“Israelis flock to Berlin for better life” — Al Jazeera’s reports on the braindrain out of Israel, and says 15,000-30,000 Israelis have moved to the former epicenter of Nazism (the Israeli government estimate is the low end). The piece says that 70 percent of Israelis still cannot forgive Germany the crimes of the Holocaust, but the Jewish past is still evident in Berlin, and one of the young Israelis says, “Come on, it’s behind us.”
Reporter Victoria Schneider also mentions the occupation as a motivator, and says that some have come to Berlin for the “multicultural vibe.” Gee, who’d have thought that a multicultural society in which everyone has equal rights is a goal, and not an ethnocracy?
When they arrived in Germany in early December, their flat was waiting for them. Noa Golan, a slim 29-year-old with dark hair, had found the ground floor flat in an old building in one of Berlin’s hippest quarters, Neukölln, which is known for its tatty and multicultural vibe….
Lev, who worked as a human rights lawyer for Yesh Din, an Israeli NGO that files petitions against illegal construction by settlers on privately owned Palestinian land, says: “It came to a point where I just felt I had to leave. It’s the way people in Israel treat you; some called me a traitor.” The 35-year-old says he was worried he might be followed or photographed. “If you oppose, the society pushes you aside.”
Berlin has the space to breathe. “I felt Israel was very narrow,” says Maayan Iungman. The actress, model and director moved from Tel Aviv just before her 30th birthday, less than a year ago.
Being abroad made her realise many things: “People here don’t have this stress like we do. Israel is not bad – that’s not what I am saying. But the reality is hard, in a quiet way. It’s hard to make a living. There’s the occupation, the army, the religion. The society teaches you that this is the only place for you and you’re not welcome in other places. It’s a country that is occupying another country and it makes its own people crazy. And I am not even talking about the Palestinian people.”
There are an estimated 700,000 Israelis now living abroad (and, of course, many vocal American Zionists, including Peter Beinart and Jeffrey Goldberg, choose not to live in the Jewish state, I imagine because they like the multicultural vibe here, and because they’d prefer to unfold their career ambitions here; well, doesn’t that tell you something?).
Young Israeli Jews flock to Hitler’s old stronghold Berlin for multi-cultural experience, and young American Jews join IDF for Zionazi experience. And then some American Jews return to live in USA and peddle Zionism, thus have their cake and eat it too–neat studies in character, such ilk. What’s worse than a simple traitor? One with lots of influence and power in the chattering class. Like Jeff Goldberg. What a portrait of the American ruling class, eh? Beiden at AIPAC last did not say anything about what his Daddy might have thought about contemporary Israel, did he? US congress and WH are for sale to highest bidder. Israel-Firsters have an advantage in that they have tons of Zionist money behind them and a single agenda to horse trade. The other plus, the fact that America today is maintained by war mongering (along with the US dollar as world reserve currency–why the 1% hate Iran that is not strictly due to AIPAC et al).
Non-Zionist Israelis are welcome. The others not so much.
From Haaretz:
Asked “is it time to forgive the German people and Germany for crimes committed in the Holocaust,” some 51 percent said they totally disagreed with the sentiment. Nineteen percent disagreed somewhat. Only 23 percent were willing to forgive, and 7 percent had no opinion.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/poll-israeli-jews-still-don-t-forgive-germany-for-the-holocaust-1.326030
That’s a really strange question. We are different German people in a different German state. Therefore, we and our state haven’t done anything to the Jews that requires forgiveness. The question should be: “Will the Palestinians forgive Germany for its silence and cowardice regarding Zionist crimes?”
“The society teaches you that this is the only place for you and you’re not welcome in other places. It’s a country that is occupying another country and it makes its own people crazy. And I am not even talking about the Palestinian people.”
A friend of my mother used to rent his home to Israeli tourists here in Norway when he went away on summer vacations.
The Israeli tourists was always insisting that he show them all and EVERYTHING in the house. They looked everywhere for bombs.
But the thing that they asked most questions about was the cast iron door at the bottom of the chimney.
Do they have rubber doors at the bottoms of chimneys in israel?
I feel very sorry for people that are so afraid, but i do not understand how they can not understand why people are afraid of them when they steal land and hate the people they steal land from…
“It’s a country that is occupying another country and it makes its own people crazy”
They are not only occupying another country, they refuse to call that country a country and the people a people.
another major contributation to the emigration of israelis (yerida) to other countries is the high cost of living in israel.
Haaretz 15/12/12
Bye, the beloved country – why almost 40 percent of Israelis are thinking of emigrating
According to a new survey, more than a third of Israelis would leave the country if they could, citing economic opportunities as the main reason.
considering that israel has the world largest imigration industry this most be very worrisome.