The Moral Triangle: Germans, Israelis, Palestinians
Berlin is home to Europe’s largest Palestinian diaspora community and one of the world’s largest Israeli diaspora communities. Germany’s guilt about the Nazi Holocaust has led to a public disavowal of anti-Semitism and strong support for the Israeli state. Meanwhile, Palestinians in Berlin report experiencing increasing levels of racism and Islamophobia.
In The Moral Triangle Sa’ed Atshan and Katharina Galor draw on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with Israelis, Palestinians, and Germans in Berlin to explore these asymmetric relationships in the context of official German policies, public discourse, and the private sphere.
They show how these relationships stem from narratives surrounding moral responsibility, the Holocaust, the Israel/Palestine conflict, and Germany’s recent welcoming of Middle Eastern refugees. They also point to spaces for activism and solidarity among Germans, Israelis, and Palestinians in Berlin that can help foster restorative justice and account for multiple forms of trauma. Highlighting their interlocutors’ experiences, memories, and hopes, Atshan and Galor demonstrate the myriad ways in which migration, trauma, and contemporary state politics are inextricably linked.
Reviews
“The Moral Triangle takes up one of the most complex topics in the contemporary world: the ethically fraught relationships between Germans, Israelis, and Palestinians. But Sa’ed Atshan and Katharina Galor's book is also much more than an original and urgently needed study; it is itself an ethical document that exemplifies how scholarship can confront thorny moral and political problems with generosity, nuance, and a strong sense of restorative justice. This uniquely powerful book will make a significant and salutary intervention for both academic and general readerships.” -- Michael Rothberg, author of ― The Implicated Subject: Beyond Victims and Perpetrators
“[The Moral Triangle] shines in its impressionistic and fast-paced reportage style. Galor and Atshan tap into narratives of perpetrators and victims, trauma and its afterlives, responsibility and reconciliation, morality, and memory.” -- Anna-E. Younes ― Journal of Palestine Studies
“Guilt and a sense of culpability for their country’s past crimes against the Jewish people have led many Germans—particularly the country’s government—to adopt highly supportive positions vis-a-vis Israel. In The Moral Triangle, scholars Saed Atshan and Katharina Galor dare to explore the sensitive intricacies of this issue. . . . The results of their work are fascinating and groundbreaking.” -- Dale Sprusansky ― Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
