Jewish Viewfinder of Germany
Aperture Priorities Contact Sheet #6
By Joel Schalit
I couldn't believe my luck. I'd gotten an appointment with a Green member of the Bundestag to get advice on funding opportunities for The Battleground.
Introduced by a mutual acquaintance, the lawmaker had a special interest in Israel and thought we'd be a good match. I had my doubts but figured it would be informative.
Neither turned out to be the case. Over bitter Nespresso, the parliamentarian mostly spoke of living in Israel and how disappointing it was. I sat there patiently and smiled.
When they eventually asked me for my thoughts on Netanyahu, I couldn't help but feel that I wasn't left-wing enough. Each time I made a point, they had to say it was worse. Much worse.
If I were to sum up my experience of German politics, that would be it. As an Israeli-American journalist, I was worth talking to. But my actual opinions were secondary.
Nothing ever came of the chat, but it was a good learning experience. The patronising reception I'd gotten reminded me of talking to Alternative fur Deutschland MEPs I’d run into in Brussels.
Equally mesmerised by my ethnic background, they were experts on all things Jewish and Israeli, too. Whatever I had to say, there was always a correction. All I had to do was wait.
Making it harder to anticipate was where I lived - the Berlin borough of Neukölln. The heavily Middle Eastern district is a primer on minority life. But not the WASPs who run the country.
The following photos reflect that context and how hard it is to learn about ethnic Germans. While the country sharpens your understanding of discrimination, it can be difficult to learn about much else.
No integrationskurs (integration course), as they're called, can teach you that. You have to go out and endure difficult people and take a lot of photographs to get it.
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Photographs courtesy of Joel Schalit. All rights reserved.
I’ve never been to Israel, but I’ve gotten the impression that it has become more culturally repressive in my lifetime. And people who like to wax poetic about Israeli society seemingly always end up not actually living there.
Anyway, on a different note, remember when “Grindr Remembers” became a thing over a decade ago? It seems bitterly ironic in retrospect…
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=grindr+remembers