Nina Witoszek: Europe has learned little from history

"The contemporary dream of Europe is concerned with a continent which, according to progressive philosophers and sociologists like Habermas or Beck, ought to be maximally tolerant and open. It is a Europe which hates war and desires to leave its demonic history behind. But this Europe worried Kolakowski because it reminded him of Switzerland and Sweden. Both countries have become idols of modernity due to their tolerant pacifism and wealth, which covered lies, cowardice and collaboration with the devil. And both were completely unable to resist the totalitarian evil of the Nazi-regime. They waited for the Americans, Russians, British and Poles to do the dirty work for them."

Source: Norway, Israel and the Jews blog

When Nina Witoszek first arrived in Oslo, she was surprised at how much support the political left were willing to give the oppressive regime she had left behind in Poland. The poor woman was yet to learn exactly how deep the rabbit hole went. Now, years later, her insights and understanding makes her a key participant in debates on Norwegian society. Below, an unauthorised translation from Witoszek’s op-ed in today’s Aftenposten - Norway’s second largest daily:
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Protest: Why were the protests against the war in Gaza so much larger than the ones against the terror of Iran’s regime?

Europe has learned little from history
Nina Witoszek, professor and author

Leszek Kolakowski, an Oxford-philosopher and one of the wisest men on earth, used to say: "England is an island in Europe. Oxford is an island in England. All Souls College is an island in Oxford. And I am an island in All Souls." He died there on July 17, 81 years old.

For me he was less of an island and more of a lighthouse who has sent lifesaving light to those who are about to drown on the stormy seas of modernity. If Arne Næss was a philosopher behind the green bible of modernity, Kolakowski was the sharp anatomist of totalitarianism who revealed its fatal attraction. He started as a rabid Marxist at the university of Warsaw, but instead of dreaming about the final triumph of communism, he mercilessly analyzed its inevitable transformation from a beautiful vision to a bestial, de-civilizing project.

Expelled. After having been expelled from Poland for his "revisionism", he wrote The Main Current of Marxism (1972), the most brutal and brilliant detonation of Marxism in political philosophy. He was obsessed with the paradox of liberal society - its tendency to become its own enemy by tolerating forces which would destroy individual liberties.

The contemporary dream of Europe is concerned with a continent which, according to progressive philosophers and sociologists like Habermas or Beck, ought to be maximally tolerant and open. It is a Europe which hates war and desires to leave its demonic history behind.

But this Europe worried Kolakowski because it reminded him of Switzerland and Sweden. Both countries have become idols of modernity due to their tolerant pacifism and wealth, which covered lies, cowardice and collaboration with the devil. And both were completely unable to resist the totalitarian evil of the Nazi-regime. They waited for the Americans, Russians, British and Poles to do the dirty work for them.

This is then a Europe which has learned little from history and has become blind to the global advance of totalitarianism.

We saw how the war in Gaza last year led to violent demonstrations and hateful declarations against Israel. Six months later hundreds of demonstrators were killed or arrested in Teheran when they protested against the results of the Iranian presidential elections. There have hardly been any solidarity actions for the opposition to the newly elected totalitarian regime. Was this because the protests were discerned to be an internal Iranian affair?

Three explanations. I have three Kolakowski-inspired explanations for the tepid response of the European elites to Iran’s anti-authoritarian rebellion. One is that Europe’s progressive circles admire Islam a religion of poor underdogs, and Ahmadinejad is the king of the underdogs.

The other is that our pro-Islamic attitudes actually disguise an anti-Arabic (and anti-Persian) racism: maybe we expect nothing of "Muslim barbarians" in Palestine or Iran, while we demand from a besieged Israel a European tolerance for fanatical Islamists?

The third explanation is that our cultural elites might be continuing their romance with totalitarian leaders and movements. Maybe they do not cry out against Ahmadinejad because they perceive the Iranian rebellion against Imams as an expression of the bourgeois ideology of the middle classes? Maybe Ahmadinejad - the man who speaks openly of annihilating Israel - in fact is a beloved tyrant who has replaced Stalin or Hoxha?

What would Kolakowski have said? Today we need the clarifying light from his lonely island more than ever - but the light has gone out.
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Poland honoring Ludwik Zamenhof, founder of Esperanto

"Zamenhof, who was Jewish, was born in Bialystok on December 15, 1859. At the time, the city was part of the Tsarist Russian empire, and the hub of an ethnically-diverse region inhabited by speakers of Polish, Yiddish, Belarussian and Russian. Zamenhof dreamed of a day when people would be able to communicate in a universal language free of political connotations and misunderstandings, fostering world peace."

Source: EJP and AFP

WARSAW (AFP)---The Polish home city of the 19th century founder of Esperanto is teaching the artificial language with panels in local buses to honour the 150th anniversary of his birth. Bialystok council announced it was paying homage to Ludwik Zamenhof by replacing on-board advertising with teach-yourself Esperanto panels providing vocabulary and basic phrases, Poland's PAP news agency reported.

The move in the northeastern city is part of preparations for an anniversary congress of Esperanto-speakers from around the globe, due to take place from July 25 to August 1.

Zamenhof, who was Jewish, was born in Bialystok on December 15, 1859. At the time, the city was part of the Tsarist Russian empire, and the hub of an ethnically-diverse region inhabited by speakers of Polish, Yiddish, Belarussian and Russian. Zamenhof dreamed of a day when people would be able to communicate in a universal language free of political connotations and misunderstandings, fostering world peace.

In his spare time, the ophthalmologist Zamenhof devised the easy-to-learn tongue in 1887 from elements of Romance, Germanic and Slavic languages and a slice of Latin and Greek grammar.
The language's name is derived from his writer's pseudonym Esperanto, a reference to the word "hope".

Zamenhof died in 1917 and was buried in Warsaw's Jewish cemetery.

Around two million people worldwide are estimated to speak Esperanto.

- Concert marks end of Polish Year events in Israel

Concert marks end of Polish Year events in Israel

"The Polish government and the Israeli Postal Company issued a common stamp, featuring the famous Polish Jewish freedom fighter Berek Joselewicz, who commanded the first Jewish military formation in modern history and was a colonel in the Polish army during the uprising of Poland against imperial Russia in the late 18th century."

JERUSALEM/WARSAW (EJP)---A Chopin and Gorecki concert performed by the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra last Sunday in Jerusalem marked the official end of the Polish Year in Israel.

During the past 14 months a multitude of cultural events, exhibitions, performances and various art projects were presented to the Israeli audience by Polish artists, often in concert with local Israeli talents.

The Polish Year in Israel was a venture of the Polish Ministry of Culture and the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, coordinated by the Warsaw-based Adam Mickiewicz Institute, which aims to promote Polish culture abroad.

While the institute promotes Polish culture worldwide, the yearlong event held in Israel was unprecedented in its magnitude, as the Polish government made a special effort to strengthen Poland’s ties with the people of Israel and to present them with a more wholesome view of Poland today.

The opening event, performed in April 2008, was a premiere production of 'Madame Butterfly' directed by Polish Mariusz Trelinski, conducted by Daniel Inbal of the Israeli Opera and performed by various local Israeli talents.

The opening events were attended by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The joint Israeli–Polish productions continued throughout the year featuring some notable names such as the Israeli Habima Drama Company, performing together with the Wspolczesny Theatre from Wroclaw.

The cultural events were enthusiastically received by the Israeli audience, with theatre and opera halls overcrowded with visitors during many of the shows.

To mark the end of the year of events, the Polish government and the Israeli Postal Company issued a common stamp, featuring the famous Polish Jewish freedom fighter Berek Joselewicz, who commanded the first Jewish military formation in modern history and was a colonel in the Polish army during the uprising of Poland against imperial Russia in the late 18th century.

The Sunday’s closing concert was attended by Poland’s first lady Maria Kaczynska.

Further cultural cooperation between Poland and Israel is still to come. Next week, the Biuro Podrozy Polish theatre company from Poznan will perform an extravagant production of 'Macbeth' at the first International Theatre Festival in Tel Aviv.

Source: article by Gigi Luz in EJP

- Polish Year in Israel is on!
- Drawing together - the first Israeli-Polish comic book
- Lublin's archbishop heralds new era of Polish openness to Jews (and Israel?)

Lublin's archbishop heralds new era of Polish openness to Jews (and Israel?)

"Archbishop of Lublin, Josef Zycinski, said this week ahead of a visit to Israel that there was a "new era" of Polish openness to Jews and defended controversial Holocaust-era Pope Pius XII as a "pragmatist."

"I would say that the situation has changed in free Poland," said the archbishop in a telephone interview from Lublin.

"In the late 1970s it was impossible to have access to the parts of Auschwitz that showed the enormity of the Jewish Holocaust," said Zycinski, who will participate Monday in a symposium entitled "Confronting a New Reality: The Polish Catholic Church, the Jews, and Israel."

"Poles were out of touch with the long Jewish history in Poland. But today a younger, more open generation of Poles is growing up with a more nuanced understanding of Jewish reality."

The symposium is being sponsored by The Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel (ICCI), The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, The Adam Mickiewicz Institute, The Polish Council of Christians and Jews, and Laboratorium Wiez in the framework of Polish Year in Israel 2008-2009.

Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland, will also take part.

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Zycinski, known for his willingness to confront the Polish role in helping the Nazis perpetrate the Holocaust, said that in September he organized a meeting with students from Berlin's Reform Abraham Geiger College and Catholics.

"For many it was the first time they had come across a Reform Jew. All they had known was the stereotype Orthodox Jew," he said.

Zycinski, unlike other Catholic Polish clergymen, has publicly accepted the Polish people's guilt for the massacre at Jebwadne, a village in eastern Poland, which was first revealed in 1999.

For instance, Polish Cardinal Josef Glemp, known for his anti-Semitic comments, said after attending a mass in honor of Jedwabne's Jews in 2001 that Poland's surviving Jews should apologize for having brought Communism to Poland.

However, Zycinski pointed out that ironically, Poles' anti-Communist sentiments pushed many to support Israel in the Six Day War at a time when the USSR was openly supporting Egypt and other Arab states. "As a student in Krakow I remember the strong pro-Israel sentiments which were really an expression of opposition to Communist rule," he recalled. (...)

Dr. Rabbi Ron Kronish, head of the ICCI, said that the symposium was important for three reasons: "Israel needs to better understand contemporary Poland and not remain mired in images of the past, no matter how traumatic they might be. And part of that understanding is getting rid of the preconceptions that all Poles are anti-Semites," said Kronish.

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"Also, Israelis need to understand that the Polish Catholic Church has undergone major changes of thinking about Jews and Judaism. People do not know this because they continue to live in the past.
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"Finally, Poland is making in effort within the framework of Polish-Israel Year to better understand that for a Polish Jew, Israel is central to the formation of his or her Jewish identity.""

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Source: article by Matthew Wagner, TJP

Professor Bronislaw Geremek: In Memoriam

Bronislaw Geremek will also be remembered for having been one of a few European law-makers who had the courage to oppose (sadly without success) an anti-Israel conference held in the precincts of the European Parliament in 2007 under the auspices of a UN committee for Palestinian rights (see here and here).

Tribute by David A. Harris, Executive Director, American Jewish Committee (AJC), National Endowment for Democracy
Washington, D.C., September 11, 2008

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"Moral strength. Physical courage.
Integrity. Principle. Vision.
Statesmanship. Determination. Optimism.
Erudition. Wisdom. Wit.
Decency. Humility. Empathy.
These are the first words that come to mind when thinking of my friend, the late and beloved Bronislaw Geremek.
As a son of Holocaust survivors, I’ve always admired greatly those who not only somehow managed to survive the Shoah, but also managed, perhaps against all the odds, to find faith in humankind after the darkness that descended.
Professor Geremek was one such survivor. He emerged from the inferno, summoned the strength to put one foot in front of the other, and relearned the meaning of a more hopeful future.
As a child of the Cold War, I’ve always admired those who, at incalculable risk to themselves, challenged their oppressors behind the Iron Curtain and ultimately exposed the bankruptcy of the system.
Professor Geremek was a giant, one of those intrepid figures who toppled a seemingly indestructible structure built on what I would call the four tyrannies—repression, fear, deceit, and corruption.
As a beneficiary of democracy, I’ve always admired those who, denied it, stood tall in its pursuit and paid a heavy price for its achievement.
Professor Geremek, in his enviable diplomatic style, was central to achieving, in the words of The Economist, the "communist surrender," and restoring Poland to its rightful place in the family of nations that cherish human freedom, human dignity, and human rights.
As an unabashed fan of the European Union, undoubtedly the most ambitious and successful peace project in modern history, I’ve always admired those who fought to make it a reality—and those who saw clearly the future in their countries’ accession to the European project.
Professor Geremek helped plant the seeds for Poland’s eventual membership in the European Union and, later, as a Member of the European Parliament, where I last saw him, he spoke of a mission half accomplished—Europe was created, he famously said, but Europeans were still in the making. He was working on it until his untimely death!
As a firm believer in the transatlantic alliance, I’ve always admired those who recognize that this unique partnership was and, I should underscore, is vital for global stability and the defense of shared values.
Professor Geremek was Poland’s distinguished foreign minister when his country, in 1999, proudly joined NATO, quickly becoming one of its most committed members.
Like the other speakers—and I am honored to be in their company—I could go on at length describing the traits of this remarkable man who all of us gathered here at the National Endowment for Democracy so deeply admired.
Suffice it to say that Professor Geremek, early in life, became a witness to history, then, literally, its prisoner—first under the Nazis, later the Communists. He lived, remarkably, to become an author of history.
No, I don’t mean an author about history, though, to be sure, he was that as well—and, to boot, with his trademark beard, pipe, and tweed jacket, he came straight from central casting.
I mean an author of history, a title that precious few can legitimately claim. An author of the single most important historical event of the past sixty years—the end of the Soviet empire.
What an extraordinary man!
What an extraordinary life!
What an extraordinary legacy!
What an extraordinary loss that he was taken away from us—and from all that he yet planned to do, drawing upon his inexhaustible fount of energy and creativity—too soon!
May his memory, as we say in the Jewish tradition, forever be a blessing.
May his righteousness and steadfastness be sources of inspiration for all who believe in the indivisible rights of man.
And may we cherish the example, on this very special anniversary, September 11, and every day, of those brave few—who unflinchingly faced the tyrants, who stood unbent and unbowed in the long and difficult struggle, and who emerged triumphant to create a new dawn."

Anti-Semitic T-shirt on sale in Paris shop

The EJP reports:

"A sleeveless t-shirt with anti-Semitic inscriptions was found on sale in a northern Paris shop last weekend.

The inscriptions on the t-shirt read in German "Juden Eintritt in die parkanlagen verboten" (No Entry for Jews in the Park) and in Polish "Zydome wstep do parku wzbroniony," reproducing a ban to Jews in the Lodz ghetto in 1940.

It was found and bought for 18 euros last weekend in Belleville, in Paris's 19th district, by the French National Bureau of Vigilance against anti-Semitism (BNVCA), a group monitoring anti-Semitic incidents in France.

An AFP reporter found five of the grey, sleeveless woollen tops -- labelled with the brand "Introfancy IF" -- on sale early Tuesday, but when he returned shortly afterwards they had been withdrawn.

The sales assistant said they had just been bought by a single customer.

She added that she did not know the meaning of the inscriptions."

Drawing together - the first Israeli-Polish comic book

Article by Asi Gal in The Jerusalem Post:
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If you didn't know, 2008-2009 is Israel-Poland year. One of the many events taking place in this framework is the launching of Polisra, the first Israeli-Polish comic book - to be featured at an exhibition at Holon's Israeli Cartoon Museum and at the Tel Aviv comic books festival. The Polish Mickiewicz Institute, which initiated the book, hopes it will be a channel in creating dialogue on topics considered taboo in the two nations' histories.
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On the Polish end of things, the obvious taboo is that period that began in the late 30s - and the never fully resolved questions of complicity with the Nazis.
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"Polish people feel a lot of hatred from Israelis visiting Poland," says Amitai Sandy, publisher, art director and editor of the comic book. Sandy, along with four other Israeli comics writers, including Ze'ev Engelmayer and Noa Abarbanel, worked with five Polish comics writers [Krzysztof Ostrowski, Michał "Śledziu" Śledziński, Joanna Karpowicz, Łukasz Mieszkowski and Jakub Szczęsny].
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"When Israelis come to visit the camps, they always have security around them and are not allowed to talk with the Poles." The Poles, he says, "feel that all Israelis view them as anti-Semites."
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For their part, he asserts, many Poles "view Israelis as militant extremists who have brought Russians to Israel to use as war machines against Arabs."
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Sandy views Polisra as an opportunity to deal with history and the stereotypes connected to it. One story in the book, for instance, portrays a Polish woman who buys a picture of a Jew counting money for her new house. According to Polish tradition, such a picture brings prosperity to a new home. When no such prosperity arrives, the woman complains of the picture's failure to the salesman. The next frame depicts the salesman in his villa, surrounded by such pictures, exclaiming that, "It works for me!"
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"Humor is a great method to examine our values. It takes a situation, flips it upside down, and gives the viewer a whole new perspective on it," Sandy says.
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Regarding the potential offense viewers might experience from the application of humor to these most controversial of topics, he states: "There is always the fear that people will get hurt. However, after exhibiting my anti-Semitic caricatures" - Sandy participated in an Israeli anti-Semitic cartoon contest two years ago open to Jews only, in an intended ironic riposte to Iran's official international Holocaust cartoon competition - "I have learned that there are enough people out there who can take a joke.""
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