Following Breadcrumbs

When I was a kid, I briefly attended an alternative school where, ostensibly, if you took the initiative, you could learn anything you wanted. No courses were required; the premise being that you simply had to defend your right to graduate before a panel of teachers and have it approved when you believed that you were ready to do so. One day I walked up the old staircase with the dark wooden banister and asked the head of school if I could learn Russian. I didn’t know a thing about Russian except I had heard that it was hard, compared to Spanish and French. Later in life I would learn that I have slavic-Jewish blood from somewhere in the area of Ukraine-Poland, but we don’t know where since the family lore when I was growing up was that everyone who didn’t emigrate was lost in the holocaust. I’ve looked up the original family name here and there and I suspect there may be few additional survivors, including perhaps at least one person from what used to be Czechoslavakia, but I’m not down for those DNA tests where they sell your biometric data to China, so unless someone seeks me out, it is doubtful I will ever know.

But back to my attempt at Russian studies at age 11. I marched confidently into the headmasters study and said, “I want to learn Russian.” He said, “Start with German.” Incidentally, he knew German. I said, “I’m not at all interested in German; please teach me Russian. I thought if I took initiative to learn something, it was the school’s job to provide for me to learn it” I tried to persuade him. “Start with German. Then maybe we’ll see,” he said. And so an 11 year-old girl and a middle ages man argued until he made it clear our conversation was over, there would be no Russian and showed me the door.

Over my life, I have met numerous lovely German people, as I have from all places. I know lovely Israelis and lovely Palestinians and lovely black Americans and lovely White South Africans and lovely black Africans and lovely White Americans; lovely Ukranians and lovely Russians and so on. There are good people the world over!

One of my favorite high vibe music artists is German. I’m a big fan of Hildegard Von-Bingen. Still, I don’t like how German feels in my mouth. The sounds of it feel harsh, even cruel. Is it my Jewish epigenetics speaking? Maybe. But why would I be so innately critical of Israel based not on my personal connections to people who are Israeli, whom I like, but based on my instincts and my factual understandings of what Israel and the influencers behind it have done and continue to do across global dynamics? A country I have an even worse gut feeling about is Saudi Arabia, and there too live human beings of decency and integrity who are oppressed. So let us not demonize the people whilst we can criticize Trump, Adnan Khashoggi, the boat they have both owned, the royal Saudi family, the sex trade of girls and the arms dealing that has gone on to feed wars the world over and the ways in which the players are not always what they seem to be. On a brief note about Iran, Iran was Persia long before it was Iran and has been conquered repeatedly, so it would be good not to enemize its peoples but also to look at who the conquerers have been and are and seek ways to create peace and to look toward models of living on this earth that are not based on domination, but on the flourishing of all in mutualism and appreciation.

But back to Germany. I once read that Israelis love Germans because Germany gives a lot of money to Israel. Now considering how close we are to the holocaust, and that it isn’t something most Germans have really dealt with in their own consciousness, any more than most Jewish people have fully dealt with the impacts of the holocaust on their cellular memory, I thought that was odd.

Over the past few years I’ve observed some German behavior that I found particularly disturbing. But before I get to that, let’s look at Germany before the World Wars I II, in Africa:

During Germany’s colonial rule in Namibia between 1904 and 1908, colonizers wiped out an estimated 80 percent of all Ovaherero and 50 percent of Nama people and seized about 80% of ancestral Nama land. The damage to the livelihood and identity of these communities has been passed down through generations.

HRW

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/03/30/namibian-communities-deserve-say-german-reparations-deal

.

After dragging its feet on an apology, Germany offered one, then continued refusing public calls for any action of significance. Following criticism, in 2021, Germany pledged 1.1 billion Euros - or 1.2 Billion dollars to accompany their apology, but whether that is truly undoing harms or simply perpetuating the same old dynamics is a concern on the ground for those who are looking at how it’s going in terms of the rights and participation of the very peoples impacted originally by genocide at the hands of the Germans. According to Human Rights Watch Namibian Indigenous Peoples have not been included in the negotiations, and the Namibian government as well as the German government are both responsible for the collusion for exclusion

Here is an example of an agreement between Germany and Zimbabwe that seems to give equal partiality to both nations in terms of investments, yet clearly due to the lack of apology or indigenous-inclusive action at the time of it, cannot be construed to mean equal business advancement for Zimbabwe interests in Germany as for German interests in Zimbabwe:

The article about German genocide in Namibia from www.hrw.org continues, discussing a point that is also relevant to the discussion around the attempted white washing of Rhodes:

A long-established principle in human rights law is that those impacted by human rights abuses should receive effective remedies to right wrongs. When it comes to Germany’s colonial-era abuses in Namibia, the German government has failed to get that message.

I was shocked that Rhodes even had defenders or rationalizers working on his public image at so late a date, but if you look around the internet, including at the work of professors emeritus from Oriel, you can find those who overtly or with great subtly let him off the hook of the worst of what he actually did do in their own imaginations.

Yet I discovered not only are several Rhodes archives curated by Yale, but there are notable connections between Israel, Ukraine and Russia, such that one can witness in oligarchs who share in common investments in Deutche bank, as well as investments in the US.

https://www.occrp.org/en/the-fincen-files/global-banks-defy-us-crackdowns-by-serving-oligarchs-criminals-and-terrorists

Where does this touch me personally? While I was unable to pursue my Russian studies as a young girl, around the same time and following my time at the alternative school where I began this interwoven story of influences, I began training in Simsbury, CT, with “The Russians.” As facts would have it, all of them were from the Former Soviet Union, but only few of them were Russians, while the rest were Ukranians. The wife of Victor Petrenko taught me and my friend Liz a bit of Russian, and when Oksana Baul was hungover, I got he early morning lessons. I didn’t have a problem with anyone and no one had a problem with me. I didn’t even find out until recently that Oksana has Jewish heritage! When I quit skating and tried to have a normal life, one of my best friends was a Russian Jewish girl, whose family had history on the West Bank. She was dating a guy from Iran. During high school she set me up on a blind date. My date was a South American guy. Her Date with the Iranian guy. It was a triple date. The other couple was comprised of my future divorce lawyer and his future wife. Everyone on the triple date went to Brandeis except for myself and my friend. We watched Waiting for Godot. Later when I needed a divorce lawyer, my friend, who took my out clubbing for the approximately two weeks I was single, suggested her friend, with whom I’d triple dated. Even before I got myself into a very scary marriage, Divine Will had me covered: my husband had already dreamed of a little blond haired toddler to whom he was, “Like a dad,” and he knew, as he stared at billowy curtains that resembled mine at the time he (my then future husband) met - he knew he was with her mother. On the day I got my divorce, the man I’ve now been married to for over twenty years started medical school. That blond toddler was babysit by his mother, while I was in court and he was beginning his path of medical training. My friend from school, the one I triple dated with came to tell the government all involved already knew and agreed on: were already clear about: that marriage was over. The thing is, my lawyer was late. Fortunately for us all, my friend had his personal number in her cell phone and was able to reach to him: for the first time in his legal career, he had slept in - right through his alarm! He arrived just in time. He was as nervous wreak, afraid of being in contempt of the court if he’d been any later. As it was, it was the easiest divorce known to people whose marriages end. If only untangling the knots of colonialism could be done so efficiently, with only a personal call to ensure follow through of all legalities!

“Committed Colonialist” Rhodes was joined in his work by Lord Milner, who eventually became a Rhodes Trustee. Milner a German fellow of both German and English genes, who went to Oxford, became a prominent leader of the colonial government in South Africa, in which role he contributed to the Boers wars and insisted education only be taught in English, and later was a member of the war cabinet and eventually war minister in the government of Lloyd George. After the War (World War I) he was made Colonial Secretary.

According to First World War :

“On 19 April 1918 he was appointed Minister of War, replacing Lord Derby.  Milner - unlike Derby but in line with Lloyd George - was an enthusiastic advocate of the creation of an inter-allied wartime command, led by Ferdinand Foch.”

And from archives:

Milner “was educated in Germany and at King's College, London and Balliol College, Oxford. He was elected to a fellowship at New College, Oxford in 1876…Milner's first independent work came with his appointment as director general of accounts in Egypt in 1889. He returned to England to take over the chairmanship of the Board of Inland Revenue in 1892. His services in that post were rewarded with the C.B. in 1894 and the K.C.B. in 1895. The turning point of his career came in 1897 with his acceptance of the post of High Commissioner for South Africa. The papers illustrating the momentous events of the next eight years form the greater part of this collection, and were extensively used by Cecil Headlam in his edition of The Milner Papers, South Africa (2 vols., London, 1931, 1933). After his return in 1905, Lord Milner worked in the City and served as a member of various committees and as a Rhodes Trustee. He became a member of the War Cabinet late in 1916.”

https://archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repositories/2/resources/3231

Milner would later be among the signers of the BD

Consider the following:

THE FORGOTTEN TRUTH ABOUT THE BALFOUR DECLARATION https://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2017/06/the-forgotten-truth-about-the-balfour-declaration/ For 100 years the British statement, which inaugurated Zionism’s legitimation in the eyes of the world, has been seen as the isolated act of a single nation. The truth is much different. June 5, 2017 | Martin Kramer On November 2, 1917, a century ago, Arthur James Balfour, the British foreign secretary, conveyed the following pledge in a public letter to a prominent British Zionist, Lord Walter Rothschild: His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country

“There is a British proverb about the camel and the tent,” said the British Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann later that November. “At first the camel sticks one leg in the tent, and eventually it slips into it. This must be our policy.” And so it became.”

https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/martinkramer/files/forgotten_truth_balfour_declaration.pdf

Toggle with to the land before zionism, and to zionism’s founder, Herzl. Theodore Hurzl, as best I understand him, felt much more in alignment with rational, secular European values, and felt little to no connection with the ancient hebraic linage of his Jewish roots. Yet because of anti-semitism, he could not escape the identity he didn’t identify with, and so was left out of the belongingness to which he truly wanted to belong. Hurzl encouraged conversation to Catholicism, was criticized by his Rabbi for having a Christmas tree and was derisive toward traditional Judaism – the only foundation for a religiously-rooted belief in entitlement to the land currently known as Israel. Someone who feels rejected and self-rejecting in this way may be prone to something unhealthy behaviors. The irony is that those who critique Israel today are called self-hating Jews. I think it was really Hurzl who hated his Jewish identity but somehow found a way to exploit it.

Derek Penslar, William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History at Harvard is a controversial figure who was recently appointed to the Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism. I do not have personal feeling about him one way or another.

“Harvard’s ex-President Lawrence Summers also denounced Penslar’s appointment. There has since been a petition supporting Penslar signed by hundreds of Jewish studies scholars.”

Source

What I find interesting is that he has written about of how Hurzl was not religious, but saw the function of religion as a source of cohesion in an entirely secular state. It would be like Marx suggesting that communism be totally secular but have everyone share a religious fervor that is acknowledged to be myth only and not of real substance or meaning beyond cohesion of a people. Yet Israel ceases to have any valid reason at all to inherit the Holy Land at the brute expense of the Palestinian people without the religious aspect of zionism. It reminds me of the Doctrine of Christian discovery, which is the legal basis for the continued modern day oppression of Indigenous Nations and the refusal of the United States to honor its treaties, even though the Constitution itself asserts that Treaty Law is the Supreme Law of the land, and the courts have the right to enforce a Treaty over and above what states may do or wish not to do with regards to honoring treaties. This I learned recently from a beautiful-soul, big hearted individual and a brilliant mind. You can find his book here.

What does the oppression of Indigenous Nations and Colonialism in Africa have to do with Germany and with what’s going on in Israel/Palestine? Germany has recognized its Genocide in Africa. Oxford is still fancy-pantsing around the language of Genocide and trying use terms like, “Extreme Violence,” or downplaying his extreme delight in atrocities committed by conveying his image as that of a well-intentioned man of his times. Yet Germany has come late to apologize, dragged its feet on offering any recompense, and has clearly dis-included the voices of the very Indigneous peoples’ descendents who were devastated by the genocide of Germany, which occurred first in Africa to blacks before it happened in Europe to the Roma, Jews, Gays, The Disabled and Dissenters.

And according to HRW, both Germany and the Namibian government have been excluding the Indigenous Descendants of the German genocide from the whole process of how 1.1 billion Euros will be distributed and used over 30 years.

“It’s not only the German government turning a blind eye to giving the Ovaherero and Nama peoples a voice. In November 2022, Namibia’s Vice President Nangolo Mbumba demanded further talks to increase the amount of Germany’s pledge and institute a shorter payment period, but no mention of including these communities.

On February 23, 2023, seven United Nations Special Rapporteurs sent communications to the German and Namibian governments to “express grave concern” at both governments’ alleged failure to ensure the right to meaningful participation.

In their letter, the Rapporteurs reminded Germany and Namibia that while they consider the negotiations a political, bilateral process, as laid out in a 2021 joint declaration, the Indigenous Nama and Ovaherero peoples have their own participation and representation rights. Germany attempts to deny its obligation under human rights law granting the affected communities a right to participation in such processes.

Additionally, HRW calls out Israel for not complying with the WCO in genocide case.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/02/26/israel-not-complying-world-court-order-genocide-case

Namibia has called on Germany to stop condoning and emboldening the Genocide of the Palestinian peoples:

Namibia has condemned former colonial ruler Germany for rejecting a case at the UN's top court accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

Germany has offered to intervene on Israel's behalf in the case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

President Hage Geingob urged Germany to "reconsider its untimely decision to intervene as a third-party in defence".

In 2021 Berlin acknowledged committing genocide in Namibia.

German colonisers massacred more than 70,000 Herero and Nama people between 1904 and 1908. Historians consider this to be the 20th Century's first genocide.

President Geingob said Germany could not "morally express commitment to the United Nations Convention against genocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia" and at the same time support Israel.

BBC

It is not a foreign concept to most of my readers that the victims can easily become the victimizers. And so it should not be a shock that Israel could be at risk for committing genocide, when so many of its people carry the epigenetic and cultural memory of the holocaust. A person who has been victimized may also have those wounds stoked by psychopaths who have overt agendas to consolidate control/power.

It occurred to me relatively recently that the idea of “developing” nations is a telling misnomer.

It tells you that someone thinks they need “development.” That is a purely colonial viewpoint.

It also tells you that the colonial viewpoint probably informs all or most of the development efforts.

Aid - whether grants that have inferred strings attached, or contracts to certain companies or individuals as well as loans and the ways debt is a form of economic control, alongside seemingly equal agreements that upon close inspection could be seen to unequally benefit one party are all forms of development that are rooted in continued imperial colonization that robs, sublimates, exploits, imprisons and annihilates all that stands in its path to absolute domination, regardless of delusions of beneficence.

In looking into the legacy Oriel’s Cecil Rhodes of the Rhodes Scholarship program, I was astounded by the many whitewashing accounts of his legacy. I grew up believing slavery was a thing of the past, along with racism. Colonialism was the olden days. In the current cultural pretext it would seem that the only decolonialization needed is our language, which has to be micromanaged lest we cause offense. It reminds me of Jesus’ saying about the white-washed vessel that is dirty on the inside.

My friend, the one who came to my divorce and made sure I was actually able to get divorced that day, is a survivor of sexual molestation. It happened when she was the same age I was trying to get taught Russian at school: 11. She later told me I was the first person who said to her, “It’s not your fault.” The assaulter was the same age Biden referred to himself as when he openly asserted to a group of teachers and teachers union supporters that “she was twelve, I was 30.”

Years later, she married the groomsmen of my first husband, them having met at our wedding. They have two beautiful children. We lost touch eventually, but not before my children wore kilts at her wedding. Recently I learned from a channeled source (Claire Heartsong) that there is a connection between the ancient Hebrews and Irish inhabitants before the Romans - notably the druids. My Jewish dad’s beard was bright autumnal orange-red in the sun, and wonder now, if I might be part Irish, even in this life via is genetic heritage. Who knows? But it’s fun to wonder!

And yet…even as I wonder, I know that Israel is continuing to commit secular atrocities that involved interests that cannot be seen purely as interested in Jewish safety or flourishing. Israel is supported by Germany, the UK and the United States - the same actors Rhodes brought together through the intentions of his fund - the same actors brought together to forge and birth the BD, which far from a popular idea, was introduced in a milieu where most people weren’t so into it other than the ones who bought into it in its early days, mostly, from what I understand, under the influence of Chaim Weizman, who later became the first president of Israel.

A world where Israel commits genocide is a world where it’s a lot easier for ordinary people to justify antisemitism. But Hurzl was the first self-hating Jew -and the founder of zionism.

And so I wonder, what it would be like of all the peoples of the world recognized the sacredness in one another, and simply refused the propaganda?

Did anyone notice that German companies are linked to all the vaccines? Or that Israel “went first” to be experimented on by vaccines that underwent such a lack of proper trials as to be embarrassing to science itself? I wrote this piece on the link between Oxford and the vaccine intended for the developing world. At breakfast today my husband was wondering how his colleague rationalized the excuse for using a vaccine with a high adverse event rate as the “placebo” in astrozeneca trials. There is no rationality to her rational but for the efforts of the propagandists.

In a world free of imperialists and filled with divine-humanity loving one another, sensing the sacred life pulse of God within that we all share aspects of source in form, what would it be like organically emerge as a free species that respects the freedoms of others, yet lives in harmony for the sheer joy of celebrating that we are both one and many?

As a side note, after I completed this article, I got the nudge to look up Saudi Arabia and Germany Treaty. I discovered The German Reich signed a treaty with The Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd in 1929. I also discovered Germany was the largest exporter of weapons to Saudi Arabia and continues to have close and getting closer relationship; in spite of the restrictions it placed on arms exports following the death of Jamal Khashoggi, during a visit from German leadership in 2021, support was pledged in many ways:

“When asked about Germany’s growing ties with the Kingdom, he said: “During the last 12 months we have witnessed a substantial expansion of security cooperation. Global terrorism with its ugly inhumane face requires a coordinated response from the international community.”

He goes on to describe Germany’s role in deradicalization and training Saudi border police, as well as metro police and airport security.

Deiter then goes on to discuss how, in spite of current restrictions on arms exports, Germany can still be counted on to support Saudi Arabia’s military ascendancy:

“Saudi Arabia is also working on an ambitious project that calls for localization of defense industry. When asked about Germany’s possible role in cooperating with the Kingdom in this regard, the German envoy said: “Due to our rather restrictive armament export policy and a restructuring of the German defense industry, our contribution to the establishment of a localized Saudi defense industry might be limited.”

“One of our key competencies still remains the maritime sector with products like the new frigate class 125 and high technology submarines,” he said. The German envoy added: “We have learned that the modernization of the Saudi naval forces will focus in the near future on surface vessels. Perhaps in this field, cooperation opportunities might arise. We are on the other hand proud that the maritime borders of the Kingdom will in the future be even more secure with the use of German patrol vessels.”

Germany and its private sector, Haller said, are also cooperating with Saudi partners in the energy sector as well as in many other area.” H

“The German government established a Round Table where representatives of various Muslim organizations meet regularly with the interior minister and German authorities,” he said.”

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1179291/saudi-arabia