German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s laid a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem on Thursday as her first stop on multi-day tour of the Middle East. Speaking at the memorial site for the 6 million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany during World War II, Baerbock said it is the “unconditional obligation” of the younger generation to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive, especially as there “are fewer and fewer contemporary witnesses among us.” “It is our responsibility to raise our voices against antisemitism, against hatred and agitation, against exclusion and violence, so that such a crime against humanity is never repeated,” she said. “Yad Vashem reminds us to hear the voice of those who experienced the horror themselves and to pass on their words,” she then wrote in the site’s guestbook. “As the mother of two daughters, I struggle to breathe thinking about themillions of children who were murdered.” Before leaving for Israel, Baerbock said Germany will stand by its “special historical responsibility” for Israel’s security and will “continue to make contributions in solidarity for this.” The Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem in Jerusalem was first on the agenda for Germany’s top diplomat
What else is on Baerbock’s agenda?
The multi-day tour is Baerbock’s first visit to the Middle East since becoming German foreign minister in December. Later Thursday, Baerbock is due to meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and President Isaac Herzog “The new German government is not letting up in its commitment to peace and security for the people in the region. We are convinced that that inseparably includes the protection of human rights,” Baerbock said in a statement Wednesday. According to the German Foreign Ministry, the Middle East peace process will be a priority in Baerbock’s talks with regional leaders. “Even if the Middle East conflict seems like a crisis that has always existed for many, we cannot accept it as the status quo,” she said. Baerbock is also set to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Foreign Minister Riad Malki in Ramallah in the West Bank. On Thursday evening, Baerbock will travel from Israel to Jordan before then heading to Egypt for talks on Saturday.
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Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence
Long-held hope is victorious
On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, future first prime minister of Israel, declares the state’s independence, outlining the Jewish story: “The people kept faith with (the land) throughout their dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.” It was the birth of an internationally recognized Jewish homeland.
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Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence
The darkest hour
While the controversial idea of a God-given land for Jews has biblical roots, the Holocaust was a close, powerful backdrop for the significance of Israel’s founding. Nazi Germany murdered six million Jews across Europe, and those who survived the concentration camps endured expulsion and forced labor. The above photo shows survivors of the Auschwitz camp following liberation.
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Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence
‘Nakba’: Arabic for ‘catastrophe’
Directly after Israel’s founding, it was attacked by troops from Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq – among others. Israel pushed back and expanded its control over 77% of Palestinian territory. Some 700,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes. “Nakba” is what Palestinians call this event. The war encapsulated the still unresolved Mideast conflict sparked in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration.
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Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence
Life on a kibbutz
These land collectives, known as kibbutzim in the plural, were established across Israel following independence. Many were run by secular or socialist Jews in an effort to realize their vision of society.
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Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence
A state at war
Tensions with its Arab neighbors erupted in the Six-Day War in June 1967. With a surprise attack, Israel is able to swiftly defeat Egypt, Jordan and Syria, bringing the Arab-populated areas of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights under Israeli control. Victory leads to occupation — and more tension and conflict.
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Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence
Settlements on disputed territory
Israel’s settlement policy worsens the conflict with Palestinians. Due to development and expansion of Jewish areas on occupied Palestinian land, the Palestinian Authority accuses Israel of making a future Palestinian state untenable. Israel has largely ignored the international community’s criticism of its settlement policy, arguing new construction is either legal or necessary for security.
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Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence
Anger, hate and stones: The first intifada
In winter 1987, Palestinians begin mass protests of Israel’s ongoing occupation. Unrest spreads from Gaza to East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The uprising eventually wound down and led to the 1993 Oslo Accords — the first face-to-face agreement between the government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the representative body of the Palestinian people.
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Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence
Peace at last?
With former US President Bill Clinton as a mediator, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left) and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat hold peace talks. The result, the Oslo I Accord, is each side’s recognition of the other. The agreement leads many to hope that an end to the Israel-Palestine conflict is not far off, but peace initiatives suffer a major setback when Rabin is assassinated two years later.
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Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence
A void to fill
A right-wing Jewish fanatic shoots and kills Rabin on November 4, 1995, while he is leaving a peace rally in Tel Aviv. Rabin’s assassination throws the spotlight on Israel’s internal social strife. The divide is growing between centrist and extremist, secular and religious. The photo shows Israel’s then-acting prime minister, Shimon Peres, next to the empty chair of his murdered colleague.
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Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence
Addressing the unspeakable
Nazi Germany’s mass murder of Jews weighs on German-Israeli relations to this day. In February 2000, Germany’s then-President Johannes Rau addresses the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in German. It is a tremendous emotional challenge for both sides, especially for Holocaust survivors and their descendants, but also a step towards closer relations after unforgettable crimes.
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Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence
The Israeli wall
In 2002, amid the violence and terror of the Second Intifada, Israel starts building a 107-kilometer-long (67-mile-long) barrier of barbed wire, concrete wall and guard towers between itself and Palestinian areas of the West Bank. It suppresses the violence but does not solve the larger political conflict. The wall grows in length over the years and is projected to reach around 700 kilometers.
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Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence
A gesture to the dead
Germany’s current foreign minister, Heiko Maas, steps decisively into an ever closer German-Israeli relationship. His first trip abroad as the country’s top diplomat is to Israel in March 2018. At the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem, he lays a wreath in memory of Holocaust victims. Author: Kersten Knipp
wmr/rt (dpa,KNA)