When Russia attacked Ukraine, public buildings in Germany were filled with blue and yellow flags. The cultural scene mobilized to condemn the invasion of the country. Concerts were organized in solidarity with the dead civilians and there was no theatrical performance or recital that began or ended without a condemnation of the war started by Vladimir Putin.
Solidarity with Israel after the brutal Hamas attacks is not visible. The flags of the Jewish State do not fly in the ministries, in Parliament or in the Chancellery despite the fact that the security of Israel is a “state question” for this country. Germany’s unwavering political support for Israel cannot be seen from the street and cannot be heard in the theaters.
The television appearances of the Israeli ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, remembering the tragedy of October 7 are constant, but Israel’s biblical revenge in Gaza, with about 10,000 Palestinians dead In revenge for the 1,400 victims of the Hamas terrorist group, he has diverted mourning. It is not said, but it is not necessary either.
No publicly funded orchestra and opera house in Berlin has held or is planning to hold concerts of solidarity with Israel, and there is always someone who misses them for the simple reason that Berlin experienced an unparalleled cultural flourishing until the arrival of Hitler to power thanks to Jewish artists, that it was in Berlin where the National Socialists decided and planned the annihilation of the European Jews and that Berlin is currently the city with the most Jews in Germany. And all this quoting Martin Luther King: “In the end, it is not the words of our enemies that we remember, but the silence of our friends.”
There has been silence, but in minutes. In the Konzerthaus, 60 seconds of respect were observed before a concert with Christoph Eschenbach, but the mayor, Sebastian Nordmann, has declared that he will organize only if the others do not do so. And the more images we get of the destruction and human suffering in Gaza, the more remote the likelihood that the others move token.