Germany Is Repaying Its post-Holocaust Debts to Israel – but Not to the Palestinians

10/06/2017

Europe, whose anti-Semitism led to the Holocaust, also has moral and historical obligations towards the Palestinians, who still suffer its consequences

By Daniel Barenboim

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become increasingly far removed from news reporting, and from people’s minds as the refugee crises, the threat of American isolation under President Trump, the war in Syria, Brexit and the fight against Islamic extremism dominate headlines. Its resolution used to be an American and European policy priority.

After many failed attempts at a solution, a status quo appears to have set in. The conflict continues to be viewed with discomfort but also with helplessness and a certain disillusionment, as unsolvable.

This is all the more tragic as the opposing camps strengthen their isolation, the situation of Palestinians consistently worsens, and even optimists cannot easily assume that the current U.S. government will take a sensible approach to the conflict.