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In this mailing:
Iran and Germany: A 100-Year Old Love Affair
by Amir Taheri
• July 31, 2014 at 5:00 am
According to Küntzel, German
leaders have at least two other reasons for helping Iran defy the United
States. The first is German resentment of defeat in the Second World War
followed by foreign occupation, led by the US. The second reason is that Iran
is one of the few, if not the only country, where Germans have never been
looked at as "war criminals" because of Hitler.
Matthias
Küntzel and his book, The Germans and Iran: The History and Present of a
Fateful Friendship.
Die Deutschen und der Iran. Geschichte und Gegenwart einer
verhängnisvollen Freundschaft
(The Germans and Iran: The History and Present of a Fateful Friendship) By Matthias Küntzel WJS Verlag. 352 pages, Hardcover.
As the 5+1 group ends another round of negotiations with Iran,
commentators assume that the four Western powers involved -- the United
States, Great Britain, France and Germany -- are united in their determination
to curtail Iranian nuclear ambitions. However, in this fascinating book,
German scholar Matthias Küntzel argues that Germany's position on this issue
may be closer to that of Russia rather than the United States -- with Germany
acting as "a shield for Iran against America," as Germany's former
Foreign Minister Joshcka Fischer described his country.
Christians in Israel: Pluses and Minuses
by Malcolm Lowe
• July 31, 2014 at 4:00 am
Go to Nazareth and you can easily
find the mini-mosque. It displays a large poster of Koran quotations
denigrating Christianity and urging Christians to convert to Islam.
Overlooked is a fundamental
difference between the two regimes. Israel is a state governed by the rule of
law. The Palestinian Authority, like most other states in the region, is a
personal dictatorship. Arafat started the fashion of simply disregarding the
laws.
What is needed in Israel is a
central policy unit with the brief of developing long-term policies both to
integrate Israeli Christians and to engage with the great variety of
Christians in foreign countries.
Clergy
from various churches at a Christmas reception in Jerusalem. (Image source:
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)
Israel is rightly seen as a place in which Christians enjoy a safer life
than in all other countries in the region. When the Pope visited Jerusalem
recently, however, two major Israeli newspapers published op-ed articles by
guests who questioned that view. Both articles are available in English. Both
contained some errors of fact, but their greater fault lies in mistakes of
broader perspective. Nevertheless, there is a need for improvement in
Israel's dealings with Christians.
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