Felicia Langer

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Felicia Langer (2008)

Felicia-Amalia Langer , née Weit (born December 9, 1930 in Tarnów , Poland ; died June 22, 2018 in Eningen unter Achalm ), was a German-Israeli lawyer , human rights activist , author and recipient of the Right Livelihood Award . In July 2009 she received the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st Class , which, in connection with her Palestinian- friendly attitude to the Middle East conflict, triggered criticism from Jewish and German-Israeli organizations and personalities.

Life

Poland, Soviet Union (1930–1949)

Felicia-Amalia Langer was born in 1930 to Jewish parents in Tarnów, Poland. In 1939 her family fled the German invasion during the attack on Poland in the Soviet Union . Other relatives were murdered by the National Socialists . Her father was imprisoned in the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin and died as a result of his imprisonment.

In 1949 she married Mieczysław Langer (Mieciu, in Israel Moshe) in Breslau , who was the only member of his family who had survived the Nazi persecution of Jews.

Israel (1950–1989)

In 1950 the Langers emigrated to Israel. In 1953 their son was born. In 1959 Felicia Langer began to study law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem . In 1965 she was admitted to the bar and opened her own law firm. Since the Six Day War in 1967, which she saw as a turning point in her life, Langer became politically active. She was the first Israeli lawyer to defend Palestinians from Israeli-occupied territories before Israeli military courts .

In 23 years of legal practice, she has rarely won cases, according to Jackson Diehl of the Washington Post . In 1977 the Israeli Defense Ministry revoked her license to defend Palestinians in Israeli courts in special cases. Among other things, she was no longer allowed to represent conscientious objectors among Israeli soldiers and could be excluded from proceedings at any time due to security concerns. Felicia Langer herself said that her "license" was revoked in the case of conscientious objectors or in special cases ("for security reasons"), but not her license in military courts. In 1979 she successfully defended the mayor of Nablus , Bassam Shaka. He was charged with incitement to terrorism and should be expelled. The Israeli Supreme Court overturned the expulsion.

Felicia Langer was Vice President of the Israeli League for Human Rights and joined the binational, anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian New Communist List ( Rakach ), of which she was a member of the Central Committee. After an internal dispute over the direction, she left the party in 1990. She closed her law firm and moved to Germany with her husband.

Germany (1990-2018)

Felicia Langer settled in the university town of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg in 1990 , where her son Michael Chaim Langer had already achieved a certain level of fame in the cultural field as an actor at the Tübingen State Theater (LTT) and co-founder of the Klezmer ensemble Jontef . In 2008 she also took on German citizenship. She received teaching positions at the Universities of Bremen and Kassel . She became the patron of the Refugee Children Association in Lebanon , which supports Palestinian refugee families. Since March 2009 she has supported the Russell Tribunal on Palestine .

Felicia Langer's center of life was in Tübingen until the end. In June 2018 she succumbed to cancer in a hospice in Eningen unter Achalm .

Political stance

Felicia Langer criticized Israel's policy in the occupied Palestinian territories in her writings, lectures and interviews. Israel had so many settlements built that this amounts to annexation . The construction of settlements undermines the possibilities for a two-state solution. Langer demanded the complete unconditional withdrawal of Israel from the territories conquered in 1967 and a right of return for every descendant of the Palestinian refugees . In 1990 Langer received the Right Livelihood Award for her commitment to the rights of the Palestinians.

Felicia Langer referred to Israel several times as an "apartheid state". In 2002 she said that although the Palestinian terrorist attacks were unjustifiable, Israeli politics had "paved the way" for them. In this connection she agreed with the deputy federal chairman of the FDP , Jürgen Möllemann , who had called the targeted killings of Palestinian terror suspects by Israeli security forces "state terror". In 2003 she wrote an approving preface to a book by Jamal Karsli . In 2005 she received the Erich Mühsam Prize for her “persistent commitment to the human rights of the Palestinian people”. In 2007, she described the “Israeli regime” in the occupied Palestinian territories as “ contemporary apartheid ”.

The 2009 Nürnberger Nachrichten accusation of comparing Israeli military facilities with "concentration camps" was rejected on its website.

Controversy about the Federal Cross of Merit

The then Federal President Horst Köhler awarded Felicia Langer the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class on July 16, 2009 in recognition of her life's work. State Secretary Hubert Wicker presented it to her in the Villa Reitzenstein , the official residence of the Baden-Württemberg Prime Minister Günther Oettinger . In his laudation he praised Langer's commitment “for peace and justice as well as for the protection of human rights”, her commitment to people in need regardless of their nationality or religion, regardless of their personal political, ideological or religious motivation, and remembered their childhood and Youth who were marked by suffering, war, persecution and flight. Many of her family members died in concentration camps.

The publicist Evelyn Hecht-Galinski had suggested this award, Tübingen's Lord Mayor Boris Palmer had supported it. The state government of Baden-Württemberg , led by Oettinger, had accepted his proposal and involved all bodies involved in the usual order process, including the Foreign Office.

The process led to criticism and the like. a. on the part of the Central Council of Jews in Germany , the New York American Jewish Committee , some Jewish communities and the German-Israeli Society . Henryk Broder suspected that Köhler made the decision in ignorance of Langer's "anti-Israeli statements". The Vice President of the Central Council of Jews, Dieter Graumann , stated in an interview that Germany had honored someone “who is professionally, chronically and obsessively engaged in demonizing Israel”.

Arno Lustiger , Ralph Giordano and Arno Hamburger announced the return of their Federal Crosses of Merit if Langer's honor is not revoked. She compared Israel's Palestinian policy with the Holocaust and was a long-standing “enemy of Israel” with “devastating effects” for, according to Giordano, a widespread need in Germany to “relieve oneself of one's own guilt by criticizing Israel”. Langer said, however, that she did not compare Israeli foreign policy towards the Palestinians with the Holocaust, but described it as apartheid policy. Hamburger returned his awards, while Giordano later withdrew his announcement, but maintained his criticism of Langer. The Israeli travel guide Motke Shomrat, who had received a Federal Cross of Merit for his advocacy for reconciliation between Israelis and Germans, gave it back on July 24, 2009 because Langer had agreed to anti-Israeli statements by Ahmadinejad, which Felicia Langer rejected. A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry criticized the award of the Federal Cross of Merit, saying that Langer had consistently supported the forces that promote violence, death and extremism.

The educator Micha Brumlik criticized Langer's demeanor, argumentation and choice of words as too one-sided and Langer's suggested comparison between Israeli occupation policy and the Holocaust as absurd. To blame only Israel for the situation in the Middle East, he saw as an anti-Semitic argumentation model. Nevertheless, she “possibly deserved the Federal Cross of Merit” because she had drawn attention to the fact that the human rights of the Arab population of the West Bank occupied by Israel were constantly being violated.

Boris Palmer and Baden-Württemberg's state government defended the award: It was for life's work, not Langer's ideology. Langer himself described the criticism of her honor on July 23, 2009 as a "smear campaign" aimed at suppressing criticism of Israel and refused to return the Federal Cross of Merit. She was convinced that she was doing something good for the Israeli people, not just for the Palestinians.

Fonts

  • The time of the stones. From the Hebrew. Lamuv, Göttingen 1989, ISBN 3-88977-379-6 .
  • Anger and hope. From the Hebrew. Lamuv, Göttingen 1991, ISBN 3-88977-440-7 .
  • Bridge of dreams. An Israeli goes to Germany. From the Hebrew. Lamuv, Göttingen 1994, ISBN 3-88977-385-0 .
  • Where hatred knows no borders: an indictment. From Hebrew and from English. Lamuv, Göttingen 1995, ISBN 3-88977-397-4 .
  • "Let us live like humans!" Appearance and Reality in Palestine. From Hebrew and from English. Lamuv, Göttingen 1999, ISBN 3-88977-538-1 .
  • Miecius later report: a youth between the ghetto and Theresienstadt. From the Hebrew. Lamuv, Göttingen 1999, ISBN 3-88977-539-X .
  • Quo vadis, Israel? The new intifada of the Palestinians. From the English. Lamuv, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-88977-615-9 .
  • Middle East fire source. Or: the tolerated hypocrisy. From the English. Lamuv, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-88977-644-2 .
  • The woman who is never silent. Stations of a life. Lamuv, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 3-88977-664-7 .
  • The disenfranchisement of the Palestinians. 40 years of Israeli occupation. From the English. Lamuv, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-88977-680-9 .
  • Fight for hope. Lamuv, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 3-88977-688-4 .
  • With body and soul - autobiographical notes. Zambon-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2012, ISBN 978-3-88975-201-7 .
  • Until the last breath . COSMICS Verlag, Neu-Isenburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-9817922-9-4 .

Awards

literature

  • Gideon Levy : מותה של גוֹלת המצפון פליציה לנגר/ Holocaust Survivor and Palestinians' Rights Lawyer Felicia Langer Dies in Exile at 87. In: Haaretz . June 24, 2018.
  • Angela Sterzenbach: Felicia Langer. Human rights lawyer . In: Lots of women. Detected in Baden-Württemberg. 47 portraits, Stuttgart: Theiss 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1525-1 , pp. 93–96.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Julius Jamal: In memory of a great humanist: Felicia Langer. In: The love of freedom. June 22, 2018, accessed June 22, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b Matthias Drobinski : Felicia Langer: Jewish and human rights activist with distance from Israel. In: sueddeutsche.de . July 23, 2009, archived from the original on July 28, 2009 ; accessed on June 22, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b c Cross of Merit 1st Class for Felicia-Amalia Langer from Tübingen. In: Baden-Württemberg state portal. July 16, 2009, accessed June 22, 2018 .
  4. ↑ A later contemporary witness without bitterness. In: Schwäbisches Tagblatt Online . March 29, 2015, accessed June 22, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Erika Sieberts: "Israel is peace-resistant": BZ interview with Felicia Langer, who warned of the new Israeli government in Kippenheim. In: Badische Zeitung . March 23, 2009, archived from the original on July 18, 2012 ; accessed on June 22, 2018 .
  6. ↑ a b Michael Hesse: The agony of the occupation. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger . June 18, 2007, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Jackson Diehl: Israeli Defender of Arab Rights Quits in 'Despair and Disgust'; Lawyer for Palestinians Rarely Won a Case in 23 Years. In: The Washington Post . May 13, 1990, p. A23 , archived from the original on July 30, 2012 ; accessed on June 23, 2018 .
  8. ↑ a b c d e f g h Felicia Langer: Person. In: Felicia Langer's website. February 9, 2014, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  9. ^ A b c Norman Paech : Hans Litten Prize to Barabara Hüsing and Felicia Langer: Laudation for the award of the Hans Litten Prize of the VDJ on February 5, 1988 in Dachau. Association of Democratic Jurists, archived from the original on October 3, 2013 ; accessed on June 23, 2018 .
  10. ^ Marion Woolfson: Bassam Shaka, portrait of a Palestinian London. Third World Center, 1981, ISBN 0-86199-009-9 .
  11. ^ Helena Cobban: The Palestinian Liberation Organization. People, Power and Politics. Cambridge 1984, p. 189.
    Further reading in: Constanze Krakau: The role of the Palestinian minority in the political life of Israel 1976–1996 (= studies on the contemporary history of the Middle East and North Africa. 14). Berlin, Hamburg, Münster 2005, p. 66f.
  12. ^ Refugee children in Lebanon eV: Rosa Wainer Scholarship for Palestinian schoolgirls
  13. ^ Russell Tribunal on Palestine: Patrons - Members of the Support Committee
  14. ↑ Felicia Langer: Speech at the 9th Conference of Palestinians in Europe on May 7, 2011 in Wuppertal. Erhard Arendt, accessed on June 23, 2018 .
  15. ↑ a b Felicia Langer (1990, Israel). Right Livelihood Award, accessed June 13, 2018 .
  16. ^ Arn Strohmeyer: Felicia Langer in conversation. In: Virtuelles Magazin 2000. April 22, 2000, archived from the original on June 16, 2012 ; accessed on June 23, 2018 .
  17. ↑ a b "Israel's governments have always been peace-resistant". An interview with Felicia Langer. In: young world . June 5, 2007, accessed on June 23, 2018 (reproduced on the website of the Peace Research Working Group ).
  18. ^ Karl Pfeifer: Summer talk of the Vienna Greens: Felicia Langer agrees with Möllemann. In: judentum.net . August 22, 2002. Retrieved June 23, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Erhard Arendt: Muzzle for Germany: facts, analysis, clarification on the anti-Semitism debate. In: Palestinian portal on the website of Erhard Arendt. January 23, 2002, accessed June 23, 2018 .
  20. ↑ Langer drew Nazi comparisons. In: Nürnberger Nachrichten . September 17, 2009, p. 9 , accessed June 23, 2018 .
  21. ↑ Ulrike Pfeil: Award triggers massive protests. In: Schwäbisches Tagblatt . July 22, 2009, archived from the original on September 13, 2012 ; accessed on June 24, 2018 . Stefan Hupka: The Cross with Merit: The Israel critic Felicia Langer is under attack. In: Badische Zeitung . July 21, 2009, archived from the original on July 25, 2009 ; accessed on June 24, 2018 .
  22. ↑ a b Benjamin Weinthal: Jews to return German honors in protest. In: Jerusalem Post . July 22, 2009, accessed June 24, 2018 .
  23. ↑ DIG President Gerster: Honoring Ms. Langer was a serious mistake. Mistakes have to be corrected! Honoring Mrs. Langer was a serious mistake. Mistakes have to be corrected! German-Israeli Society Erfurt, September 27, 2009, archived from the original on November 18, 2009 ; accessed on June 24, 2018 .
  24. ^ Henryk Broder: Dispute over the Cross of Merit for Felicia Langer: Fig leaf of a bad conscience. In: Spiegel Online . July 23, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2018 .
  25. ↑ Federal Cross of Merit : Köhler comes under pressure over the award. In: Zeit Online . July 21, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2018 .
  26. ↑ Arno Lustiger: Open letter to Horst Köhler. (PDF, 39 kB) July 21, 2009, accessed June 24, 2018 .
  27. ↑ Ralph Giordano: Open letter to Horst Köhler. (PDF, 11.1 MB) Spiegel Online, July 21, 2009, accessed June 24, 2018 .
  28. ↑ Michael Kasperowitsch: Arno Hamburger returns his medals. In: Nürnberger Nachrichten . September 2, 2009, archived from the original on February 11, 2013 ; accessed on June 24, 2018 .
  29. ↑ Ralph Giordano: Guest Comment: One more word about Felicia Langer's award: I'm still shocked. In: The world . August 6, 2009, accessed June 24, 2018 .
  30. ↑ Ulrich W. Sahm: "With great pain" Federal Cross of Merit returned. In: n-tv . July 24, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2018 .
  31. ↑ Motke Shomrat: "A shame". In: The Jewish. July 20, 2009, archived from the original on July 28, 2009 ; accessed on June 24, 2018 .
  32. ↑ Benjamin Weinthal: case Felicia Langer: Israel criticized Köhler because orders for a Jew. In: Der Tagesspiegel . July 24, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2018 .
  33. ↑ Veit Medick: Anti-Semitism researcher Brumlik: "In the matter Ms. Langer has earned the Federal Cross of Merit". In: Spiegel Online. July 22, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2018 .
  34. ↑ Langer Honor: Attacks against Palmer. In: Schwäbisches Tagblatt . July 23, 2009, archived from the original on July 30, 2009 ; accessed on June 24, 2018 .
  35. ↑ Felicia Langer does not want to return the Federal Cross of Merit. In: Focus . July 23, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2018 .
  36. ↑ Joachim Scholl: Felicia Langer: An answer is beneath my dignity - Felicia Langer in conversation. In: Deutschlandradio Kultur . July 23, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2018 .
  37. ↑ 6th award, January 18, 1991. Bruno Kreisky Foundation for Services to Human Rights, accessed on July 25, 2009 .
  38. ↑ Erich Mühsam Prize. Erich-Mühsam-Gesellschaft, accessed on July 24, 2009 . Andreas Schnell: Forward and don't forget. In: The daily newspaper (taz). March 14, 2005, accessed July 24, 2009 .
  39. ^ Human rights award 2006 to Felicia Langer. (PDF 10 kB) Society for the Protection of Citizenship and Human Dignity, December 5, 2006, accessed on July 25, 2009 .
  40. ↑ Arendt Erhard: Felicia Langer: A life for justice. In: The Palestine Portal. January 18, 2012, accessed July 25, 2009 .
personal data
SURNAME Langer, Felicia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Langer, Felicia-Amalia (full name); Far, Felicia-Amalia (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Israeli lawyer and human rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH December 9, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Tarnow , Poland
DATE OF DEATH June 22, 2018
Place of death Eningen under Achalm