Germany’s new president Joachim Gauck on Zion
When Israeli author David Grossman was honored in 2010 with the Peace Prize of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association for his book “To the End of the Land” Joachim Gauck delivered the laudation.
What follows are excerpts from Joachim Gauck’s speech:
“Between 1948 and 2006, there were seven wars, seven wars in which the Jewish people was forced to secure its right to exist through violence. … Israel … seeks to coexist and cooperate with other peoples – but still, it is confronted with the issue of guilt and reasonableness toward other peoples as well as with the issue of loyalty toward its own: Am I not obliged to show unconditional loyalty to my country since I will perish with it if I don’t? And, therefore, am I not obliged to let my sons and daughters go to war, even if the government is waging it using means I disapprove of? … As Grossman says, you have to will Israel if it is going to exist. But Grossman’s loyalty is not self-subordination without criticism. He and other intellectuals in Israel show that if you want to have a state worth defending, you need not only solidarity, but also freedom of opinion, disputes, democracy and justice. … Loyalty and criticism are not opposites. In fact, when correctly understood, you can’t have one without the other. … But what holds true with loyalty also holds true with friendship: We cannot understand criticism as antagonism or even hostility. In fact, friendship can sometimes be more wholehearted and authentic if it doesn’t shy away from criticism. David Grossman knows this; we sometimes don’t. His love for the country that one has to will has numbed neither his mind nor his ability to understand the interests of others. I admire this ability. I long for this kind of wise generosity in my own life as well as in the hearts of the despairing, the aggressive and the searching in Israel and Palestine!” Gauck, who fought for freedom of opinion and self-determination in East Germany, knew what he was talking about: “There are no longer any alternatives but dialogue, negotiation and compromise. Ben-Gurion already said many years ago that ‘nothing else is left but to go forward with each other into the future. It’s still too early, but we will be able to trust each other someday.'” This conclusion, by the fi rst Israeli head of state, hasn’t lost validity after 60 years. Joachim Gauck stands for dialogue, subordinating personal feelings to a bigger idea, acting responsibly and building bridges between peoples and different opinions. Gauck sees the relationship between Israel and Germany as one in which Germany assumes responsibility for the past and – last but not least – for the future: “Germany – so I believe – would be the last country to renounce its support for and solidarity with Israel.”