Thread by @Azulay_the_gay

1. When Dani and I lived in Germany, I studied at the university and was the only student among many Germans who, in addition to having good German skills, could also speak Hebrew. My professor invited me to a meeting in his office and said: “I want to recommend you for a project by the Audi company.” The German company gathered a group of translators who would watch video testimonies of Holocaust survivors who had been forced into labor in camps that were run by the company during the Nazi era 🧵

2. It was a project I was accepted to, and I was proud to be part of it. That’s where I met Christian, a good German friend who speaks Arabic and Hebrew better than anyone you know. During our friendship, Christian shared with me a translation project from Arabic to German he was involved in, and when I read it I literally had goosebumps.

3. We lived in Germany during the height of the refugee crisis. Many refugees were coming from Afghanistan or Syria. Christian translated hundreds of testimonies that detailing Syrian refugees with backgrounds of raping, stealing, looting, and, rarely, involvement in terrorism. Why translate, you ask? Radical organizations and NGOs poured huge amounts of money into protecting the refugee’s right to remain in Germany at all costs and fought the state to prevent their deportation.

4. Yes, you heard that right. While the state sought to deport refugee rapists back to their home countries, organizations led by people calling themselves “the left” (if you imagined someone with blue hair and another wearing a keffiyeh scarf, you’re right) fought to protect the rapist refugee’s right to remain in Germany. Their reasoning was that his right to life and protection superseded everything else, despite his past.

5. People always assume I became disillusioned on October 7, but it happened long before that. One of my biggest breaking points was back then when I realized that liberalism was sabotaging itself. When you see that on one hand, people boycott an artist based on mere suspicion, but on the other hand, they do everything to protect a refugee with a history of raping - it was too much for me to handle. Just like the absurdity of LGBTQ+ people supporting Hamas.

6. There’s a difference between saying, “All refugees are rapists,” and saying: Among those coming from Syria, a country ravaged by terrorism and lacking democracy, there’s more sexual violence, and this needs to be addressed. Yes, it’s possible and necessary to discuss these phenomena without fear of being labeled a racist. The tools exist. Pointing out a widespread problem doesn’t make you a racist.

7. Before attending university, I studied German in a state-mandated course. It was a German language course, but at the end, you also had to pass an exam in German culture and history. The exam questions were so absurd I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Is a woman allowed to express her opinions? Do women have the right to their own bodies? Can a woman vote in elections?” Yes, that was the level. Because the people sitting next to me in the course came from countries where women are property, and the punishment for being LGBTQ+ is death.

8. What’s happening in Britain and especially in Europe—the surreal phenomenon of concealing the scale of rape and violence against women by Muslim immigrants—is a terrible issue because at its core, it refuses to acknowledge there’s a problem in certain communities. This doesn’t mean every person in these communities is a rapist, but it does mean there’s a more degrading attitude toward women, more conservative views, and this needs to be addressed.

9. A healthy society is one that can openly discuss the harmful phenomena within it. There’s nothing liberal about being afraid to talk about sexual violence or homophobia, which are more common in certain groups, including Muslims. As long as this is silenced, ignored, and left unaddressed, more radical right-wing movements will emerge, take an important issue that deserves resolution, and address it in an aggressive manner. And violence? It will continue to thrive. A democracy that cannot defend itself is a green card for violent people and a red card for those who believe in democracy.