Arbeit macht frei: - Fredrick Töben

not have to prove anything, and the quantum of his ‘hurt feeling’ did not
have to be verified by a medical certificate.
* * * * *
The few individuals intent on silencing me by using the shut-up word ‘anti-
Semite’ do not know that in 1971, I briefly visited Israel. My reflections on
that visit have not been published. They are indicative of a time when the
Holocaust matter did not loom large on the horizon and when Germans
still felt connected to things Jewish, much to the dismay of the Palestinians
who at that time had not yet been subjected to the ruthless Jewish
extermination process, which reached a zenith in December 2008–January
2009.
I concluded that I now understood why Lawrence of Arabia essentially got
along well with the Arabic-speaking Muslim peoples of the Middle East,
and that the problem facing Israel is to integrate and unite peoples of totally
different backgrounds – from cavemen to highly sophisticated individuals.
According to Moshe Asolai, chairman of the Education Department,
religion helps this process but if it fades, there will then be serious racial
problems facing Israel. I remarked at that time:
On the El Al plane I had a little chat with lady next to me. In Israel she
cannot marry her Jewish Indian ‘husband’ according to Jewish custom
because the Talmud and Torah and the Rabbis forbid the union.
Cyprus is their only hope where they can marry, and then they can
return to Israel as husband and wife. This certainly discredits their claim
as a democracy.
As we began our descent and I started thinking: Israel, your secret is
soon mine as well – oh, Israel – I have come to pay my respects to your
mystery, to your wisdom and tolerant intolerance.
I waited for the Gaza bus at Ashkalon; there were national service men
and women everywhere, rather rowdy and untidy in eating habits,
gulping down drinks and throwing containers in the streets, while old
decrepit-looking fellows sweep the road.
Tirza Zilberblate, a girl from Ramat Johannan, had blue eyes, and
blonde hair, as blond can be. She was so completely out of place in this
dark society, and a great contrast to Cilla Goldschmied, telling us she
will join El Al in a few weeks time. It was amazing, seeing one who looks
so very Jewish, and the other so very Nordic.
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