It would be an otherwise (for most Americans) non-controversial story about Nobel laureate Günter Grass’s poem criticizing Israel’s aggressive posture toward Iran, which talks about Grass's poem and the fact that Germans nowadays are somewhat more vocal in their criticisms of the political and military organization that controls the West Bank and Gaza.
Grass's poem is non-controversial for most Americans not only because most Americans have reasonable views with respect to Palestine/Israel and the Iran situation but also, as you might know, most Americans aren't that familiar with poetry unless it's part of popular music. But I digress, since while I care about illiteracy, I care more about being thought of as an idiot, because I read the NY Times. But maybe the stupidity's on them today, as I explain below.
Now, I admit, I haven't read anything ever by Günter Grass, though I do remember The Tin Drum was quite popular a while back. Here's the most descriptive part of the story w.r.t. the poem:
Mr. Grass has struck a nerve with the broader public, articulating frustrations with Israel here in Germany that are frequently expressed in private but rarely in public, where the discourse is checked by the lingering presence of the past. What might have remained at the family dinner table or the local bar a generation ago is today on full display, not only in Mr. Grass’s poem, but on Web forums and in Facebook groups.
One word has surfaced consistently in such discussions: “keule,” which means club or cudgel. The charge of anti-Semitism aimed at Israel’s critics — and in the case of Mr. Grass, by bringing up his past as a member of the Waffen-SS — is widely viewed as a blunt instrument that silences debate, and in the process prevents Mr. Grass from making a point about the dangers of a first strike by Israel against Iran over its disputed nuclear program.
“Every time you speak out and say something that isn’t superpolitically correct, there is a 99 percent chance that you are regarded as right wing,” said Moritz Eggert, a composer based in Munich. Mr. Eggert posted his own musical interpretation of Mr. Grass’s poem with simplified lyrics on YouTube. “Israel, I love you, but don’t attack Iran,” he sings.
Mr. Eggert said he was trying to skewer both sides in the debate. While he said he did not like Mr. Grass’s poem, “it’s embarrassing the way the intellectuals try to paint him in the worst light possible.”
Now, to their credit, they
did publish a link to the German version of the
69 line poem, to use the source they use for the hyperlink to the poem, which is titled in English "What Must Be Said." Or, as Google Translate helpfully provides, "W
hat Needs to Be Said."
Lemme give you the first 4 verses of the poem just to bring my point about:
Why I am silent, silent about too long,
what is obvious and in simulations
was practiced, as at the end of survivor
We are footnotes at best.
It is alleged that on the first strike,
of the subjugated by bullies
organized and directed rejoicing
could wipe out people of Iran,
because in the sphere of construction
a bomb is suspected.
But why do I say to myself,
that other country to call by name,
In the years since - though secret -
a growing nuclear capabilities available
but out of control, because no test
accessible?
The general concealment of this fact,
which my silence has subordinated
I feel as burdensome lie
and is forced, the penalty in view,
when it is ignored;
the verdict of "antisemitism" is familiar.
The fact that's concealed is quite simply
Israel's possession of nukes.
And that fact - the big fact of the poem and the reason for Grass's accusation of hypocrisy - is completely missing from the Times piece!
Now to be fair, the Times has mentioned the existence of Israel's nukes in the past... most in depth in this op-ed piece... about 1 1/2 years ago.
And yes, they did mention the nukes in this story about Grass being barred from entering the territory controlled by Israel. And they mentioned, without comment, that the Israelis were incensed evidently because the poem put the Israelis and the Iranians on the "same moral plane."
Which I could understand. I mean, Iran has horrendous treatment of religious minorities, women, gays, etc. And Israel gives broad deference to religious conservatives that only want to engage in horrendous treatment of religious minorities, women, gays, etc. Unless they're Palestinian, in which case they steal their land and water, etc., etc. Israel assassinates Iranian scientists. Iran assassinates Israeli spies & diplomats. See? Different moral plane entirely.
I know, I'm preaching mostly to the choir but also to some who find it hard to criticize Israel no matter what. But I'm still amazed at the lack of outcry about Israel's nukes, especially given the increasingly loud drumbeats for some kind of violence against Iran.