Gunter Grass: Israel Is the Problem
German Nobel literature laureate Gunter Grass published a poem Wednesday in which he said that Israel’s nuclear program is a threat to world peace.
In his poem, the 85-year-old author claims that Israel’s nuclear reactor – and not Iran’s – presents a threat to world peace. Grass’ poem calls for Germany to cease supplying Israel with submarines, and warns against an Israeli strike on Iran.
The poem, entitled “What must be said,” will be published on Wednesday in the New York Times, the Deutsche Zeitung, and La Republica. In the poem, Grass writes that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a “big mouth,” and that the intentions of the Iranian nuclear program are not proven.
Grass also claims that “Israel’s nuclear potential has been stealthily growing for years,” without being under any kind of international supervision. Grass believes that Israel is planning to arm submarines recently purchased from Germany with nuclear warheads.
“Germany could be responsible for a crime that can be foreseen,” Grass said.
Grass achieved fame with his first novel “The Tin Drum.” Many of his stories have been translated into Hebrew and English. In 2006, Grass admitted for the first time to serving in Hitler’s Waffen SS during the Second World War. Today, Grass is an active member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30