AMERICAN EDITION

OCTOBER 14, 2009

Dear Friends,

The leaves are turning and a fall chill is in the air here in the Lower Hudson
Valley. The new German government is being formed (see below) and in the
Federal Republic they are readying celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall
of the Berlin Wall. Chancellor Merkel will be in the U.S. to talk about it (see
below) and I will be on hand representing the American Jewish Committee.

I want to apologize for a “typo” in the last edition. The proper website address
where all editions of DuBow Digest is www.dubowdigest.typepad.com

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Enough commercials! Let’s get on to the news…

IN THIS EDITION

* THE NEW GERMAN GOVERNMENT – Policies and personnel not yet

selected, however…

* THE SUBS – Not the kind that come in for the first team. These are the under
water variety.

* GERMAN UNITY DAY – Big national holiday. 20th anniversary.

* DANIEL SCWAMMENTHAL – A terrific writer. Read his stuff.

* MERKEL IN WASHINGTON – The official announcement.

* THE CDU: IS THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION PARTY VERY

CHRISTIAN? – Can Jews be members?

* THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATS (SPD) – They lost! Now what?

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THE NEW GOVERNMENT

It is much too early to see what policies and who will fill what jobs in the new
administration. Both Chancellor Merkel’s CDU/CSU group and the FDP (Free
Democratic Party) have announced negotiators for each program area (by
Ministry) and they will shortly begin the process of hashing out the overall
agenda and leadership positions that will accrue to each party. I think it is normal
for there actually to be a written coalition agreement that each of the parties has
to sign off on.

Most of the policies that have to be worked out deal with domestic issues such as
tax reform policy, cutting government spending, financial & banking supervision
and greater free-market policies.

Very little has been said about foreign policy. The former government’s policies
of wanting a two-state solution, a freeze on settlements, tough sanctions on Iran
if they do not cooperate on opening their nuclear facilities for inspection, and
having their military stay put in Afghanistan—all seem to be still in place. The
FDP’s chairman, Guido Westerwelle is expected to be the Foreign Minister and
we’ll see when he takes over if any changes come into being. For the moment –
status quo.

Over and above the ministerial and sub-ministerial positions that have to be filled
there is a job that is important for those of us in the American Jewish community.
That is the position of Coordinator of German-American Cooperation. For the last
10 years Karsten Voight has held it and has been a good friend to AJC. Quite
outspoken and direct (You were never in the dark about where he stood); he was
an excellent link between Germany and the U.S. and Germany and American
Jews. With the change of government (he was a leading member of the SPD) he
retired on Sept. 29th and has entered private life. We all wish him the best and
are pretty sure we haven’t heard the last from him.
By the way, if you want to read an excellent, informed analysis of what the new
government will be facing, take 2 minutes and read Dr. Jackson Janes’ piece. Dr.
Janes is the Director of Johns Hopkins’ American Institute for Contemporary
German Studies and a fellow who really knows what he’s talking about. Click
here to read it: http://www.aicgs.org/analysis/at-issue/ai100209.aspx

THE SUBS

In my last edition I reported that the Israelis were about to receive two more
submarines for their navy from Germany. I am now pleased to report that they
have been delivered. JTA reported, “The submarines, ordered in 2005,
reportedly can launch cruise missiles carrying nuclear warheads, according to
the French news agency AFP.
An Israeli military spokesman, speaking off the record, confirmed the delivery of

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the two Dolphin-class submarines, known as U212s. The range of the missiles
the subs can carry would extend at least as far as Iran, whose controversial
nuclear program coupled with verbal threats against the Jewish state have raised
alarm.
Israel reportedly now has five submarines from Germany, which donated the first
two subs to Israel after the 1991 Gulf War. The two countries split the cost of the
third sub.”

Unhappily, in today’s world the way to ward off attack and war is to have a
“deterrent” that really deters. There is no question that the German supplied subs
are a big help and that the Iranians will not only have to worry about an air attack
on their nuclear facilities but one from under the sea as well.

There is nothing like high quality cooperation.

DANIEL SCHWAMMENTHAL

I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal by Daniel Schwammenthal, an

editorial page writer for the Wall Street Journal Europe. The article is entitled
The Mufti of Berlin - Arab-Nazi collaboration is a taboo topic in the West. It points
out that “One widespread myth about the Mideast conflict is that the Arabs are
paying the price for Germany's sins. The notion that the Palestinians are the
‘second victims’ of the Holocaust contains two falsehoods: It suggests that
without Auschwitz, there would be no justification for Israel, ignoring 3,000 years
of Jewish history in the land. It also suggests Arab innocence in German crimes,
ignoring especially the fascist past of Palestinian leader Haj Amin al Husseini,
who was not only Grand Mufti of Jerusalem but also Waffen SS recruiter and
Nazi propagandist in Berlin. When a German journalist recently tried to shed
some light on this history, he encountered the wrath of the Arab collaborators'
German apologists.”

I have rarely read such an informative, fact-laden piece – especially one that
anyone who has any doubts about the legitimacy of Israel and the role that (what
are now called) Palestinians played in the Holocaust. It also relates where the
Arab apologists stand on the subject in Germany. The same sort of negative
propaganda appears here in the U.S. so reading of the article is a must for all of
us. Click here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020344010457440053249516889
4.html

After reading the article I went into Google to see what else Mr. Schwammenthal
had written. I came across an article he wrote in February entitled, End the
Holocaust Memorials. It is a WSJE piece reprinted on a website called
Philosemitism and in the European Jewish Press
http://ejpress.org/article/34319#. Mr. Schwammenthal makes the case that it is
easy to deal with dead Jews but not live ones and that many who honor the

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deceased are the greatest critics of Israel.

There is no question that he is hard hitting and, probably, very opinionated.

However, from my own perspective his opinions are very much on target.

GERMAN UNITY DAY

There is also nothing like making a big mistake on a subject you’re supposed to
know something about. Well, in my last edition I said that German Unity Day
would be celebrated on November 9th, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin
Wall. I was wrong, wrong, wrong! As Wikipedia points out, “The Day of German
Unity (German: Tag der Deutschen Einheit) is the national day of Germany,
celebrated on 3 October as a public holiday. It commemorates the anniversary of
German reunification in 1990.
“An alternative choice would have been the day the Berlin Wall came down—9
November 1989, which coincided with the anniversary of the proclamation of the
German Republic in 1918 and the defeat of Hitler's first coup in 1923. However,
9 November was also the anniversary of the first large-scale Nazi-led pogroms
against Jews in 1938 (Kristallnacht), so the day was considered inappropriate as
a national holiday. Therefore, 3 October 1990, the day of formal reunion, was
chosen instead.

“As far as the celebration of the actual Unity Day, Deutsche Welle reported,
“Modern Germany is only 19 years old. It's hard to believe that Europe's leading
economy and a key player on the international political stage could have been at
the center of the Cold War just two decades ago. October 3, 1990, was the day
on which the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) officially ceased to
exist and the Federal Republic of Germany, previously the name for the western
part of the divided country, came to encompass both East and West. As the
clock struck midnight hundreds of thousands of Germans celebrated outside the
Reichstag building in Berlin.”

As I think back on the separated Germany of 20 years ago, it seems as if it were

20 centuries ago that there were two countries where one exists today. What has
happened in that short period of time is really quite amazing. For instance, the
capital has moved from Bonn to Berlin; the rebuilding of East Germany has been
carried out to the point where it is hard to tell, in a physical sense, that there is
any difference between the two former entities; the Russian military is gone from
Germany; the university system, the telephone system the railroads, etc. have all
been unified; the various Jewish communities have grown enormously since the
Soviet walls have come down and Russian Jews could emigrate to Germany,
etc., etc., etc. It’s just a different world today and it all happened in a span of only
20 years.

Happy birthday new Germany!

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MERKEL IN WASHINGTON

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Washington next month to meet
with US President Barack Obama. Merkel will also address a joint session of the
US Congress. (DW)
Government spokesman Thomas Steg said Merkel will address both houses of
Congress on November 3, at the invitation of House of Representatives Speaker
Nancy Pelosi.
"It's a rare honor for foreign heads of state to be able to speak before the Senate
and the House of Representatives," Steg told a news conference in Berlin.
"Of Germany's chancellors, only Konrad Adenauer, who spoke to both houses in
May 1957, has had this privilege."
Steg said Merkel's address will focus on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the
Berlin Wall, as well as the state of trans-Atlantic relations.
Merkel is also set to have talks with US President Obama during her trip. On
Merkel's last visit to Washington in June, she and Obama presented a united
front on topics such as better regulation of the financial markets, efforts to fight
climate change, and Iran.

I think this kind of honor is not granted to foreign leaders lightly. There is no
question that Chancellor Merkel is not only seen as the most important
government leader in Europe but the closest friend the U.S. has there. That goes
for American Jews as well.

I will be the gallery representing AJC. You’ll get a report in the next edition.

THE CDU: IS THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION PARTY VERY

CHRISTIAN?

I am frequently asked by visiting American Jews, “Can Jews be members of the

CDU?” and “How Christian is the CDU?” I know very well that there are, indeed,
Jewish members of the party so I have always been sure that there is no sort of
Christian vow that anyone must take if they want to join. However, I have never
really been very clear about why it carries Christian in its name if there is no real
religious element in rules, regulations, etc. I’ve asked a few CDU friends about it
and have vague answers about party philosophy, its outlook and the general
framework in which it operates, but somehow I’ve never been satisfied with what
they said.

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I recently came across a piece in Foreign Policy magazine which has helped my
understanding, at least a little. They report, “The Christian Democratic Union
says its policies are based on the Christian view of man and his responsibilities
before God. However, Germans shy away from being connected with other
versions of political Christianity.” Christianity Today recently interviewed Merkel's
minister of state on this issue. "Germans don't want to be called evangelical
because they are labeled by an image dominated by American evangelicals,"
Grohe said. He does want to see more German Christians discussing their faith
in public, mixing personal with civil life, citing the United Kingdom as an example
where religion and politics mix well. Fighting abortion rights is an important issue
for German Christians, but Grohe said fighting poverty and climate change are
also imperative.”

Minister Grohe’s explanation helped somewhat but not enough to satisfy me. I
went to Wikipedia to see what I could find there. They note, “The CDU is non-
denominational, Christian-based, applying the principles of Christian Democracy
and emphasizes the ‘Christian understanding of humans and their responsibility
toward God.’ People adhering to any confessions and non-confessional people
are allowed to be members of the CDU. The CDU's policies encompass
derivatives from Political Catholicism and Catholic social teaching, political
Protestantism, as well as neoliberalism, fiscal conservatism and national
conservatism.”

If Wikipedia is correct. the CDU philosophy includes almost everything but

Judaism. However, since Judaism precedes Catholicism and Protestantism I
guess you’d have to take that as part of their creed as well.
So where do I end up? I guess the CDU in spite of its name is just a political
party with a conservative (in German terms) bent that is genuinely secular – and
most important at the moment – now in power.

THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATS (SPD)

On the subject of “at the moment”, at the moment the SPD is in the soup. They
recorded their lowest vote totals ever in a national election, are no longer in the
ruling coalition, and are trying to get themselves reorganized as leaders of the
parliamentary opposition. Frankly, remaining as the junior partners in a Grand
Coalition would have put off the inevitable. Defeat is never easy to swallow but in
opposition they will now have the time (4 years) to re-think themselves, develop
new leadership and, most important, see if they can somehow join with Die
Linke, the very left party and perhaps the Greens to form a left of center
government the next time around.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who lost to Merkel, is now the leader of the party in the
Bundestag and now the new Party Chairman is former Environment Minister
Sigmar Gabriel. He has already announced his willingness to consider joining
with Die Linke (that was previously taboo because the former E. German

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Communists are a strong element in that party) so he’s not wasting any time.

As in all things political, we’ll just have to wait and see whether the SPD can
figure out what direction they want to go in. Stay tuned!

See you again after the Merkel visit.

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DuBow Digest is written and published by Eugene DuBow who can be contacted at
edubow@optonline.net Both the American and Germany editions are also posted on line at
www.dubowdigest.typepad.com.