Bake sales for Gaza could stoke Jew hatred, EU warns
Katharina von Schnurbein made the claim while the EU mulled possible trade sanctions against Israel for human rights abuses during the war.
According to a leaked diplomatic cable, she told gathered EU envoys in Tel Aviv there were new forms of anti-Semitism, 'which she described as ambient anti-Semitism'.
This was 'creating an atmosphere in which Jews feel uncomfortable, even in [the] European institutions', the German baroness said.
The 52-year-old bureaucrat noted 'for instance the 'bake sales for Gaza'', held in May in Brussels by European Commission staff, which raised money for the Red Cross Crescent in Gaza.
Ms von Schnurbein, who has been the European Commission's co-ordinator to combat anti-Semitism since 2015, argued against imposing sanctions on Israel after the EU undertook a review of its association agreement with the country.
She 'warned against the risk that [the] review of the [EU-Israel] association agreement is based on 'rumours about Jews', as opposed to facts'.
'Conspiracy theories'
Ms von Schnurbein claimed that the United Nations and the media were ignoring news about Israel providing food in Gaza. She went on to mention 'conspiracy theories' spread on social media, the cable, dated June 6.
The theories described 'how Jews or the Mossad succeeded' in putting Yuval Raphael, the Israeli contestant for this year's Eurovision Song Contest, in second place when she won the public vote. Austria won because of its success in the jury vote, where Israel came 14th.
Broadcasters in Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Iceland and Finland raised concerns about the phone and online voting system after the contest.
The cable was sent from the EU embassy in Israel to Brussels and was first obtained by the EU Observer. The website went on to report that Ms von Schnurbein had angered some ambassadors.
One diplomat told her that Israel 'dismisses every accusation on attacks on hospitals as 'blood libels' ... [but] these are facts and to bring them up is not anti-Semitic'.
Amos Goldberg, a history professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told the website: 'She's hostile to any sign of solidarity with the Palestinians, calling it 'ambient anti-Semitism' – a clearly totalitarian term.'
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If you walk by a street and remember: 'Here, I met my friends,' or: 'Here I held someone's hand who I was in love with,' or: 'Here I cried,' or: 'Here I buried my mother.' If those things are taken, what is left?' Having looked after his family within Gaza, he now finds himself struggling to look after himself. 'A friend gave me a plant and I had a panic attack. I cannot commit to a plant.' At present, he is surrounded by fellow refugees, and has noticed a new decisiveness. 'I know people who decided to get a divorce. When they were in Gaza, they couldn't because of the traditions. Now they say, 'We were about to be wiped off the earth, so at least let me live the life I wanted.'' Others have taken different directions. He has heard of people turning to drugs, alcohol, sex, 'or hurting the people in their lives, being physically aggressive'. He instead has returned to sport. 'So I'm blessed, until this moment.' He has to keep moving, he says. His sister tells him they have to stay ahead of tragedy. 'She says, 'This is history repeating itself. It's not something new.'' And all the while, he swings from hope to despair. 'I met a guy, not Gazan, who is working hard because he wants to get an apartment, and I said, 'Please take time to smell the flowers. Take time to enjoy your life. You can lose it all in a moment.'' His hopes of returning to Gaza have been fading. He tells me to look at Google satellite images of Gaza. I do and it is horrifying, but he says it's more about the people. A friend was talking about how entire peoples can be eclipsed – the Native Americans, say, or Indigenous Australians. 'I replied, 'Are you telling me that in 100 or 200 years, when people think about the culture in this land next to Egypt, they will say, 'Well, there were people here called the Gazans, but then a new culture came. We should apologise to those Gazans'? Are you telling me we will end up being a line in someone's story?' Having received his diaries in real time, I have of course spent much of the last 21 months thinking about my friend, a bit like a helpless idiot calling down to someone at the bottom of a well. But I believe, strongly, that while his instinct has been to write as an anonymous everyman, this is no diary of a nobody. It has felt like the diary of a point of light, moving through a darkening landscape, one among millions of points of light, being eclipsed one by one. The clock has ticked round to 1am as we talk. I ask who he hates. 'Believe it or not, I don't hate anyone,' he says. 'It is not my nature, hating people.' I ask about the cats. 'Oh, they have grown fat!' It's late, but he wants to keep talking. 'I miss sleeping well,' he says. Who Will Tell My Story? by Anonymous (Guardian Faber, £12.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at Delivery charges may apply.
