Putting Berlin between Beirut and Jerusalem

The German navy will soon be stationed off the coast of Lebanon. That's a development sure to have an impact on Arab perceptions of Germany, which is shifting from being a widely respected observer in the region to actively intervening in the Arab-Israeli conflict. But can Berlin hold Arab sympathies while clearly committing itself to protecting Israel?

Germany has a lot of friends in Beirut. During the soccer World Cup two months ago, the Lebanese cheered for the German team, the favorite of many, right up until the semi-finals, when Germany lost to Italy.

Three days after the final, war broke out in the Middle East. That the German team is popular in Lebanon was made clear by the thousands of German flags that were still attached to Lebanese houses and cars for weeks into the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. They were on display in places as different as the Sunni city of Tripoli, the Christian-dominated, wine-cultivating villages of the Bekaa Valley, and the heavily bombed Shiite suburbs of Beirut.

No other Western power could rival Germany's popularity -- not the United States, which has few friends in the Middle East right now, and not Great Britain, the old colonial power. Even France comes up short despite helping push the Syrians out of Lebanon...

It is indeed true that Germany and the Arabs have old ties. I am not speaking about the irrelevant BS between Hitler and the Mufti of Jerusalem during WWII, who should have known that his racial background was not that different to the one of the Jews. If Hitler would have succeeded, the Mufti and his people would have gone into the ovens of Auschwitz sooner or later. But that is another issue.

I.e. during the crusades in 1229 a.D. the German Emperor Frederick II did not attempt to take Jerusalem by force of arms. Instead, he negotiated restitution of Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem to the Kingdom with sultan Al-Kamil, the Ayyubid ruler of the region in that time, who was nervous about possible war with his relatives who ruled Syria and Mesopotamia and wished to avoid further trouble from the Christians. The intelligent way Frederic solved some basic problems between the Christians and the Muslims (regrettably only for a decade) is still present to many intellectual people of the Middle East and gives still hope to those who dream of a peaceful solution.

Even the "God" of German literature Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was fascinated of the Orient. He wrote his famous "West-Oestlicher-Divan" , in which he admires the culture of the ME.

During WWI Turkey was one of the closest allies of Germany. Today the existance of a Turkish minority in Germany is only in parts a problem. Most of those Turks adopted the German way of living and act as a cultural bridge between their old and new home, although it is true that there is also lots of islamic fundamental scum among them.

What I want to say is, that Germany has to loose something in that mission. It is much more to us than just sending some soldiers into a godforsaken region like Kongo or Afghanistan. The backing of Israel may cost us many sympathies in the Arab world, but it is worth the price.

And still Muslims put bombs on German trains and kidnap Germans, etc.

That is true. Anyway the extent can not be compared with combatant nations in the WOT like the US or the UK. All in all the situation in Germany is not that alarming. This mission could change that completely.

But - as I already said - it is worth the price. It is in the interest of the civilized world as a whole if Germany will carry more of the burden that terrorism left.

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