Was Germany ever a true democracy? And what's that mean, as a defeated country with occupying troops and occupying banks and occupying financiers running the putrid place?
+--+
Quoting:
Just when you may have thought things couldn’t get any crazier: American playwright and humorist C.J. Hopkins, profiled in this space on numerous occasions, has been sent a “punishment order” by a German judge, offering him a Sophie’s Choice of 60 days in jail or 3,600 euros.
His crime?
Essentially, insulting the German health minister in a tweet, and using a scarcely-visible image of a Swastika on a mask in a book critical of the global pandemic response, The Rise of the New Normal Reich.
He was first accused of this “crime” in June, shortly after Roger Waters was placed under investigation for wearing his clearly satirical “Pink” costume in a stage performance in Berlin.
As I wrote when C.J. was charged weeks later, authorities claim that through the use of the mask image, C.J. was “disseminating propaganda, the contents of which are intended to further the aims of a former National Socialist organization.”
The judge in C.J.’s case has already heard free-speech argumentation from his lawyer, and this technically being a non-jury misdemeanor offense, has already ruled against those arguments. C.J. will apparently have a chance to argue for mitigation, but the decree has already been handed down:
My daughter just told me she put up 10 laminated signs around San Diego saying "Genocide is not War". They were all taken down within hours. Yet she says that among young people she's talked with, not one person supports Israel. I believe this is the end of Israel's credibility in the world, despite how it seems now. My heart goes out to you and your family, Hebh.
Thank you for this report from Germany; it is quite a chilling read, but I'm glad you have made the situation clear. I wish I had a suggestion to help, but I honestly don't. Perhaps the only thought I have is that I am slowly understanding that the history of the last 100 years has still not been digested in a healthy and meaningful way by most of the world. The simple story of 'evil' Germans killing Belgians in WW1 followed by the simple story of 'evil' Germans killing Jews in WW2, has set us all up to fail - whether we are 'victims' or 'perpetrators'. And this failing is now playing out in many countries - including Israel and Germany, but I would argue in all western 'civilised' states. ( I live in UK, second only to the US for their unconditional political support for Israel)
I suppose all we can do is read, think, inform ourselves and talk and protest where we can. We need to share the nuances of world history with each other in the hope of finally 'digesting' the hidden elements. Maybe these act of personal conversations with each other will change the energy of the political/social field.?.. I don't know what else to do!
Yesterday I received a long personal email reply from a Conservative politician - Crispin Blunt, whom I had thanked for pointing out the illegality of many of the Israeli actions in Palestine. Other than about three other politicians, (including Jeremy Corbin and Alicia Kearns) he is alone in UK politics for speaking this truth. I might be wrong but the length of the email and the detail he went into made me feel he might be feeling very relieved for being thanked for his stance, particularly as he is a member of the 'pro-war' Conservative party. Maybe now is the time, alongside protesting, to write personal emails to politicians in the hope that many still have consciences, and that although these consciences may be dimmed, are not yet extinguished..?
Was Germany ever a true democracy? And what's that mean, as a defeated country with occupying troops and occupying banks and occupying financiers running the putrid place?
+--+
Quoting:
Just when you may have thought things couldn’t get any crazier: American playwright and humorist C.J. Hopkins, profiled in this space on numerous occasions, has been sent a “punishment order” by a German judge, offering him a Sophie’s Choice of 60 days in jail or 3,600 euros.
His crime?
Essentially, insulting the German health minister in a tweet, and using a scarcely-visible image of a Swastika on a mask in a book critical of the global pandemic response, The Rise of the New Normal Reich.
He was first accused of this “crime” in June, shortly after Roger Waters was placed under investigation for wearing his clearly satirical “Pink” costume in a stage performance in Berlin.
As I wrote when C.J. was charged weeks later, authorities claim that through the use of the mask image, C.J. was “disseminating propaganda, the contents of which are intended to further the aims of a former National Socialist organization.”
The judge in C.J.’s case has already heard free-speech argumentation from his lawyer, and this technically being a non-jury misdemeanor offense, has already ruled against those arguments. C.J. will apparently have a chance to argue for mitigation, but the decree has already been handed down:
https://www.racket.news/p/madness-american-satirist-cj-hopkins
My daughter just told me she put up 10 laminated signs around San Diego saying "Genocide is not War". They were all taken down within hours. Yet she says that among young people she's talked with, not one person supports Israel. I believe this is the end of Israel's credibility in the world, despite how it seems now. My heart goes out to you and your family, Hebh.
Here's one of my articles on it: https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/the-beginning-of-the-end-for-israel?
Dear Hebh,
Thank you for this report from Germany; it is quite a chilling read, but I'm glad you have made the situation clear. I wish I had a suggestion to help, but I honestly don't. Perhaps the only thought I have is that I am slowly understanding that the history of the last 100 years has still not been digested in a healthy and meaningful way by most of the world. The simple story of 'evil' Germans killing Belgians in WW1 followed by the simple story of 'evil' Germans killing Jews in WW2, has set us all up to fail - whether we are 'victims' or 'perpetrators'. And this failing is now playing out in many countries - including Israel and Germany, but I would argue in all western 'civilised' states. ( I live in UK, second only to the US for their unconditional political support for Israel)
I suppose all we can do is read, think, inform ourselves and talk and protest where we can. We need to share the nuances of world history with each other in the hope of finally 'digesting' the hidden elements. Maybe these act of personal conversations with each other will change the energy of the political/social field.?.. I don't know what else to do!
Yesterday I received a long personal email reply from a Conservative politician - Crispin Blunt, whom I had thanked for pointing out the illegality of many of the Israeli actions in Palestine. Other than about three other politicians, (including Jeremy Corbin and Alicia Kearns) he is alone in UK politics for speaking this truth. I might be wrong but the length of the email and the detail he went into made me feel he might be feeling very relieved for being thanked for his stance, particularly as he is a member of the 'pro-war' Conservative party. Maybe now is the time, alongside protesting, to write personal emails to politicians in the hope that many still have consciences, and that although these consciences may be dimmed, are not yet extinguished..?
The link to the full letter is here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/michaelfuller/p/letter-from-a-conservative-politician?r=zdov3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web