Idag är det 70 år sen befrielsen av förintelselägret Auschwitz

Idag är det 70 år sen befrielsen av förintelselägret Auschwitz och jag tänker på min fars och mors släktingar som mördades där. Idag tänker jag på att det värdigaste sättet vi kan hedra offren på är genom att fortsätta bekämpa de ideologier och fördomar som gjorde förintelsen möjlig, och som aldrig nått den fasansfulla omfattningen utan det stora flertalets likgiltighet och passivitet. Så idag bör vi tala om det som hände men också om det som händer idag: att det tredje största partiet i Sveriges riksdag är ett parti med rötter i nazistisk ideologi; att det idag sker en normalisering av rasism och främlingsfientlighet i Europa; att det idag sker antisemitiska attacker på judar; att europeiska muslimer attackeras och förnedras dagligen; att Ungern idag regeras av rasister/fascister. Därför måste vi åter igen påminna om och försäkra oss om att ingen människa diskrimineras/döms/bedöms på grund av hudfärg, religion, nationalitet eller sexuell läggning. Därför bör vi vårda och bruka minnets verktyg, inte bara i tankarna, utan också i handlingarna. Då sviker vi inte offren, oss själva, och allt det pågående livet här och nu. Och i framtiden.

Israel's upside-down world

Israeli diplomats in Sweden have distinguished themselves in different ways through the years—some as art vandals at museums (Zvi Mazel), and others as Islamophobic racists in social media (Isaac Bachman). But not so often as diplomats. Recently (see attached screen dumps from 12/1/2015), Israel’s ambassador to Sweden posted a racist, Islamophobic statement on Fcebook (removed on 14 January, 2015). And now, he is trying to teach Swedish politicians the meaning of diplomacy, consensus and cooperation, in an op-ed published on Swedish public television’s Website. Because that’s what diplomats do in an upside-down world. When an emissary for a government that is doing everything in its powers to prevent the establishment of a vigorous Palestinian state tries to teach us Swedes the meaning of a moral stance and balance, the world is upside down. Continuous illegal settlements—now housing 550,000 Israeli settlers in the heart of what was supposed to be become a Palestinian state—send a clear message; meanwhile, the sweet promises of cooperation, peace and reconciliation send a totally different one. In an upside-down world, the ”diplomat” in question writes: ”If any party in this conflict should be strengthened politically, it is Israel”, while Irael continues down its 48-year course of confiscating Palestinian territory in Jerusalem and the West Bank, demolishing thousands of Palestinian homes and continued ”protection” of criminal settlers in the West Bank. Installing degrading checkpoints that shatter the Palestinian economy, and running Palestinians off their land. Meanwhile, extrajudicial executions, imprisonment of Palestinians members of parliament and government, bombardment of administrative buildings and infrastructure projects and the massacre of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza all continue. And despite all of the above, Israel has escaped any repercussions from the international community. It is an upside-down world when a “diplomat” speaks in Israel’s name about the need to respect the international community and its written and unwritten laws, while it violates countless UN resolutions, Geneva conventions and international law by, for example, annexing East Jerusalem and by attacking boats on international waters that are headed for the illegally besieged Gaza, with dead and wounded as a result. Should we be at peace with this? Should we pretend not to see the glaring discrepancy between facts on the ground and what, at best, amounts to sweet nothings? The signals that Sweden and other countries are sending could have a decisive impact on the prospects for peace. One country after another is now holding parliamentary elections to recognize Palestine. One country after another is taking measures to live up to the EU’s decision to not offer financial support to illegal Israeli settlements. One country after another is requiring certification of origin on its goods. Some, among them Germany, have reviewed their trade agreements to ensure that their collaboration does not include the settlements. And Sweden can do more than lead the way for recognition of Palestine. For example, we could review our public- and private-sector cooperations with Israel, in order to t ensure that Sweden and Swedish businesses do not support (knowingly or not) to the crimes of the Israeli occupation. That would send a decisive message to Israel: no state and no people shall be left to their fate, in Israel or in Palestine, whose fates are closely linked. And no state, democratic or not, will get away with violating international law. An answer to the Israeli Ambassador to Sweden (Translated from Swedish by Chris Pastorella) Original article in Swedish: http://www.svt.se/opinion/israels-uppochnervanda-varld