A Newsletter on American Jewish – German Relations

dubowdigest@optonline.net

GERMANY EDITION

January 21, 2010

Dear Friends:

I can think of no recent single happening that has done more to enhance Jewish
– German relations than the joint meeting that took place between the cabinets of
Germany and Israel. While the primary purpose(s) of the Berlin meeting had
nothing to do with the opinion that American Jews have about Germany, the bi-
product of the get together is a reassurance that Israel and Germany have a
close cooperative relationship.

I know that the meeting was fully reported on in the German media so there is no
reason for me to repeat the details here. However, two items were stressed in
the Jewish press which bear some commentary.

First, Chancellor Merkel’s statement supporting strong sanctions against Iran’s

nuclear weapons development were welcomed because, in essence, it
acknowledged the precarious state Israel would find itself if, indeed, Iran was
able to develop a bomb.

Second, the seeming willingness of Germany to supply Israel with submarines

that might carry deterrent nuclear weapons provides more needed security the
Jewish nation.

Both these items plus the obvious warmth of the welcome the Israelis received
go a long way in cementing what we think is a very important relationship – not
only government to government but, perhaps more important, people to people.

IN THIS EDITION

AMERICAN POLITICS – Are there any international ramifications from the

election of a Republican to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, a Democratic

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stronghold? You bet there is!

NEW MIDDLE EAST PEACE MOVES? - Is the Obama Administration planning

new peace moves in the Israel – Arab dispute? Will they be able to get anything
done?

SARAH PALIN & THE JEWS – Where does the Jewish community stand with
former Vice Presidential (and, perhaps, 2012 Presidential) candidate? Two
conservatives verbally battle it out.

ISRAEL’S FAULT? Are all the many Middle East problems caused by the failure
to reach an Arab – Israel peace settlement? David Harris doesn’t think so.

DEATH OF A GREAT FRIEND – They just don’t make them like Ernst Cramer
anymore.

AMERICAN POLITICS

The election of a Republican to the U.S. Senate in removes Pres. Obama’s 60

vote anti-filibuster shield and will allow the Republicans to hold back or defeat
much of the Democratic legislation that the President has been pushing in the
last year. There is no question that it makes him weaker and less able to market
and pass those items such as health care and “cap & trade” environmental
legislation.

In all likelihood it will not affect direct U.S. – European relations. However, there
may be more of an impact on U.S. – Israeli relations. The Netanyahu government
has many more champions on the right than the left and the 10 month settlement
freeze is due to end just before the U.S. national elections (roughly one third of
the Senate and all of the House of Representatives). Will Pres. Obama be able to
pressure Israel the way he might have if he was in a stronger position? No one
knows yet but I doubt it. In any case, the election is still 10 months away and a lot
can happen in that period of time. Stay tuned. Meanwhile…

NEW MIDDLE EAST PEACE MOVES?

There have been times in my life when I thought things would happen (to my way
of thinking) in a certain proscribed way. When they didn’t I was disappointed. I
have been saying for some time that I thought the Middle East peace process
was, at least for now, “dead in the water”. Events might prove me wrong. And, if
that turns out to be the case, well, I’ll delight in my own error of judgment!

If you keep your ear to the ground or your eye on the Internet you will hear and
see rumblings about a renewed peace process coming out of Washington. It
seems that the Obama Administration is not backing away from engaging itself in

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the Israel – Palestinian issue (as I thought they would) but gearing up another
effort to (somehow) bring the two parties back to the bargaining table.

According to The Jewish Week, “The Obama administration is set to open a new
chapter in Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy with a shift to quiet, below-the-radar
negotiations and a new diplomatic juggling act for special envoy George Mitchell.

Despite some press reports, Washington is unlikely to ratchet up pressure on

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or spell out detailed U.S. positions on
critical issues like borders and the status of Jewish settlement blocks. Instead,
according to analysts with access to top officials here and in Jerusalem, Mitchell
will use a variant of shuttle diplomacy to create an umbrella for direct talks
between the two sides.

“We are nearing the reconvening of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks,” said Yossi
Alpher, a veteran Israeli analyst. “Mitchell is working behind the scenes on
formulations, the Egyptians are very active, and Bibi (Netanyahu’s nickname) is
cooperating. Eventually [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas] will come
around.”

But that will be just the start of a process likely to be as difficult and contentious
as previous, more public rounds of talks.

Despite those difficulties, there is a growing sense in Washington that the

Obama administration — chastened by its early misstep on settlements and its
premature promises of quick progress in restarting stalled negotiations, and with
new concerns about terrorism dominating the agenda — is crafting a low-key,
pragmatic plan that limits expectations, rejects dramatic public events and takes
into account the political dilemmas faced by both Netanyahu and Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas.

This week National security Adviser Jim Jones is heading back to the region for
meetings with top Israeli and Palestinian officials. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton is reportedly intensifying talks with Egyptian and Jordanian officials about
the expected new round of diplomacy.

The Jewish Week story is much more comprehensive. If you would like to read it
click here.
http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c40_a17660/News/Israel.html

I hope I’m dead wrong about my earlier predictions. However, even if both sides
are pressured to sit down together how does one factor in Hamas and Gaza? It
seems that the problem of there being two Palestinian entities has to be bridged
before anything real can happen. But, I guess you have to start somewhere and
Pres. Obama and George Mitchell are about to seek out a starting place. One
can only wish them the best of luck. However, according to Ha’aretz it doesn’t

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look as if Sen. Mitchell has much of a game plan to start off with. Click here to
read their story. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142949.html

While I was getting my hope up that something in the way of peace might get
started I came across an opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post written by
Mordechai Kedar, a lecturer in the Department of Arabic and a research
associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Bar-Ilan University
entitled, Negotiations? No Thanks. To a large extent he dashed my hopes
because I fear that his point of view which indicates that neither side is ready for
negotiations smacks of the truth. Read it and make up your own mind. Click here.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1263147923090&pagename=JPost
%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

My former AJC colleague Yossi Alpher who is coeditor of the bitterlemons family
of internet publications and former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic
Studies at Tel Aviv University offers another rather negative point of view about
the possibilities of any immediate success. However, he offers some hope for the
future. Read what he has to say. Click here.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1263147931767&pagename=JPost
%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

SARAH PALIN & THE JEWS

DuBow Digest is strictly a non-partisan publication. It trumpets no political party

nor attacks politicians that its editor personally doesn’t like – even the ones who
deserve to be attacked. However, when a public verbal shooting match between
Jewish writers over a particular politician takes place over how he or she relates
to the Jewish community, my journalistic sense tells me I should, at least, report
on it. In this instance the verbal fisticuffs took place over former Republican Vice
Presidential candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and it wasn’t liberal vs.
conservative. It was, strangely, conservative vs. conservative.

JTA recently reported on a spat between Jennifer Rubin, who generally blogs
and writes for Commentary about the perceived dangers of the Obama
administration, has a story in this month’s issue headlined “Why Jews Hate
Sarah Palin.” The piece drew a swift rejoinder from former Bush administration
aide David Frum, who rejected Rubin’s sympathetic take on the GOP
presidential hopeful and argued that Jews would hardly be alone in not liking
Palin.
The debate echoes wider fights among Republicans and conservatives, not only
about Palin but also the future of the GOP. one were to invent a political leader
designed to drive liberal, largely secular, urban, highly educated Jews to
distraction, one would be hard pressed to come up with a more effective figure
than Palin,” Rubin wrote in her Commentary article. Jews more than any other
group, she asserted, fall in the camp of liberals and conservatives who see Palin

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as “uncouth, unschooled, a hick, anti-science and anti-intellectual, an upstart,
and a religious fanatic.”

Rubin also theorized that Palin’s personal life made her “alien to American
Jews,” whether it’s her interest in hunting and guns or her decision to have five
children and go through with her final pregnancy after learning that she was
having a baby with Down syndrome. In addition, Rubin argued, Palin’s being
viewed as “more sexy and athletic” didn’t sit well with Jewish women, who have
grown accustomed to admiring female politicians who are “modest to the point of
frumpiness in appearance and professional style.”

Frum, who served as a White House speechwriter and had been widely credited
for helping to coin the term “axis of evil,” responded with a blog post challenging
Rubin on several fronts, starting with the premise that Jews stand out in their
dislike for Palin. “The sole evidence she cites on behalf of her assertion [that
Jews hate Palin] is a September 2008 poll in which Jews disapproved of Palin by
a 54-37 margin. That does not look like foaming hatred to me, and anyway those
numbers are now 15 months out of date,” Frum wrote in a blog post on his Web
site, Frum Forum. “Besides: Lots of people dislike Sarah Palin. Palin excites
intense support among a core group of conservative Republicans. Beyond that
base, she is one of the most unpopular figures in modern American life. She
polls poorly among the young, among women, among independents. A plurality
even of Republican women regard her as unqualified for the presidency.”
Frum also noted that Jews have been fond of politicians with larger families than
Palin’s (Bobby Kennedy) and ones from humbler beginnings (Bill Clinton). He
did, however, say that a major problem for Palin among Jews is “that they -- we
-- doubt her intellectual capacity for the job.”

But Palin’s biggest problem in winning Jewish support, Frum speculated, is that
she divides “her fellow-Americans into first class and second class citizens, real
Americans and not-so-real Americans.”

“To do her justice, she has never said anything to suggest that Jews as Jews fall
into the second, less-real, class,” Frum added. “But Jews do tend to have an
intuition that when this sort of line-drawing is done, we are likely to find ourselves
on the wrong side.”

Palin’s defenders, including Rubin, say that the Alaskan politician has only
defended herself against unfair attacks from liberal and coastal elites.
Still, Rubin said in the conclusion of her article, Palin needs to take several steps
if she hoped to expand her base and make inroads into the Jewish community.
Palin’s staunch support for Israel is a major plus but, Rubin wrote, she “must
accept the obligation to speak with authority and command about pressing
public-policy issues. She will have to make voters comfortable with the idea that
she is neither ignorant nor lacking in intellectual agility.”

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Rubin concluded that Palin must not only castigate her elitist critics, but “must
also demonstrate that she can go toe-to-toe with them in articulating positions on
the issues that all candidates are expected to address.”

It is normal in American politics for a losing Vice Presidential candidate to do

anything other than to go back to doing what they were doing before the election
and to recede from the minds of the public. This does not seem to be the case
with former Gov. Palin. She has co-authored a book which is a best seller and
has just taken on a job as a political commentator on the Fox Network which will
give her more visibility than ever before. As we say in the States, “She a player!”

Frankly, the Jewish vote is not all that important. Jews are only about 2% of the
population but the community does have some influence and is active in the
fundraising for both political parties. Will we see a President Palin and will the
Jews support and vote for her? Stay tuned.

ISRAEL’S FAULT?

David Harris, AJC’s Executive Director and a frequent commentator on the

Middle East, in an article published in the Huffington Post discusses destabilizing
factors in that region. He wonders why so many political leaders say that there
can be no peace without a solution to the Israel - Palestinian problem when so
many other more pressing problems that have nothing at all to do that particular
issue get no or little attention at all.

David notes, “In reality, the destabilizing factors in the Middle East run far deeper
than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Strikingly, while most Western political
leaders mince their words, the courageous Arab authors of the annual Arab
Human Development Report have not. They have spoken of three overarching
explanatory factors for the region's unsatisfactory condition: the knowledge
deficit, the gender deficit and the freedom deficit.

Unless these three areas are addressed in a sustained manner, the Middle East,
which ought to be one of the world's most dynamic regions, is likely to continue
suffering from instability, violence and fundamentalism, irrespective of what
happens on the Israeli-Palestinian front.

Consider some of the important findings in recent Arab Human Development

Reports and related studies:

• The total number of books translated into Arabic in the last 1,000 years is fewer
than those translated in Spain in one year.
• Greece -- with a population of fewer than 11 million -- translates five times as
many books from abroad into Greek annually as the 22 Arab countries combined
-- with a total population of more than 300 million -- translate into Arabic.

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• According to a Council on Foreign Relations report, "in the 1950s, per-capita
income in Egypt was similar to South Korea, whereas Egypt's per-capita income
today is less than 20 percent of South Korea's. Saudi Arabia had a higher gross
domestic product than Taiwan in the 1950s; today it is about 50 percent of
Taiwan's."

As Dr. A.B. Zahlan, a Palestinian physicist, has noted: "A regressive political
culture is at the root of the Arab world's failure to fund scientific research or to
sustain a vibrant, innovative community of scientists." He further asserted that
"Egypt, in 1950, had more engineers than all of China." That is hardly the case
today.

A recent UN Human Development Report revealed that only two Egyptians per
million people were granted patents (for Syria the figure was zero), compared to
30 in Greece and 35 in Israel. In the same UN report, the adult literacy rate for
women aged 15 and older was 43.6 percent in Egypt and 74 percent in Syria,
while for the world's top 20 countries it was nearly 100 percent.

And finally, according to the current Freedom House rankings, no Arab country in
the Middle East is listed as "free." Each is described at best as "partly free" or,
worse, "not free." The sad truth is that it is precisely political oppression,
intellectual suffocation and gender discrimination that explain, far more than
other factors, the chronic difficulties of the Middle East.

To be sure, there exist no overnight or over-the-counter remedies for these

maladies that would allow the region to unleash its vast potential, but let's be
clear: they, not the straw man of Israel, are at the heart of the problem.

It would be illusory to think otherwise.

After reading David’s complete article (which you can read by clicking here). I
wondered what the UN Arab Human Development Report was all about. The
Jewish community here in the States as well as many others, Jew and non-Jew,
are very suspicious of anything the UN says or does regarding Israel because so
much of it, as David indicates, is very one-sided. Is the UNAHDR any different?
Is it possible that there is there an Arab group talking about Arab problems
without placing 100% of the blame for all their problems on something Israel has
or has not done?

I found that (Wikipedia) “The Arab Human Development Report is an

independent report sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), providing leading Arab scholars a platform through which to analyze the
challenges and opportunities for human development in the Arab Region.
UNDP's Arab Human Development Report Project maintains a Web site on
which copies of the Reports are available for download in the Arabic, English and
French languages.

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Work on the AHDR series was launched in 2000 as a way to respond to a sense
of urgency among Arab thinkers as to the precipitous situation of Arab countries
at the start of the new millennium. The first AHDR (2002) provided a full
spectrum diagnostic of factors accounting for shortfalls in the area of human
development, and summarized its findings by pointing to three major
"development deficits" holding the region's progress back: (i) knowledge, (ii)
women’s empowerment and (iii) freedom. These were the respective themes of
the three follow-up reports published in 2003, 2004, and 2005, which completed
the first series of the AHDR.

The first series of the AHDR made the vital contribution of injecting the Human
Development concept into the Arab debate, as well as adding new rigor and
frameworks to the consideration of specific development deficits. In their
respective areas of focus, the Reports offered a wealth of far reaching, relevant,
and at-times-hard-hitting policy recommendations for governments, civil society
and international partners. Not all messages were well-received by all partners,
but many of the messages enjoyed the endorsement of several governments in
the region, and the Reports were discussed in hearings and meetings among
Arab Foreign Ministers and the League of Arab States.

I must admit that I have not read all the AHDR reports but the mere fact that they
address such topics as the three major "development deficits" holding the
region's progress back: (i) knowledge, (ii) women’s empowerment and (iii)
freedom, tells me that they are something out of the ordinary. Perhaps the
reports should become required reading for the political leaders who are trying to
bring about peace in the region. The Middle East is just not a one issue region.
The sooner the politicians understand that the sooner the possibilities for peace
will come into focus.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-harris/its-not-about-israel_b_417885.html?
msource=DHBLOG01&tr=y&auid=5792266

DEATH OF A GREAT FRIEND

Ernst Cramer, a noted journalist passed away at 96 this past week. Ernst, a
Berlin Jew, who was imprisoned by the Nazis in 1933, was able to eventually
make his way to the U.S., became an American citizen and joined the U.S. Army
at the outbreak of WW II. He was sent back to Germany during the war and at its
conclusion decided to stay on to help rebuild the nation of his birth into a
democratic state. He joined to Axel Springer Verlag and eventually rose to
become the Chairman of the Board of the Springer Foundation.

I first met Ernst during the 1980’s and realized that he was much more than a
“journalist” He was a symbol of the development of democracy in Germany and a
living example that there could be Jewish life in Germany. When AJC decided to

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open an office in Germany he was most supportive. When I first arrived in Berlin
he was the first person I visited. From that time in 1997 until the day of his death
he remained one that was deeply interested in the improvement of American
Jewish – German relations. I am proud to say that he was a constant reader of
DuBow Digest and, at times, sent me notes commenting on what I had written.

In 2008 Ernst allowed AJC to establish the Ernst Cramer Award for Outstanding
Transatlantic Achievement which will be awarded annually.

There aren’t many like Ernst Cramer and we are all the poorer because of his
death.

See you again in February

*************************************
DuBow Digest is written and published by Eugene DuBow who can be contacted at edubow@optonline.net
Both the American and Germany editions are also posted on line at www.dubowdigest.typepad.com.