Focus on Europe

Germany's Role in the Quest for Middle East Peace by Geoffrey Weichselbaum, Middle East and North Africa Programmes Manager,
European Centre for Common Ground

When the Dolphinarium club bombing occurred in Tel Aviv on June 1, 2001, German Minister of Foreign Affairs Joschka Fischer was one of the first people to see the terrible aftermath. That night, a Hamas suicide bomber blew himself up outside the nightclub, killing more than 20 young Israelis just a few meters from the hotel where Fischer was staying as part of his tour of Middle Eastern capitals.

After direct and intensive shuttling between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, he convinced Mr. Arafat to call for a cease-fire that Mr. Sharon accepted. Fischer later came back to the region to assist the parties in the long-awaited Peres-Arafat meeting at the end of September 2001. Since then, Fischer has played an instrumental role in pushing for diplomatic progress within Europe and towards a re-involvement of the United States in the region.

Like other major European countries, Germany has a long history of relations with the Middle East. Unlike other countries, however, it has become the largest European commercial counterpart of many countries in the region. As an economic superpower, Germany has achieved that position by exploiting the consequences of its history that differentiate it from the two other colonial powers, France and the United Kingdom.

At first glance, the equation looks simple: the region remains the major source of energy for the German economy and, conversely, is a large export market for German goods. Traditional branches of production like chemical products, machine tools, textile, iron, and steel answer specific needs of Middle Eastern markets. However, there is an important difference between Germany and other European states - namely, its special relationship with Israel.

Germany and the Peace Process
Germany feels a moral responsibility towards Israel because of the Nazi persecution of the European Jews during World War II; current relations between the two countries must therefore be understood in that context. Both countries have worked actively to build up strong links between their governments and economies. Because of these factors, "the German-Israeli relationship is and will remain a special one."[1]

On the Palestinian side, Fischer is indeed perceived as an honest broker. Unlike other European countries, his privileged standing comes from the political credibility he has developed with the Israelis. But it is also based on the personal trust that emerged from his own as well as his party's positions that very early on favored the creation of a Palestinian state. An important final element in the equation is the position that Berlin occupies as the primary direct and indirect funder of the Palestinian Authority. Ms. Julia Scherf, head of the Heinrich Boll Foundation in Tel Aviv, explains that "...there is definitely continuity in the policies of Joshka Fischer. He has forcefully and adamantly supported Israel as a Jewish state, while at the same time realizing early on the need for creating a viable Palestinian state. His personal approach and what he has achieved since last summer have helped him to gain trust. Both sides talked to him due to his personal integrity."[2]

The window of opportunity for the region that emerged in the 1990s after the second Gulf War (such as the Madrid Conference, the Oslo accords, etc.) allowed Germany to reduce its efforts to avoid political frictions resulting from its close relationships with both Israel and many Arab countries. In addition, as the authors of a recent article published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung explain: "For Germany in particular, peace between the Arabs and Israelis would ... reduce the fears associated with both maintaining the special German Israeli relationship and pursuing strong, good relations with the countries of the Arab world."[3]

Convinced that the Israelis and the Palestinians will not be able to come to an agreement by themselves in the current circumstances, Joschka Fischer has been advocating for the US to re-enter the Middle East peace process. During international and European meetings, he has also been pushing for the parties to return to the negotiating table.

The German government is fully aware of the limitations of European Union diplomacy and knows that the US, Europe, and Germany have complementary roles to play in the Middle East. Dr. Ludger Volmer, Head of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has further stated: "It would be totally wrong to think that the Europeans have a chance of solving the conflict in the region without the Americans taking the lead.... The heads of state and government agreed at the G7/G8 Summit in Genoa that the whole international community should try to act together, as harmoniously as possible, on the basis of the Mitchell plan. In this the Europeans have a role, the Germans have a role, and the Americans the leading role...."[4]

German Political Foundations
Part of Germany's historical legacy in the second half of the twentieth century is the unique work that its six political foundations have been doing in the Middle East. These foundations have a long history of political education inside the country and are closely linked with particular political parties, even though they have a distinct legal status. They began their activities on the international scene in the 1960s, coinciding with the creation of the German Ministry of Cooperation for Development. During that time, political foundations working inside Germany on civic and political education started to expand their work into the international arena.

Although they are called foundations, the use of that word can be misleading in this context. In the United States, and to a certain extent in Europe, this term refers to philanthropic institutions with substantial amounts of money that they distribute through different organizations (NGOs, think thanks, etc.) to finance projects in various sectors (civil society, private sector, research, etc.). The German political foundations are private educational foundations that get their money from the German government (i.e., from public funds) rather than from the parties. A political struggle in the 1980s over party funding resulted in a constitutional court judgment prohibiting direct financial linkages between parties and foundations. The foundations now get their annual funding directly from the state budget.

Beyond financial connections, however, each German foundation is ideologically linked to a political party. The Konrad Adenauer Foundation is affiliated with the Christian Democrat movement; the Friedrich Ebert Foundation is linked with the Social Democratic Movement; the Heinrich Boll Foundation with the Green party; the Friedrich Naumann Foundation to the Free Democrats, the Hanns Seidel Foundation is connected to the Christian Conservative Bavarian Party; and the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation to the Democratic Socialists.

These links, and the philosophical and political orientations that underpin them, play a role in each foundation's priorities and choice of partners. For example, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation would more naturally coordinate with and support major trade unions, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation would rather focus on sustaining liberal-minded institutions and chambers of commerce, and the Heinrich Boll Foundation, with its connections to the Green Party, would prefer to work with local environmentalist and women's groups.

Bringing Civil Society in the Middle East Closer
Former German chancellor Willy Brandt once said, "International co-operation is far too important to be left to governments alone." It is from this perspective that the work of the German foundations in the Middle East must be understood. The six foundations are non-governmental, non-profit capacity building, civic educational organizations. The two most important ones, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, have been working in the region for more than 30 years, first to strengthen dialogue and foster reconciliation between Germany and Israel, and later to engage in sustaining democratic transition and economic development in the territories administered by the Palestinian Authority.

In addition, most of these foundations have provided, directly or indirectly, a platform for dialogue between the major parties in the peace process. This came out of the realization that dialogue between the people of the Middle East was crucial to promoting peace, stability, and economic development. Israeli and Palestinian journalists, lawyers, academics, teachers, and students have taken part in joint activities and seminars sponsored by the foundations in the hope of promoting better understanding between the two peoples.

For more details about the six political foundations and their activities in the region, please consult their websites:

Friedrich Ebert Foundation
http://www.fes.de/
Middle East Regional Offices: http://orae.fes.de:8081/fes/docs/naher_osten/index.html
(includes links to country-focused sites in English)

Konrad Adenauer Foundation
http://www.kas.de/stiftung/englisch/intro.html

Heinrich Boll Foundation
http://www.boell.de/asp/frameset_en.html

Friedrich Naumann Foundation
Middle East Regional Offices: http://www.naumann-meda.org/meda_offices.htm

Hanns Seidel Foundation (in German):
http://www.hanns-seidel-stiftung.de/default.htm

Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (in German):
http://www.rosaluxemburgstiftung.de/Aktuell/index.htm

The author may be contacted at: gw@eccg.be

Notes
1. Hermann Grohe, Christoph Moosbauer, Volker Perthes and Christian Sterzing, "Evenhanded, Not Neutral; Points of Reference for a German Middle East Policy," Frankfurther Allgemeine Zeitung, September 12, 2001.
2. Conversation with Julia Scherf, head of the Heinrich Boll Foundation in Israel, November 29, 2001.
3. Hermann Grohe, Christoph Moosbauer, Volker Perthes and Christian Sterzing, "Evenhanded, Not Neutral; Points of Reference for a German Middle East Policy," Frankfurther Allgemeine Zeitung, September 12, 2001.
4. The Situation in the Middle East - Interview with Minister of State Dr Ludger Volmer with Westdeutscher Rundfunk on 3 August 2001 (excerpts), website of the German Federal Foreign Office, .

Bulletin of Regional Cooperation in the Middle East Winter 2001-2002 Copyright 2004 Search for Common Ground