DAWBIt's still October 7th.
After the 7th of October, the call was never again. Not an inch for anti-Semitism and anti-Israel hatred. The world can never be the same. Never again was now.
With its traditional Jewish roots, the personal history of Borussen with the Holocaust, its antifascist fan history, its friends with Hapoels and Maccabis, and its pro-Israel stance, Tennis Borussia was a sad exception to the rule of fan-scenes across Europe that generally pretended that nothing had really happened, even supported the horrors of October 7th or spread the propaganda of Israel’s enemies.
But this TeBe fan stance was also limited. The only Israel flags were from the vague DAWB community, and the yellow “Bring them Home” ribbons that we give away for free were often seen as a demand on the Israeli PM, not on the barbarian terrorists of Hamas. Even in the home match against Makkabi, a “solidarity” banner calling for the release of the hostages was held up with the demand to stop the war, the war that was desperately trying to create the conditions to free them at the incredible risk of young Israeli lives, some of them our friends accused in the press of war crimes.
The old antifascist consensus of “Germany shut up” was replaced with subtle criticism of the Israelis, because Block E knew better, and this as solidarity. As Israelis desperately needed real international solidarity to deal with the actual elimination driven anti-Semitism they faced on many war fronts, Block E didn't just ask for the war to stop, but deflected on remembering dead Jews. A Fanzine gave us a "Nelly Neppach Comic" of all things, there was a table tennis tournament in her name, and once again we were offered free cleaning materials to polish the memorial stones. Now we are asked how to celebrate Hans Rosenthal's 100th birthday. Ideas please per zoom conference. All of these things have various merit in normal times, no doubt. Nonetheless, at the same time after October 7th Israelis are hiding in bomb shelters due to murderous rocket attacks and fighting on the front lines to defend the Jewish state.
Whereas the city has seen weekly, sometimes daily, violent anti-Semitic anti-Israel demonstrations, whilst anti-Semitic incidents in Germany have rocketed, there has been little from the active fanscene condemning this. On the few pro-Israel demonstrations organised, even those from established antifascist groups, the number of Block E faces could be counted on a hand. Only the horrific and almost murderous attacks on Bajszel created a response, as the fan meeting moved there for a few beers,
Whilst Israeli hostages still remain, if even still alive, almost 18 months later, those released reporting torture, starvation and immense cruelty, the TBAF newsletter, in view of the upcoming election, suggests TeBe fans join with the mass demonstrations against the AfD on the streets. Regardless of the awfulness of much of the AfD, these demonstrations wipe the slate clean for many of the organisations marching along against “fascism” that continue to see Israel as the war-criminal aggressor, and seek to refund Hamas for another chance at finishing the job. The same “Querfront gegen Rechts” we criticised in the past, as if nothing ever happened on October 7th.
And of course, no reflection on why TeBe Fans wanted BLM on the back of the shirts . thankfully stopped albeit maybe for the wrong reasons by the NOFV - or how the FFF group were allowed to have their stand in Block E, despite criticism by DAWB in general. After October 7th we saw clearly how these groups ended up. We told you so.
Today, the in Germany hated US President said that the hostages must be all released by Saturday noon, or else. Whether he means that, or not, this must have been the reaction to October 7th by all the civilised world, and most certainly from a self declared anti-fascist fan scene that claims in its “identity” to be against anti-Semitism.
For Israelis and for us, it is still October 7th. The hostages must be released now. Hamas must be destroyed. No cooperation or whitewashing of organisations that don’t share this anti-fascist and humanitarian goal.
Am Yisrael Chai,
DAWB and friends.
It's still October 7th
It's still October 7th
Weapons for Ukraine!