A
s the appalling humanitarian tragedy in Gaza continues to unfold with death and devastation mounting by the day, South Africa has stepped forward to take Israel to task at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for perpetrating genocide against the Palestinian people. Pretoria’s action was greeted with the overwhelming support of peoples and countries around the world. Yet Germany, which holds the record as the worst perpetrator of genocide ever known, has announced that it will defend its pupils of Nazism in Israel against the charge of the crime of crimes.
This absurd step, which only turns a tragedy into a farce, naturally sparked widespread disgust, anger, and ridicule. It also served to remind us that Germany’s history with genocide did not start with the Holocaust, which Israel has since weaponised as a form of emotional blackmail to advance its political and economic ends. Between 1904 and 1908, when Germany occupied the country we know today as Namibia, it killed over 70,000 of the indigenous Herero and Nama peoples between 1904 and 1908, including women and children. One might think of it as a rehearsal for what the Nazis would do to the Jews several decades later.
As Namibian President Hage Geingob reminded the world several days ago, Germany’s crime in Namibia was the first genocide of the twentieth century. He rightfully deplored Berlin’s hypocrisy in defending Israel’s genocidal crimes and urged it to reconsider its shameful position which brushes aside the wilful murder of over 25,000 Palestinian civilians.
It is important to bear in mind what Germany did in that African nation, which did not gain independence until 1990. Here, there is no dispute. In 2021, Germany, itself, acknowledged the genocide it committed in Namibia. Unfortunately, as President Geingob mentioned, it appears that Germany has learned nothing from its own colonial history regardless of its admission.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 1 February, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
Short link: