Karl Pfeifer – The Witness Industry- Part 1

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© Karl Pfeifer, Member of the board of control of the Documentation Center of Austrian Resistance (DÖW), Vienna correspondent of Budapest weekly Hetek and London monthly Searchlight. He is a member of SPME.

The witness industry booms in the German speaking countries. If you are Jewish and ready to testify, that anti-Semitism does not really exist in Europe, that those who speak about it, want only to help Israel, you are welcome into the club of those who turn Queen’s evidence against the Jewish state. You can publish any lie and get money for it, honor and the attention not only of Neonazi, radical right and “anti-Zionist” left but also of mainstream media. One of the most prominent witnesses in Germany and Austria is Felicia Langer.

Alan Dershowitz has published in 1970 his article Civil Liberties in Israel [1], in which he describes his meeting with her:

“Having long opposed preventive detention in America, I was greatly troubled when I learned of its use by the Israeli authorities. While in Israel during the summer of 1970 therefore I decided to try to interview [Fawzi] al-Asmar and to learn all I could about why he and the other Israeli Arabs were being detained. When I set out for Damon Prison, I was doubtful whether the authorities would let me talk to him or whether he would be willing to speak to me. I had read accounts of how uncooperative the Israeli authorities were said to be with “snoopers.” Moreover, I had called Felicia Langer – a Jewish Communist who represents many detainees – and asked her to arrange an interview. She laughed:

“They won’t even let me see my clients about legal matters.” I had called the Bureau of Prisons, which granted me permission to tour the facility and see the area where the detainees are held, but nothing had been said about interviews.”

Dershowitz then describes his meeting with Fawzi al-Asmar and quotes him at length.

He also met Amos Kenan, “who has long been critical of preventive detention in particular and of Israeli policies toward Arabs in general…. I discussed with him the allegation that people like Fawzi al-Asmar were being detained for their political views. He smiled when I mentioned the poet’s name. “I’ve known Fawzi for a long time. We worked together on many causes. There isn’t an honest bone in his body. He’s deceitful, he’s a parasite, and I think he’s a lousy poet. There may be political detainees; Fawzi may even be one of them; but don’t believe a word he tells you; don’t be taken in by that god dam smile.

“Fawzi is one of those Arabs,” he continued, “who criticizes the hell out of Israel whenever she deserves it; but he doesn’t have the balls to criticize any Arab government or group. When I ask him why he doesn’t, he says that you have to understand the risks of making such criticism are very great. But that’s the god dam problem with the Palestinian movement.”

Dershowitz goes on: “Felicia Langer is a Communist who practices law in partnership with an Arab Israeli named Ali Rafi. She sees preventive detention as directed primarily against the Communists. “Our people were the first to be detained. That’s how I got into this area.” I asked Mrs. Langer whether preventive detention was used for political reasons. “Yes, for political reasons against Communists and also as a means of pressure to get Arabs to collaborate.” Does it work, I asked” “Not against our people. Not a single Communist has collaborated.”

If it is used against political opponents, I asked, why are there no Jews being detained? “It is a racist law, just like in your country the laws are directed against third-world people. Israel is a fascist country, the fight aggressive wars. I am concerned where this is all going to lead.”

I asked whether the Communist party was against preventive detention in principle or just when it is directed at Communists. She boasted there are no such laws in Communist countries. I reminded her that thousands of people are detained in Russian jails without trials, and that we all know what a Russian trial means. “I am not interested in their practices, only their laws,” she said with contempt.”

In 1991 during the first Gulf war, Langer was the star of German and Austria main stream media. Amnesty International praised her in the monthly of AI Austria “ai-informationen 1/91″, despite the fact, that she advocated the use of terror by PLO. She declared to have left Israel „because I am there not anymore useful. I cannot do anything for people whom I want to help on the field of justice. It brings nothing to go to a military court or to the Supreme Court.”

Very strange, since other (leftwing) lawyers continue to defend their Arab clients in Israel. Probably the real reason for leaving Israel was different. Langer used to publish her anti-Israel books in eastern European countries, her husband was active in import and export trade with those countries. After the downfall of communist rule, there was no more market for the vilification of Israel. While other leftwing lawyers did their utmost to defend their clients, Langer had the bad habit, to hold political speeches in courtroom, this so I was told, did not help a bit their clients, who preferred other lawyers.

In Europe she received the alternative Nobel prize, the Right-Livelihood-Award and the Austrian Bruno Kreisky prize. She told German and Austrian audiences, what they expected to hear: not to worry about the Holocaust, but to the contrary criticize Israel for not having learnt the lesson. Such line was and is still popular here. Here we have a buyers market for the vilification of the Jewish state. Jews and especially Israeli or former Israeli Jews ply their trade as professional slanderers.

In August 2002 Felicia Langer was invited by the Green party to a lecture in Vienna. She accused Israel as is her habit and spoke about “the executions, and the crimes in Jenin refugee camp”. When she started to defend Jürgen Möllemann [2] and said, that he was not an anti-Semite, the Green chairwoman U. Lunacek explicitly took her distance from Ms. Langer.

In her foreword to the German edition of Norman Finkelstein, she wrote about this lecture: “Vienna’s Jewish Community had sent their members to disrupt the talk, to defame me both as an anti-Semite and a traitor, to stage tumultuous protests, to shout “Nazis out!” etc. Things very nearly got physical, and the event had to be broken off. The Austrian branch of the Jewish lobby could not bear to hear the truth and used the allegation of anti-Semitism as a weapon.”

http://tania.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20060327/034671.html

Of course Vienna’s small Jewish Community (less than 7000 members, most of them old) has not sent members to the lecture and nobody called her a traitor. The event was broken off by the organizer, because Langer defended Möllemann and thus provoked the protests of many of those who have come to listen to her. As a crown witness, she caters for anti-Semites by giving “evidence” against the alleged Jewish world conspiracy and writes about the “Austrian branch of the Jewish lobby”. Note also, that she accuses only Jews to have protested against her statement. As a matter of fact, only few Jews were present in the room, most of the listeners were not Jewish.

On July 27,2006 Iran radio German language broadcasted an interview with the “famous Jewish lawyer and author Felicia Langer”, who said “If you let live a people without any rights, like in the case of Palestinians, then that will create reactions.” The interview by Seyed Hedayatollah Shahrokny can be heard (MP3 1.94MB) on

http://www.irib.ir/worldservice/germanradio/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/interviews/interview161.asp

On Monday March 27, 2006 Iran radio reported f.i. that the number of Holocaust deniers is increasing all over the world.

http://german.irib.ir/nachricht.asp?id=2361&day=3

It did not disturb Felicia Langer a bit, that the very same radio is denying the Holocaust, when it is possible to slander and to spit on Israel any media is welcome. A long way from Israeli communist party to Iran radio.

1) Commentary Vol. 50, Nr. 6

2 ) The liberal top-politician Jürgen W. Möllemann, was simultaneously Chairman of the Arabic-German Society and parliamentary leader of the Free Democratic Party’s (FDP) largest branch in Germany. In April and May FDP politician Möllemann picked up on several breaks of taboos of the already antisemitic change of mood in the society, popularized it even more, not least in favor of the FDP and his own person.

A. Several times Möllemann repetitively sympathized with the Palestinian suicide assassinations against Israel, for which he held the alleged “terrorism of the state Israel” responsible.

B. Parallel to that, an antisemitic representative, Syrian by birth, became a member of the FDP state parliament, who spoke about the “Zionist lobby throughout the world”.

C. After that Möllemann constructed, in the form of an antisemitic world conspiracy fantasy, the absurd taboo that one is not allowed to criticize Israel, because interested Jewish and pro Israel circles would allegedly prevent this.

D. When Michel Friedman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany criticized Möllemann, Möllemann attacked sharply Friedman and the Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, who ” create antisemitism in Germany with their spiteful manner”. Möllemann used the antisemitic stereotype, Jews were to blame themselves for the anti Jewish hostility. During the escalation with the Central Council of Jews, Möllemann stylized himself as an antisemitic rebel who would finally have the courage to take the risk to liberate the antisemitic break of taboo against Israel and Jews, regardless of historic legacies, on the pretext of a self-constructed taboo to ban criticism toward Israel.

The great approval for Möllemann is documented not only by 15,000 mostly positive replies by readers, with exceptions, but also by the predominantly neutral and positive response of the media. On May 23rd in 2002, the reputable newspaper, “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, praised both Möllemann’s heroic deed and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), because the FAZ claimed that the FDP is the first party in Germany which historicizes the national socialism and makes attempts to free the criticism toward Israel from suspicion of antisemitism, which would mean “progress”.

“From Latent to Manifest Antisemitism: Current Trends in Germany” Lecture held by Martin Ulmer at the Conference of SICSA in Jerusalem: “Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism in Western-Europe since 2000”, 12/18/2002 published on hagalil.com 17-12-2003; http://www.antisemitismus.net/deutschland/ulmer.htm

Karl Pfeifer – The Witness Industry- Part 1

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