Haiti

Two days ago I got invited to a live taping of a fundraising telethon for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. As I sat in the somber audience in a Berlin TV studio, I watched more footage of the disaster, heard more stories of survivors and people who lost family members and heard more politicians and celebrities asking for donations and assuring us that all that CAN be done IS being done to help Haiti in the aftermath of this disaster. But the most common thing we kept hearing over and over, just as it has been repeated in the news over and over, was: “This disaster hit one of the poorest nations in the world. In fact, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.” Yes, it’s true. Haiti is a very poor country. But the one thing we never hear about in the mainstream media is: Why? Why is Haiti so poor? What’s going on in this country that makes it so goddamn poor?

The only people so far, who have tried to tackle this question and get to the root of the problem are our great contemporary intellectual leaders such as Pat Robertson: “They made a pact with the devil” or David Brooks of the NYT: “ Haiti suffers from a complex web of progress-resistant cultural influences.”. There you have it. Easy. Way to explain the world. It’s in their DNA to be poor. Or maybe it’s their religion. Yes that’s it. If only they could find a way to be white Christians they wouldn’t be poor. But as usual things are not that simple and while the media reports in detail about these moronic utterings, it once again has managed to fail its audience in providing meaningful background information and context.

Haiti is poor not because of Voodoo, not because of it’s culture or it’s so called pact with the devil. No. Haiti is poor because of its history. Like many other former colonies, Haiti struggled for years with foreign occupation, slavery and atrocities against its indigenous and slave population. In 1804 the nation became the first independent ex-colony in the world, only to remain unrecognized by the international community, in particular the United States and France. Embargos followed suit resulting in Haiti having to pay “reparations” to France for “loss of property.” Or in English: loss of slaves.  Then, not happy about a nation of freed slaves so close to home, the US decided to invade and occupy Haiti from 1913 to 1935, during which time it created laws that allowed American corporations to infiltrate and dominate the island’s economy. For the remainder of the century Haiti then suffered from dictatorships, coup d’etats, sponsored by the CIA, and crippling economic reforms imposed by the IMF and the US neoliberal crusaders who had a grip on most of Latin America and the Caribbean. An increase in land grabbing, privatization and control of the financial sector worsened Haiti’s economic stability drastically. Cheap American imports eradicated the local agricultural sector leading to more poverty and more unemployment. This coupled with mounting debts to international financial institutions like the IMF led to an even further economic downturn, similar to Jamaica and other Caribbean islands.

None of this has been talked about in the media during this past week. Haiti is just poor. Period. Obviously we can’t control earthquakes or tsunamis and we can’t decide where they hit, but if we want to stop the extent of these sort of disasters we need to make sure that the policies that led to this immense poverty, will be replaced by policies that are actually beneficial for the people on the ground. But of course, historical context doesn’t make for a very sexy news story, so we don’t hear about the root of the problem.  And the less we hear about it and talk about it the easier it is to fall back into old patterns.

Already we see “gracious offers” by major corporations to help and rebuild Haiti’s economy. But who makes sure that what they are rebuilding is in fact beneficial for Haitians? After the Tsunami hit Thailand and Indonesia a similar thing happened. Naomi Klein calls this disaster capitalism. Land that used to belong to local fishermen was bought up after their villages were destroyed. Resorts were built and “jobs were created”. They will tell you that this is good for the local economy. And it is. For the short term. But in the long run it will only perpetuate poverty and dependence on foreign investors. This cycle of destructive economic policies needs to end and it is our job to make it so. We can’t rely on our politicians to act the way they should and we can’t rely on our mainstream media to inform us the way they should. So it’s up to us to stay informed, pay attention and demand from our leaders and from our media to do what’s right.

Because I can’t help myself…..

The one year anniversary of Operation Cast Lead, the invasion of Gaza by the Israeli Defense Forces is coming up (Dec. 27th) and so I felt compelled to write about Israel today. I know, it’s a contentious topic. But that’s exactly why I want to write about it.

Recently, Ilan Pappe, an Israeli historian who is a critic of his country’s politics and policies, was not allowed to speak at an event at the Pedagogical Institute of Munich. The mayor of Munich caved under pressure from the “Israeli-German association of Munich” and uninvited Mr. Pappe, citing fears of violent clashes. In a nation that prides itself on its liberal constitution and its freedom of speech, I find this outrageous but sadly, when it comes to Israel, it is the reality here in Germany, as it is the reality in the States as well, for very different reasons. Criticizing Israel is still very much taboo in both countries.

Every time I have a discussion with someone about the subject who doesn’t agree with my opinion, it usually takes only a few minutes before I get accused of being Anti-Israel, which more often than not is code for being Anti-Semitic. Being German only makes these situations more awkward. But the truth is and this is what this post is about, criticizing Israel’s occupation policies and it’s creation of an Apartheid-like state is neither being anti-Israel, nor being anti-semitic. What it is, is being PRO-Human Rights and ANTI-Zionist. Unfortunately many people still blur the line between Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism, pretending that it is the exact same thing, when it is not the same at all. This blurring needs to end because it doesn’t allow for a free and fair discussion on the subject, which of course is exactly the point. Silencing the opponent by accusing him of the one thing no one wants to be accused of.

While I’m still learning more and more about the underlying reasons for this taboo in the US, I understand the historical reasons here in Germany all to well. Not for nothing are German school children drilled on the horrors of the holocaust. Never again. Never again. I know what my people did, I know what my grandparents were involved in. It is not excusable and it never will be. And we are reminded of that every day.  In fact you can’t walk 10 meters in Berlin without running into a holocaust memorial site. Many people argue that it’s enough already with the guilt and that Germany should move on. But I support it. I think it’s fantastic. In fact, I am not patriotic or nationalistic in any shape or form (with the exception of the football world cup of course) but I am proud of Germany for this. I am proud of the fact that Germany has fully embraced its past. It is one of the few, if not the only, country in the world that has not only admitted its wrong doings but has taken full responsibility for them. And this responsibility includes reminding its people of their nation’s history, reminding them of what human beings are capable of and that what happened then shall never happen again. And I strongly believe that only with this knowledge and this awareness can you create a society in which accepting the other is even possible. It’s hard for a country to carry this kind of guilt and many Germans have suffered from it in various ways, but it is absolutely necessary if you want to develop as a nation, or as a human being.

So I think Germany has done a good job at accepting its past. Now it has to do a better job at actually applying the lessons learned. Because all our days of remembrance and all our holocaust memorial sites are not only supposed to remind us of the past, they are also supposed to teach us something about the present and the future. They are supposed to teach us to speak up when we see wrong doing, to interfere if we can when we witness injustice. They are supposed to teach us that we should never again allow the oppression of others, the killing of innocent civilians, the separation of families, the discrimination of others due to race, ethnicity or religion.

And yet this is exactly what many Germans, including the mayor of Munich, do NOT do,  when it comes to Israel. Somehow we have no problem condemning illegal occupations, human rights violations, or nations’ pursuit of nuclear weapons. Yet when it comes to Israel we close our eyes. We hold Israel to different standards, because we are afraid. But if we really want to support Israel and its citizens then this double standard needs to stop.  It is NOT anti-semitic to speak out against Israel, when it blatantly and repeatedly breaks international law or oppresses and humiliates an entire population. It is not anti-semitic to speak out against the building of an illegal wall, twice the height of the Berlin wall and three times its length. And it is not anti-semitic to speak out against the building of more and more settlements, essentially rendering the West Bank into a peace of Swiss Cheese with almost no way of getting from one “hole” to the other if you happen to be Palestinian. It is not Anti-Semitic and it is not Anti-Israel. If anything, speaking out against this injustice is exactly the lesson we were supposed to take away from our history.

When the world said Never Again it didn’t mean never again shall this happen to the Jews. It meant never again shall this happen to anyone. Anywhere. Period.

America The Beautiful….

I think all of us who live or used to live in the U.S. for a long time know this feeling. You are watching the news, reading the paper or surfing the net and you can’t believe the stupidity of some people you see. You can’t believe the tea party folks that compare Obama to Stalin or Hitler because he wants to give people health care; the people who are quick to use words like fascism and socialism in one sentence, without having a clue what they mean; people who have clearly never read any book besides the bible; so-called journalists like Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck and their “fair and balanced” hate speech; people who pick up arms to free their beloved country of gays, illegal immigrants or abortion doctors. You are appalled by the track record of U.S. foreign policy and you can’t believe that your country has voted George Bush into office. Twice. And let’s not even talk about Miss ex-governor, now civilian activist for the advancement of illogical sentence structure, Sarah Palin.

I know. I can’t believe it either. And yet I find myself defending the States more and more ever since I moved back to Europe. And I tell you why.

Ever since my return to good old Europe I have met many people who dislike, maybe even hate, the United States. Interestingly it’s usually self-proclaimed intellectuals or academics who express this view. Most of them have either never been to the States at all or have visited for a few days or weeks. In fact many of the people who are most outspoken about their hatred often say “I’d never set foot in that country”. When I inquire about the reasons for their hatred I usually get all the arguments mentioned above: Illegal wars, narrow mindedness, fundamentalism, ignorance, imperialism, etc. …

And while I am equally critical of many things American, I get increasingly frustrated with these US haters, because they describe only one part of the America I know. They leave out the other part. The part that I love. And they leave it out because they don’t know it. Because “they would never set foot in that country.”  So I’ve taken it upon myself to educate them.

The part of America I talk about includes people like my friends, my co-workers, my professors, my co-students, authors, writers, artists, activists, and so many others, who are amongst the smartest, most educated, intelligent and engaged people I have ever met. People who are very much aware of the flaws and short comings of their country and their society and who fight every day for a better America. People who take to the streets when they are upset with policy decisions, who encourage others to think for themselves, ask questions and be critical, who don’t shut up when they disagree with something and who create meaningful art, films and music way beyond the mainstream commercial bubble gum products that people abroad associate America with.

So I find myself defending my second home because America is a multi-faceted place like every other place in the world. It has many flaws but just as many things to offer. No doubt there’s a long way to go before Americans will truly live in a nation with liberty and justice for all, but we are doing no better over here in Europe. And as long as you don’t understand that no one is perfect and that societies are diverse, as long as you make blanket statements not only about the States, but about any nation, people, society, or culture in the world, you are no better than the gun waving, bible loving, Bush voter, that you claim to hate so much.