not happened in Germany and in many European countries is to address the question: Do you love Jewish people?
I don’t think you do. I hope I’m wrong, but I want to tell you what moves me:
When I love, I act. When I love someone or something, I act. I support them, I protect them. And I also provide guidance.
Zionism has become the greatest danger to the Jewish people. If I love the Jewish people, I must do everything I can to awaken them from Zionism.
That is why I encourage you to educate yourselves. Inform yourselves about the differences between Judaism, Israelism, and Zionism. Most Germans I meet are overwhelmed by these three terms because they don’t know how to distinguish between them.
But that’s not just your fault; there is a media machine that has been working for 150 years to constantly confuse these three terms. So it’s not your fault that you can’t distinguish between them. But in times of genocide, it is your duty to learn about the differences between these three terms. When you encounter a Jew, an Israeli, or a Zionist, you can take three different positions, but you must know what they are. You must understand them.
And when I love a young person who is doing something wrong, that young person wants my guidance. So they test my boundaries. But if he sees that I am rooted in love and I see his actions and say no to his actions and correct him from my experience as an educator, then maybe the next day that teenager will come back with an expression of love for me because he sees that I see him completely.
I see that he is testing my boundaries. But I will also protect him, protect him from himself. And that is orientation.
The West deported the Jews to the so-called Middle East and gave them no orientation. If you have a teenager whom you give alcohol and drugs and say, “Do what you want, that’s your freedom!”, then he will hurt himself and those around him. He will cause harm to himself and his environment.
Europe brought the Jews to the Middle East and then closed its heart to them. Out of a sense of German guilt, the Germans now let them do whatever they want.
I have now made a mistake myself: it is not the Jews, but the Zionists who have manipulated the Israelis and Jews and are now doing whatever they want.
It is time for us to understand that they and everyone else are part of the great family of life, the human family. And when they destroy themselves, they destroy us, the Palestinians, first.
And while genocide is taking place, Western societies and the international community are experiencing something called moral injury. (See the article Moral Injury — in English only.) In this state, one has seen something that is wrong according to one’s own moral standards.
Because human life is sacred. Every human life is sacred. That is very clear, very simple. Every murder of a human being, regardless of race, religion or skin colour, is wrong.
Wherever a weapon is pointed at a child, you are on the side of the child, no matter who the child is and who has the weapon.
This is the moral system we have as human beings: human rights, the protection of life, the environment and nature, the love and unity of all beings.
But when we are faced with a situation where this moral principle cannot be applied, where we cannot protect life, we fall into a state of inner powerlessness, and that violates our morals. When these violations accumulate, we become numb. Then we stand in the way of the moral system we have developed over many years. And then we are no longer able to do anything. Then we have to numb ourselves. We lose our power and become nothing more than consumers in capitalism.
That is why the genocide in Gaza does not only affect the Palestinians. The genocide is directed against all of us. We are all victims of genocide – as long as we allow it to happen.
Aida Al-Shibli is a Palestinian Bedouin from Shibli, a village north of Mount Tabor, between Nazareth and Tiberias. She has lived in the Tamera peace research community in Portugal since 2007 and describes herself as a Palestinian activist, ecovillage worker, and mother. In 2022, an interview with her appeared on Manova, then still called Rubikon.
Editorial note: This text first appeared on Zeitpunkt.ch.
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Humanity in distress
Back in 2008, an international flotilla attempted to deliver essential supplies to Gaza — but was brutally boarded by the Israeli navy on the high seas and prevented from doing so.
Almost 15 years ago, the Israeli army’s attack on six ships of the Free Gaza Flotilla made headlines around the world. The flotilla wanted to bring urgently needed equipment and materials to Gaza to repair the damage caused by the war from December 2008 to January 2009. After Hamas’ victory in 2006, the Israeli government imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2007. Many goods such as textiles, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and construction materials such as cement, steel, wood, and the like were no longer allowed into the Gaza Strip. The international alliance “Free Gaza” had attempted to break the blockade with ships several times since 2008.
[This article posted on 5/10/2025 is translated from the German on the Internet, https://www.manova.news/artikel/menschlichkeit-in-seenot.%5D
In August 2008, two boats carrying 44 activists reached Gaza — the first international ships in 42 years! Four more successful landings followed, and three more ships were seized by the Israeli navy, in some cases with brutal force.
In 2010, the largest flotilla to date set sail from the ports of Athens, Istanbul, and Agios Nikolaos/Crete with eight ships. It carried around 10,000 tons of aid supplies and over 700 passengers from 36 countries, including members of parliament from various countries, many journalists, and activists.
On May 31, 2010, Israeli soldiers attacked the Free Gaza flotilla in international waters.
The Mavi Marmara, a former Turkish ferry and the largest ship in the flotilla with almost 600 passengers, was attacked and boarded from helicopters, killing nine activists, eight Turks and one American.
Many were injured.
A total of 1,000 Israeli soldiers on four warships and 30 Zodiacs are said to have been involved in “Operation Seabreeze.” In addition to firearms, tear gas and flash grenades, paintball guns, and rubber-coated steel bullets were used.
Before departure, the port authorities had meticulously checked the cargo to rule out any possible weapons shipments. It was strictly forbidden to take weapons or ammunition on board. As it later transpired during the investigation of the passengers’ luggage and the unloading of the cargo by the Israelis in the port of Ashdod, all passengers had complied with this ban. Contrary to Israeli accusations, there were no weapons on board, only kitchen knives, as is customary on ferries.
In Germany, the flotilla was supported by IPPNW (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War — Physicians in Social Responsibility), the German section of pax christi, and several Palestinian organizations (German-Palestinian Society, Palestinian Community in Germany, German-Palestinian Medical Society). The five-member German delegation included Mathias Jochheim (IPPNW), Nader El-Saqa (Palestinian Community), Norman Paech, international law expert, and two members of the Bundestag faction DIE LINKE, Inge Höger and the author.
At the time, I justified my participation in a press release by referring to the Geneva Conventions in order to highlight the relevance of international law. Today, in 2025, international law no longer seems to play a role.
“According to Articles 55 and 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Israel has a duty to ensure the supply of food and medical supplies to the population of Gaza and to maintain medical infrastructure by all available means. As a collective punishment against the civilian population, the blockade also violates Article 33 of the Convention.(…) The flotilla is a plea for respect for human rights and international law, without the enforcement of which a lasting and just peace in the region will remain a utopia for a long time to come.” (1)
The five of us Germans initially traveled on two yachts flying the US flag, the Challenger boats I and II, and later, after technical problems, transferred to the Mavi Marmara, which was flying the flag of the Comoros.
Early in the morning of May 31, 2010, the passengers were instructed in English and Arabic over loudspeakers to go to the recreation rooms and refrain from any resistance. The Israelis had taken command of the ship. We women, who had been locked in the lower deck for safety reasons, had to go to the upper deck, where we were searched individually and tied with cable ties around our wrists. Everything, including our cell phones, was taken from us. We had to go outside to the gangways, where the women and European men were allowed to sit on benches while the other passengers had to kneel in rows.
Access to the toilets was arbitrarily allowed or prohibited. The injured were carried past me to the sun deck on stretchers with their heads down, which could have meant death for the seriously injured.
After many hours at sea, the Mavi Marmara set course for Ashdod. Helicopters brought in reinforcements, including dogs. The capture of the other ships at the same time took place without fatalities, but with great violence. The Israeli soldiers used Tasers (electroshock weapons) and rubber bullets, beat several passengers with the butts of their weapons until they bled, tied them up with cable ties, and put hoods over their heads. (2)
At the time, there were many protests against this attack in international waters, which violated international law, and against the brutality of the soldiers toward civilians. Several prominent figures, such as Swedish author Henning Mankell and well-known Knesset member Hanin Zoabi, were among the passengers.
Because all our cameras and cell phones were confiscated, we were unable to take any photos, so the reporting was one-sided and came from the Israelis.
Israeli IOF members (Israeli Occupation Forces, known in Israel as the IDF, Israeli Defense Forces) accused us activists of extreme violence with knives and iron bars and repeatedly claimed that they had to defend themselves.
German politicians still use the “self-defense” argument today to refute accusations of genocide.
To substantiate the alleged violence by the Free Gaza activists, Israeli media experts falsified videos intended for public consumption, as cameramen explained to me.
Since some journalists managed to hide their films from the Israelis, there are recordings of the attack.
At the time, the media, including several German outlets, published numerous articles strongly criticizing the Israeli attack and the brutality toward the passengers.
The most impressive commentary was written by Haganah veteran Dov Yirmiya of the Israeli peace movement Gush Shalom. Under the title “Boundless Shame,” he expressed his horror:
“I am one of the remaining Haganah veterans who served in the British army and was later among the initiators of illegal immigration for Holocaust survivors.We fought against the forces of victorious Britain for the right to land on the shores of this country. Their warships and soldiers, who had just fought and defeated the worst of all enemies, now turned to fighting our boats with rage and hatred, our boats that were leaving the shores of Italy full of survivors from the Nazi hell and heading for this country.The warships chased after them, surrounded them, sometimes crushed them, fired on them, killing and injuring many of their passengers. And now, with horror and a broken heart, I have witnessed a repeat of the same scenes—but with the roles reversed.It is the soldiers and sailors of the military forces who boast of being the ‘Israeli Defense Forces’. They are now the persecutors and murderers.
There is no limit to the shame, cruelty, and hypocrisy that shroud our criminal acts with lies and malice. I am deeply saddened… how could we have fallen so low?How did we become an unjust and cruel people, from the persecuted to the persecutor?
Yes! I should have expected it. For 19 years, we agreed to a system of military rule over the Arab minority that remained with us after the War of Independence. We expropriated them and discriminated against them.Then came 43 years of intoxicating nationalist bravado, which, after the victory of 1967, permeated our people like an addictive drug and brought to power the Greater Israel movement, which has ruled Israel ever since. Our golden opportunity to make peace with the Palestinian people as victors vanished in an instant. (…)The enormous burden of injustice and insane wickedness that the sikaric [fanatically nationalistic, ed.] Israel has taken upon itself will bring disaster. Even in the foreseeable future, Israel is destroying its chances of survival. The writing on the wall is already there in blood.Woe to our children, our grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren, to whom we are leaving such a legacy.“ (3)
Easing of the blockade?
Two and a half weeks after the brutal storming of the flotilla by the Israeli military, the Israeli government announced an easing of the blockade and agreed to allow materials for ”civilian projects” into the Gaza Strip. Since the easing was more of a verbal announcement and urgently needed goods and materials were still not allowed in, 23 European aid organizations appealed to the international community in November 2010 to urge Israel to “immediately, unconditionally, and completely lift the blockade.” They criticized that the alleged easing of the blockade in June 2010 had had almost no effect.
Former German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle (FDP) also called for a complete lifting of the blockade at the time, emphasizing that the easing announced by Israel was “expressly only a first step.”
Bundestag resolution on ending the blockade
Even the German Bundestag reacted to the raid in June 2010 and unanimously adopted a motion by the CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP, and BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN entitled “Clarify the events surrounding the Gaza flotilla — improve the situation of the people in Gaza — Support the Middle East peace process,” and called on the federal government to work vigorously for an end to the Gaza blockade.
“The German Bundestag calls on the Federal Government to
3. to support the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy in her initiatives to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza with all her might and to work within the European Union in particular to ensure that the Secretary-General of the United Nations is tasked withnegotiate with Israel on access to Gaza, including by sea, and on the creation of the necessary technical conditions so that goods required by the United Nations can be imported into Gaza while Israel’s security interests are safeguarded;
4. strongly support the European Union’s call for an immediate lifting of the Gaza blockade and work to ensure that Israel converts the positive list of goods that can be imported into a negative list of prohibited goods such as weapons and weaponizable material; (4)
Unfortunately, the resolution was not followed by any action, but a reference to it can be helpful in the context of the Bundestag’s resolutions on anti-Semitism. These have as little legal force as the “blockade motion.” In view of today’s debates and accusations, as well as the persecution of so-called “pro-Palestinian activists,” this motion is remarkable and would probably not be accepted by the Bundestag today.
The five of us who participated in the Free Gaza Flotilla filed a criminal complaint “against persons unknown” with the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Karlsruhe in June 2010 for kidnapping, deprivation of liberty, and confiscation of property. The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office examined our complaint for five years before rejecting it on the grounds that the attack was in accordance with international law.
An attack on civilian ships with many passengers in international waters is supposed to be “in accordance with international law”?
The attack was a violation of international law because it was clearly directed against civilians and civilian ships, which are protected under the Geneva Conventions.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague also investigated the Israeli army’s attack on the Mavi Marmara. In 2013, the Comoros, under whose flag the Mavi Marmara was sailing, brought the case before the ICC. However, the then chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, decided not to bring charges because the case was “not serious enough.”
“The judges saw things differently and in 2017 asked her again to re-examine the case. But Bensouda stood by her vote and refused to file charges against Israel.In September 2019, the judges again instructed Bensouda to investigate the raid by December 2, 2019, and to bring charges if necessary.” (5)
As far as is known, no further action was taken after that.
Gaza — the crisis for humanity
After 2010, the situation in Gaza and Palestine continued to deteriorate. The international community, as well as the governments of the EU member states, have completely failed. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on November 6, 2023:
“This nightmare in Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis for humanity, for humanity.”
In view of the repression of critics of the German government and its complicity with the right-wing extremist Israeli government, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese issued the following statement:
“There seems to be a kind of paranoia in Germany when it comes to critical engagement with what Israel is doing. Many Jews around the world are speaking out against what is being done in their name.But Germany itself silences Israelis and Jewish people who publicly oppose Israel’s policies. Instead of holding Israel to the same standards as other countries, the government is allowed to continue with impunity.” (6)
That was before they were banned from speaking at Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich and at the Free University in March 2025!
Warning to German friends
I would like to recall the warning issued by Amos Goldberg, professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Holocaust researcher, who published a letter to “My German friends” in the Frankfurter Rundschau in November 2019, entitled: “Germany’s policy should not resemble that of Hungary, Poland and Israel.”
The background to this was the Bundestag resolution equating the movement for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel with anti-Semitism. Goldberg emphasized that “many, if not most, anti-Semitism researchers, including Professors Wolfgang Benz and Moshe Zimmerman, argue that BDS as such is not anti-Semitic.” He criticized the closure of the account of the organization “Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East” by the German Bank for Social Economy because the bank “concluded that these Jews were actually anti-Semites themselves because of their support for BDS.”
This is an outrageous accusation, but the repression of critical Jews continues today. Numerous Jewish intellectuals and artists have been banned from performing. Goldberg continues:
“But it is not only Jews and Palestinians in the Middle East who are paying the price for passivity.The Germans are also paying the price themselves. Along with hundreds of Jewish and Israeli scholars, I am watching how the political system in Germany is rapidly eroding free speech when it comes to Israel and Palestine, and how public discourse is descending into defamation and character assassination. (…) I warn my friends in Germany because of our experiences in Israel:There is more trouble ahead if you do not vigorously defend the principles of democracy, freedom of speech, and a principled foreign policy. If you do not fight for these values, especially in the context of sensitive issues, Germany could turn into another illiberal stronghold in five or ten years. Its policies could then resemble those of Israel, Hungary, and Poland.” (7)
Unfortunately, Goldberg was right in his prediction. Freedom of expression is being increasingly restricted, activists protesting against the genocide in Gaza are sometimes brutally beaten up and prosecuted on charges of incitement to hatred, some are threatened with deportation, and the list of repressive measures is long. Pacifists and opponents of war who protest against arms exports to Israel and Ukraine and against rearmament plans are insulted as “Putin sympathizers” or “angels fallen from hell.” The word “peace” has become a dirty word, and Germans are being told to become “fit for war,” 80 years after liberation from fascism!
Suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement
If the political will were there, the German government and the EU could sanction Israel for its crimes and immediately stop arms deliveries and other support measures. The EU could immediately suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which in Article 2 obliges both parties to respect human rights.
Josep Borrell, former High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and former Vice-President of the European Commission, has written a stirring article on this subject, which appeared in the Spanish newspaper El Pais on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025. In it, he sharply criticizes the genocide and describes the expulsion of the population to “no-go zones” as the “largest ethnic cleansing operation since the end of World War II.” According to Borrell, Israel Katz, the Israeli foreign minister at the time, had already informed the EU Commission in early 2024 about President Donald Trump’s plan for the “voluntary migration of Gaza’s residents.”
In view of the massive violations of international law, Borrell criticizes the EU’s inaction and admits that “as the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, I have not been able to persuade the Council or the Commission to respond to the massive and repeated violations of international law and humanitarian law by the Netanyahu government, in contrast to our response to Putin’s aggression against Ukraine.”
Borrell continues:
“By the end of my term, I was able to see how much this policy of double standards has weakened the EU’s position in the world. Not only in the Muslim world, but also in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.(…) Spain and a few other European countries have raised their voices and called on the Commission to examine whether this behavior is compatible with the obligations under the Association Agreement.All they got in response was silence. The guilty conscience of some European countries about the Holocaust, which has become a ‘raison d’état’ to justify unconditional support for Israel, could make us accomplices to crimes against humanity.
One horror does not justify another. And if we do not want the values we claim to defend to lose all credibility, the EU cannot continue to stand idly by while the horror in Gaza continues and the West Bank is ‘Gaza-ized.’Contrary to public debate and despite the complete lack of empathy shown by some of its leaders, the EU has numerous levers at its disposal to take action against the Israeli government: we are its most important trading partner in terms of investment and the exchange of people. We supply at least a third of the weapons it uses and have concluded the most comprehensive association agreement with Israel.But this, like all others, is conditional on compliance with international law, in particular humanitarian law. If we want to, we can act. And we have waited too long. Many Israelis who are aware that Netanyahu’s headlong rush is jeopardizing the long-term security and survival of the State of Israel would be grateful to us for doing so.” (8)
Borrell’s words reveal a great deal of frustration. But one must also ask why he did not raise his voice much earlier and much louder and call for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. As the EU Commission’s foreign policy chief, he had a lot of weight and influence, which, in my opinion, he failed to use.
If politicians do not call for the suspension of the Association Agreement, European civil society must raise this demand loudly. Article 2, which obliges both parties to the agreement to respect human rights, is a good argument for this.
Instead of voicing loud criticism of the killings in Gaza and the violence and displacement in the West Bank, the EU recently approved €1.6 billion for Gaza and the West Bank until 2027, with more than 50 percent going to the Palestinian Authority. Many Palestinians will perceive this as a slap in the face!
Sources and notes:
(1) http://ipk-bonn.de/downloads/21. May
(2) More information on the Free Gaza Flotilla: “Free Gaza — a current reminder of an unresolved task” — “Ten years after the Israeli massacre of human rights activists,” report by Prof. Dr. Norman Paech and Annette Groth https://bip-jetzt.de/2020/06/13/bip-aktuell-123-free-gaza-eine-aktuelle-erinnerung-an-eine-ungeloeste-aufgabe/
(3) Dov Yirmiya: “Boundless shame,” junge Welt, June 29, 2010 https://www.jungewelt.de/artikel/146664.grenzenlose-schande.html
(4) https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/17/023/1702328.pdf
(5) Norman Paech: “Free Gaza Flotilla, Lawless Space Israel? International Criminal Court to investigate attack on the ‘Gaza Freedom Flotilla’ in 2010” https://www.jungewelt.de/artikel/362333.free-gaza-flotille-rechtsfreier-raum-israel.html
(6) UN Special Rapporteur: “Threshold for genocide reached,” Francesca Albanese on Israel’s actions in Gaza, Germany’s responsibility, and the accusations against her, interview: Hanno Hauenstein, April 23, 2024, in Neues Deutschland https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1181657.gaza-krieg-un-sonderberichterstatterin-schwelle-zum-voelkermord-erreicht.html
(7) https://www.fr.de/meinung/appell-meine-deutschen-freunde-12851166.html
(8) This text by Josep Borrell appeared on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025, in the Spanish newspaper El Pais under the title “Semana de pasion en Gaza.” The English text is based on the French translation by Claude Gregoire of the Comite pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient, Luxembourg.
Annette Groth, born in 1954, worked as a development sociologist, research assistant for a European migration research project, ecumenical officer at the Protestant Student Community, education officer at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, director of a tourism-critical NGO, and consultant for an ecumenical scholarship program of the Diakonisches Werk. She was a member of the Bundestag for the Left Party for a time.________________________________________________________________
Unwelcome helper
German media and politicians are not fighting the Israeli genocide in Gaza, but rather the protests against it by Greta Thunberg & Co.
Is it because of her autism, early childhood trauma, or simply a pathological need for attention? Greta Thunberg, once the darling of the left-wing public, is not having an easy time of it these days. Practically all the media are hacking away at her. The tenor of the criticism: “How could someone we once admired fall so low?” After the former climate icon set sail for the waters near Gaza — admittedly with no prospect of success and “only” to generate public attention for the untenable conditions there — the general shitstorm against her shows no signs of abating. In the opinion of opinion leaders, there can apparently only be one legitimate response to genocide for mentally healthy people of integrity: to stand by and watch. Once again, the entire coverage of the issue horribly misses the cruel truth, and the cowardly and heartless can continue to bask in the glow of media approval. Meanwhile, the killing continues…
by Wolf Wetzel
[This article posted on 6/13/2025 is translated from the German on the Internet, https://www.manova.news/artikel/unwillkommene-helferin.%5D
On June 1, 2035, a sailing ship named “Madleen” set sail from Sicily to bring vital supplies to Gaza. A sailing ship? The state-affiliated media is full of bombastic investigative journalism: What is this all about? Who is on board? What and who is behind it?
The really simple questions are deliberately ignored:
Why has the situation in Gaza been getting more and more “dramatic” for months—without anything being done about it? Why are hundreds of trucks standing at the Gaza border and being prevented from averting the threat of starvation?
How can it be that Die Welt and its ilk are staring at the sailing ship like rabbits staring at a snake, and not at the hundreds of trucks that are just waiting for the “most moral army in the world” to stop preventing them from continuing their journey? Why is it not worth mentioning that trucks have been held up for weeks by Israeli settlers to prevent them from disrupting the starvation of the people in Gaza? Why are the state-obedient media silent about the fact that the Israeli war cabinet is arming gangs in the controlled south of Gaza to use them against armed groups in Gaza?
What we are not supposed to know about can be read in the magazine Mondoweiss of June 6, 2025:
“The Israeli military is arming gangs to fight Hamas in Gaza,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Thursday (June 5, 2025). This revelation comes to light after right-wing former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman accused Netanyahu yesterday on Israeli public broadcaster Kan of arming a gang of hundreds of men in Rafah to counter Hamas’ influence in the Gaza Strip. The Prime Minister’s Office responded by stating that it was “fighting the Palestinian resistance group in various ways — on the recommendation of all the heads of the security apparatus.”
Instead, we must — and are allowed to — focus on a small sailing ship that is on its way to Gaza. The occupying power has declared that it will not allow this sailing ship to reach its destination. It will know how to prevent it.
Just a few months earlier, another sailing ship was blown up so that it could not expose the starvation in Gaza. “Die Welt” and its ilk took note of this quietly and with even quieter satisfaction. How can one want to prevent genocide?
At the same time that the sailing boat left Sicily, the Israeli war cabinet set about implementing the final phase of the genocide. After months of two million people in Gaza being herded from north to south, then back to the north, and finally into three zones, the Israeli war cabinet has now established permanent “concentration zones” in the south.
They are guarded by US mercenaries. These “concentration zones” are run as a private enterprise — by the newly founded “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF),” which is, of course, under the control of the IDF.
The complete blockade of essential aid supplies since March 2025 was and is a war crime — and a step towards the concentration zones. Because food is only distributed there. But food is not the only thing available there. You can only get it if you allow yourself to be biometrically registered in order to create “identity papers” that will enable your deportation.
What all this means in detail for the people of Gaza is revealed in a depressing conversation with journalist Jeremy Scahill. He is the author of the bestsellers Blackwater (2007) and Dirty Wars (2013), the latter of which was adapted into an Oscar-nominated documentary film. Scahill co-founded The Intercept and launched Drop Site News in 2024, a nonprofit newsroom focused on national security reporting.
In doing so, he also addresses the complicity of Western media:
Yes, for 19 months now, you can see more than the sailing ship. But especially in the state-affiliated media, you hear and read almost nothing about this murderous development, about the final phase of the genocide, the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
Instead, “DIE WELT” and its ilk are eagerly awaiting the sinking of the sailing ship. They are eager for it and are preparing the German public for it “with secret delight.”
Oh, I completely forgot that this is about something else entirely: Greta Thunberg.
You know: once an icon, now even more of a hate figure. Advocating for climate protection may be acceptable, but fighting genocide is unacceptable.
Now everyone wants to know:
How could Greta Thunberg no longer be the nice schoolgirl who skips school for such honorable reasons? Who put that idea in her head with the Palestinian scarf? She must have been bought off, right? How is her commitment to Palestine related to her autism?
Why is she gambling away our sympathy with this commitment? Doesn’t she know that it’s all pointless anyway?
The sad thing about this public slaughter is that far too many people are participating. Those who don’t want to do anything and those who can’t do anything are ganging up on her.
What they fail to realize is that with this kind of personality analysis, they are once again ignoring what Greta Thunberg has emphasized over and over again: It’s not about her. It’s not about the sailboat. It’s about drawing attention to the catastrophic situation of the people in Gaza. And many people don’t want to hear or understand that they are among the few who are not only calling for a ceasefire, an end to starvation and ethnic cleansing, but also an end to almost 60 years of occupation.
And of course, it’s safe to predict that the sailboat will never reach Gaza. But wouldn’t it be better to leave Greta and the sailing ship aside and ask ourselves:
Who is being prevented from doing it better, more effectively, more radically? Who needs a Greta Thunberg to feel better about themselves?
While some conceal their powerlessness and fear, others act as new masters to explain who has a say here in Germany. Before “DIE WELT” introduces us to its man, it introduces him with the following words:
“Since the massacre and hostage-taking by the Islamist Hamas in Israel in October 2023 and Israel’s subsequent military action in the Gaza Strip, Thunberg has repeatedly expressed solidarity with the Palestinians and accused Israel of genocide.Critics, on the other hand, accuse Thunberg of taking a one-sided pro-Palestinian stance in the Gaza war and the events that triggered it.“
Neutrality is suggested by allowing ‘one’ side and ”the other” to speak in meaningless terms.
Not so long ago, accusations of genocide were denounced as outrageous and anti-Semitic, but now the media is resorting to hypocritical neutrality. The editorial board does not explain why the countless war crimes committed by the Israeli army and the accusation of genocide accepted by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) should be viewed from both sides.
The fact that this neutrality is only feigned and amounts to nothing more than two sentences is underlined by the witness who is called to the “witness stand” immediately afterwards: the German government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein. According to DIE WELT, he “called Thunberg’s statements on the Middle East conflict after the Hamas hostage-taking on October 7, 2023, ‘anti-Israel and, through the veiled denial of Israel’s right to exist, also anti-Semitic’” (welt.de, June 5, 2025).
This is said by a man who, in a completely unambiguous manner, does not even recognize the “right of Palestine to exist” in German neo-colonial style, but instead immediately resorts to calling for its annihilation:
“The Federal Government’s Anti-Semitism Commissioner said in an interview that he viewed Trump’s plans for the future of the Gaza Strip as fundamentally positive.‘It’s worth taking a closer look: I don’t think it’s wrong to think radically and completely differently,’ Klein told the ‘Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung’ in response to statements by Trump, who had spoken, among other things, of resettling the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and transforming the coastal strip into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’.” (spiegel.de, March 5, 2025).
This man moves in the linguistic and intellectual world of the Nazis, who liked to present themselves as those who thought in new and loud ways, who even considered it “radical” when they presented their “new” world order. To realize this world order, the Nazis also relied on the “voluntary departure” of the Jews. This proximity does not bother the German government’s anti-Semitism commissioner.
Abolishing states must remain in colonial hands
This man does not just want to ‘rethink’ Gaza. He also thinks further: What if others also come up with the idea of “radically” rethinking states and borders?
Then the man is beside himself. He wants to ensure that what he allows himself to do for Gaza—think radically—must not be generalized under any circumstances.
“In the interview with the ‘Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung,’ Klein also called on the future Bundestag to tighten criminal law.Slogans calling for the destruction of other states should be made punishable, including the phrase ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’. This slogan means that there should be a free Palestine in an area stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea — where Israel is now located” (spiegel.de, March 5, 2025).
However, this man of the right is truly shocked when there are people at universities, among female students and even among teaching staff, who do not approve of these crimes against the state and the supporters of genocide, but have the audacity to denounce them.
Then Mr. Klein makes a big deal out of it and expects a purge. It’s not enough to just sweep it under the rug once. You have to tackle the issue with bleach:
“In the ‘left-wing, especially academic world,’ Islamism and terror are downplayed, according to Klein. He said he was ‘shocked’ by teaching staff’s sympathy for ‘anti-Israel demonstrations.’ The state should not tolerate this ‘degree of radicalism,’ which Klein classifies as ‘anti-Semitic.’Pure prevention work is not enough; here, ‘security agencies such as the Office for the Protection of the Constitution are also called upon to act,’” (telepolis, March 6, 2025).
The right and wrong kind of (sympathy)
The Jüdische Allgemeine should definitely open a TÜV center for correct and incorrect sympathy. It is brimming with malice toward the sailing ship project. It can do so with complete peace of mind and exuberance because it knows that Israel has virtually everything in its hands: the occupation, the starvation of the population in Gaza, the terrorization of the Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank, and international law as a doormat. Knowing that the Israeli war cabinet (still) determines who arrives, who survives, who starves, who eats grass and who bites the dust, the commentator enjoys the predictable failure without much tension:
“Anyone who has even the slightest idea about the Freedom Flotillas knows that what is crucial to their success is not that they reach their destination, but that they enjoy the attention of the world’s public.
So far, the sailors have been lucky in this regard: Not only did the sun shine most of the day, providing good lighting for the photos of Greta on the sail mast and making the keffiyehs shine beautifully, but the internet connection also held up—at least most of the time—despite the disruptive maneuvers of the “Zionist entity.” Of course, there were a few of those.Even before the boat got anywhere near Gaza, it was swarmed by drones like mosquitoes. According to one crew member, these had been built by Israel to disrupt the live stream and bring the mission to the brink of failure. However, the Zionists’ evil plan fell flat in the Mediterranean, and the Madleen remained on air.
Given the hostility, it is by no means a given that the crew members are not just sailing leisurely around the Mediterranean, but are reporting on their humanitarian work almost around the clock. Israel has announced that it will not allow them to enter Gaza. The “regime in Tel Aviv,” as one crew member called it, is doing everything it can to ensure that Greta’s voyage is a failure.The world is watching and waiting with bated breath“ (Jüdische Allgemeine, June 6, 2025).
That seems to be the main task of ”the world“: to sit back and watch.
Because this ”WORLD” can rely on him, Israeli War Minister Katz:
“I have instructed the IDF to prevent the hate ship ‘Madeline’ from reaching the coast of the Gaza Strip — and to take all necessary measures to do so. To the anti-Semitic Greta and her friends who speak Hamas propaganda, I say clearly: Turn back — because you will not reach Gaza.”
So that is the state of knowledge of the Israeli secret service — and they have completely overlooked the fact that “Greta” and all the other five-footers have three eyes.
The sailboat was captured by Israeli soldiers at two o’clock in the morning on June 9, 2025, in a death-defying act. The Israeli Foreign Ministry’s justification is as spooky as “Greta’s” anti-Semitism:
“The activists had attempted to stage a media provocation with the sole purpose of attracting public attention, according to the statement” (tagesschau.de, June 9, 2025).
In contrast, bombings, assassinations, and starvation as weapons of war, the deliberate destruction of hospitals, emergency shelters, and tent camps, the nearly 60-year occupation, and plans for ethnic “cleansing” are simply normal.
Madleen is more than a sailboat
“Breaking the siege is a legal obligation for states and a moral imperative for all of us. Every Mediterranean port should send boats to Gaza with aid, solidarity, and humanity. They will sail together—united—and they will be unstoppable.”
This is the response of Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, to this Israeli military operation in international waters that do not yet belong to Israel.
You can stop a ship, but you cannot stop human rights for all.
Starting on June 12, 2025, the “Global March for Gaza” will take place from Cairo.
For days now, Jewish and Arab Israelis have been marching together from Tel Aviv toward Gaza to protest the genocide, the starvation of the Palestinians, and the destruction of Gaza.
A convoy called “Al-Sumoud” (Arabic for “steadfastness”) is preparing to leave Tunis for Gaza. The action is scheduled to start on June 9, 2025, from the Tunisian capital Tunis and advance via Libya and Egypt to the Rafah border crossing. At least 2,000 people are expected to join the journey to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Wolf Wetzel was an author for the former autonomous L.U.P.U.S. group, which was strongly influenced by the squatters’ movement of the 1980s, the Startbahn movement from 1980 to 1991, the anti-Gulf War campaign in 1991, and the blockade of the Bundestag against the abolition of the right to asylum in 1993. His most recent publications were the book “Der Anti-Antifaschismus: Antifa, angebliche Nazis, rechtsoffener Staat und geheimdienstliche Neonazi-Verbrechen” (Anti-Anti-Fascism: Antifa, Alleged Nazis, a Right-Wing State, and Secret Service Neo-Nazi Crimes) and his autobiography, “Die drei Hälften meines Lebens — Opfer, Täter, Störenfried” (The Three Halves of My Life — Victim, Perpetrator, Troublemaker). For a time, he also wrote articles for Rubikon.___________________________________________________________________
The School of Freedom
A Brazilian teacher shows how much a person can achieve when they follow their heart and never give up. Exclusive reprint from “Defend The Sacred.”
Twenty years ago, teacher Eda Luíz, now 75, founded a school for children and adults in a slum in São Paulo that the state had tried in vain to bring under its control. The “Integrated Training Center for Youth and Adults” in Campo Limpo is now a model throughout Brazil for free learning, adult education, and inclusive pedagogy. It is one of the projects of the “Defend The Sacred” alliance, which, like the pieces of a giant puzzle, appear to be part of a great human endeavor. The big picture is still unclear. Many contributions still need to be written by people working in similar ways around the world. But the common heartbeat of a new era can already be heard. May many people be touched by it and join in! On November 15, 2022, activists from around the world will gather for their annual Defend The Sacred meeting—this time in São Paulo.
by Manova’s Courage Editorial Team
by Eda Luíz, Brazil
[This article posted on 11/11/2022 is translated from the German on the Internet, https://www.manova.news/artikel/die-schule-der-freiheit.%5D
When people ask me who I am, I say, “I am a grandmother, I am a mother, I have a great love for everyone and everything in the universe, and I have always worked to replace fear with trust.”
I was a teacher in a state school, but I didn’t like a lot of things there. I rebelled against it and was considered crazy. After 35 years as a controversial teacher, I was told that if I wanted to do something different, I could set up a school in a favela in São Paulo. It was to be a school for people who had been excluded from conventional schools or had never gone to school because they were poor, criminal, drug addicts, disabled, or simply lived on the streets. There are many such people on the margins of urban centers, in the slums. They are not only children, but also adults, and most of them never learn to read or write.
They thought that this was the end of my career and that they were rid of me. But this end turned out to be the beginning. I accepted the challenge. I was given a house and a small piece of land, where I first planted many trees. At the entrance, I hung a large banner that read: “Good to have you here.”
I invited the whole neighborhood to join me in building a school. I asked the students what kind of school they needed to get back on track, and they said it should be a school without rows of desks, without a set curriculum, and without teachers. We started with 800 people, and today the school has 1,800 students of all ages, from 5 to 89.
The school is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and I’m there the whole time. We serve 500 lunches and 800 dinners every day for students and anyone else in the favela who wants to eat. We have 92 permanent employees, including teachers, cooks, drivers, cleaners, administrative staff, and an army of volunteers. We believe that everyone wants to learn.
When we accept students, we conduct an initial interview with them. We are not interested in testing what they don’t know. We want to find out what they already know.
Those with a similar level of knowledge are grouped together. Each year, around 80 groups of 10 to 20 students of different ages and with different talents are formed.
It’s always about diversity. We accept everyone. With 300 students, we have the highest proportion of disabled students of any school in Brazil. They include blind, deaf, and paralyzed people—all of them with special talents. These students are not taught separately, but are part of learning groups at their own level. They can learn Braille or sign language at our school. Everyone is part of a group, and everyone learns together.
The proportion of women and girls at our school is almost 75 percent. Our oldest student is 89. She spent her entire life as one of those housekeepers who are kept by their employers in conditions that are almost slavery. Her great dream in life was to learn to read and write. Now she has achieved it.
From the very beginning, I asked the students: What do you want to learn, and how do you want to learn it? We use this to put together the curriculum. At the beginning of each school year, there is a meeting where the main topic for the year is chosen. It has to be a topic that helps the surrounding community. Because we are currently going through a politically difficult time in Brazil, I would have thought that “politics” would be chosen this year. But that wasn’t the case. The students chose “health.”
The groups each work on a specific problem and corresponding questions. The teachers use this to create a curriculum that addresses all these issues. This is how students and teachers work together. The teacher’s role is more that of a moderator who shows the learning groups how and where they can acquire the knowledge themselves.
The teachers set aside one afternoon a week to meet for further training, because they too must continue to learn. At these meetings, we also discuss problem cases and decide on solutions. On the same afternoon, there are many activities on offer for the students, such as dance, taekwondo, sports, cosmetics, capoeira, music, theater, and much more. Everything is part of their education.
In the early years, the district government came up with the idea that this school was not serving its purpose and should be closed. I studied the legislation intensively and came across a paragraph that was intended to promote the creativity and autonomy of students. I went to the people responsible and asked them, “Do you know what this means?”
They didn’t know. I don’t think the government knows its own laws. I said, “But I do. Creativity and autonomy are our school’s most important resources.”
But the day of closure was drawing nearer. They wanted to decide by means of a vote. As so often in such situations, my intuition came to my aid. Two days before the vote, I went to the district council and gave each of the 120 councilors a description of the school. Until then, they had not received any real information about us. I described how we promote creativity and autonomy among the students and thus comply with the law. They were enthusiastic, and so the majority actually voted to keep the school open.
Our school is now number one in Brazil in terms of educating truants, street children, and those with little education. Many former drug addicts and street children have been able to change their lives through our school. Many of them have become helpers themselves. Others are graduating from school and going on to university.
My secret is that I never gave up. It wasn’t always easy. Only my pillow knows how often I cried myself to sleep. But if you go to bed with a problem and open yourself up to your intuition, inspiration will come eventually — and I follow it, even if it seems crazy. That has always helped me.
I would like to encourage everyone, young and old: Listen to the voice in your heart. I believe that everyone knows it. Even if it is very quiet at first, even if it seems absurd: Follow it! Don’t let yourself be dissuaded! Do what it says! Do it!
Eda Luiz (right) in conversation with Sabine Lichtenfels from the Tamera Peace Research Center, Portugal
Eda Luiz is now 75 and a teacher. Twenty years ago, she founded a school in a slum in São Paulo for children and adults whom the state had tried unsuccessfully to educate.The school, CIEJA (Centro Integrado de Educação de Jovens e Adultos, Portuguese for “Integrated Education Center for Youth and Adults”) in Campo Limpo, is now a model throughout the country for free learning, adult education, and inclusive pedagogy. Dona Eda is also a partner of the Instituto Favela da Paz.
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Nothing but vanity
With the help of media momentum, the world’s powerful have whipped themselves into an absurd cult of personality.
The media seem to be magically attracted to people with power, fame, and success. There is a special bond between them because they need each other to survive in the attention economy in the long term. Politicians are of particular interest here. Who is to blame for the dispute between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, did Friedrich Merz take cocaine on the train to Kiev, and is Macron being beaten by his wife? Looking at the media coverage of the past few days and weeks, one could dwell on all these questions at length. But is this reality or a hyperfocus on people who are taken too seriously by us and themselves? For the author, too, the media was once the ultimate point of reference, but that has changed. He describes his painful learning process, which began with the election of Donald Trump as US president. An article for the “Politics and Psyche” special.
by Hans Durrer
[This article posted on 6/10/2025 is translated from the German on the Internet, https://www.manova.news/artikel/nichts-als-eitelkeit.%5D
“Politics is the art of preventing people from
caring about what concerns them” (Paul Valéry).
For most of my life, the media shaped my view of the world. I mainly devoured newspapers and magazines. After studying law in Basel, I ran a book publishing house and launched a series of journalism books with journalists from Geo, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, and the Süddeutsche Zeitung, among others. This was followed by journalism studies in Wales. I was really hooked on the media; they were not only my window to the world, they were my point of reference.
That has changed, completely. It has a lot to do with the current occupant of the White House, who—as everyone can see—definitely does not know what he is doing. There is nothing but vanity. And the media people, whose professional requirements also include vanity, incessantly feed the ego of the Florida golfer by giving him a platform every day. This is not only unforgivable, it puts the media on the same level as this president. For both, all that counts are clicks or ratings. But let me back up a bit.
The best should win, the best should come out on top, only the best should suffice. We live in a world of superlatives that presupposes comparison and is therefore really quite unhealthy. But could we live without constantly comparing ourselves to others? Probably not, at least I can’t imagine it. However, you could also ask the question differently: Is it really a good idea to compare yourself to other people? I would say: If the goal is to go through life frustrated, then yes.
The problem, or more precisely, my problem, lies in personalization: It doesn’t really matter which media I consult; they all report primarily on individual people to whom they attribute special, even outstanding significance.
Anyone who has ever met people they only knew from the media has found that they are far more average than they had assumed—and sometimes hoped.
It is well known that people orient themselves toward role models, or role models is a better term. I consider it irrelevant who you choose—whether it’s this idiot or that idiot—because we would certainly be better advised to orient ourselves toward the everyday behavior of these people, rather than what supposedly distinguishes them from everyone else. I once read that if you want to know what a Zen master is really like, you should ask his wife.
Buddhists believe that the self is an illusion. Anyone who realizes that everything is in a state of constant change knows this too. Our life instinct, however, wants there to be an ego. Since our will to live is stronger than all other instincts, we cling to it—and suffer. Clinging to the idea of a stable ego that cannot exist will inevitably lead to suffering.
The cult of personality that we cultivate is not only harmful, it is absurd. And it disempowers us because it tells us that we are not okay the way we are, that we need to be different and better, preferably like those who have been given other talents in life.
The cult of personality manifests itself in attention: Nowadays, whoever gets the most likes is considered and considers themselves to be particularly great, when in fact they are simply capable of winning over the majority. Just how harebrained this celebration of success is can be seen not least in the fact that it doesn’t matter at all whether you are successful as a boxer, soccer player, politician, model, pop musician, or university professor — all that matters is that you are successful.
We would do well to remember what former American politician Adlai Stevenson once said: To successfully run for president, you must possess qualities that make you totally unsuitable as president.
I’ve probably known this for a long time, but now that I’m older, it seems more obvious to me, or at least I perceive it more clearly: what television shows me is mostly self-adulation. And this is typical of our time, in which it is seen as positive when someone knows how to promote themselves. The content is completely irrelevant; only the attention counts.
This is not a new phenomenon. In a biography of Churchill, I read that Winston’s father was also oriented toward attention or the majority: “He formed his opinions after assessing what would get him the most publicity.”
Is the majority principle, whether in the form of “likes” or in the so-called democratic process, really such a good idea? Looking at the results, I’m not so sure. Well, mundus vult decipi, as the ancient Romans knew: The world wants to be deceived.
I can influence what I want to focus my attention on. And so I have largely given up television, as its main purpose seems to be to give a platform to those who crave attention and to distract me from what is happening right now.
Sure, there are exceptions. When I recently got stuck watching “Hardtalk,” a program on the BBC, an actor I didn’t know was being interviewed and, when asked about his values, replied that for him it wasn’t people’s opinions that mattered, but who expressed them. As a result, he sometimes finds himself unable to get along with like-minded people, but finds people who stand for values he doesn’t share at all to be likable.
What do I conclude from this? That we shouldn’t attach too much importance to our beliefs and instead focus on observing and contemplating. Specifically: Focusing our attention on observing and contemplating our thoughts and feelings causes me—at least in my case; no, not always—to find everything—life, our existence, and our attempts to make sense of it all—strange, funny, fascinating, frightening, and above all inexplicable.
No wonder we prefer self-adulation. But not always…
The greatest self-admirer the world has ever seen currently resides in the White House. He is also the greatest enlightener the world has ever seen, without having the slightest idea about it. Never before has it been so obvious that intelligence, expertise, consideration, and moral integrity are completely irrelevant or even hindrances to success in “our” competitive system.
The only thing that matters is that voters can identify with the candidate. After all, you always vote for yourself.
Sure, we’ve always been fooled. We knew that you can’t expect the truth from advertising. We also knew that election promises were not to be trusted. And we’ve long been aware that we are governed by idiots. Many considered themselves somehow realistic and reasonably clear-headed. But when a man who doesn’t have the first clue about anything came to power in the United States, it dawned on at least some of them that they had been living in a bubble.
Suddenly, everything, absolutely everything, looked different. Admittedly, I’m speaking for myself. The fact that so much ignorance could have so much power was beyond my comprehension. I was stunned that church organizations could support a man who seemed to have renounced all morality. The fact that intelligent people tried to explain someone who, in my opinion, was completely irrational in rational terms shook my worldview. It took me a while to realize that it took a man without any sense of shame, who clearly doesn’t value empathy, to show us that the world we thought we knew was an illusion.
Reality, or more precisely, the reality created by humans, was invented to give us the security and stability we believe we cannot do without. We knew that this security was illusory, but we did not understand it. But now we are experiencing it. And since we were completely unprepared for this uncertainty that is inherent in life, we cling to the emperor without clothes and let him believe that he is wearing very, very beautiful clothes, indeed the best clothes ever. No, not everyone does that. But all those who do are themselves naked.
The media’s job is to serve the governed, not the governing. We have never been further from that.
What Paul Dubois has a young woman say about politics in A French Life applies just as much to the media, which is interested only in itself.
“In her eyes, politics was an activity for pensioners or snobs, a hobby somewhere between stamp collecting and golf.You have to have a lot of time, she said, to be interested in men who don’t give a damn about others. And Marie had far too little time to waste on discussions about things that didn’t matter anyway.”
Hans Durrer, born in 1953, obtained a law degree in Basel, a Master of Arts in Journalism Studies in Cardiff, a Master of Applied Linguistics in Darwin, and a University Certificate in Drug and Alcohol Studies in Stirling. He has worked in book publishing, as a delegate for the International Committee of the Red Cross, in public relations, as a librarian, teacher, addiction counselor, interpreter, translator, and ghostwriter. He is the author of numerous books.
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