Israel on Sunday barred German author Gunter Grass from entering the Jewish state, citing a poem in which he accuses Israel of plotting Iran's annihilation and threatening world peace.
“Interior Minister Eli Yishai declared Gunter Grass persona non grata in Israel,” said a statement from Yishai's office.
“Gunter's poem is an attempt to fan the flames of hate against the state of Israel and the Israeli people,” it quoted Mr. Yishai as saying.
In his poem “What must be said,” the 84-year-old longtime leftist activist wrote of his concern that Israel “could wipe out the Iranian people” with a “first strike” due to the threat it sees in Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.
“Why do I only say now, aged and with my last ink: the atomic power Israel is endangering the already fragile world peace?” reads the poem, which was published on Wednesday in the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
The poem sparked outrage in Israel, with officials from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on down criticising Grass. Mr. Netanyahu on Thursday called Mr. Grass's poem “shameful.”
“If Gunter wants to continue disseminating his distorted and mendacious works I advise him to do it from Iran where he will find a supportive audience,” said Yishai.
Mr. Grass, author of the renowned anti—war novel “The Tin Drum,” sparked outrage in 2006 when he revealed, six decades after World War II, that he had been a member of the notorious Waffen SS.
Israel is the sole if undeclared nuclear power in West Asia.
People of the World should read the ' The Wandering Who ' by Gilad Atzmon
He tells tales of Israel ,Zionism, and the Jewish people. It is very eye popping to read it. How they try to control the minds of people in their favour by instant dialogs and newspaper/television writings. It shows the Jewishness of the people .
Gunter Grass deserves it - after all his Waffen SS blood had to show up sooner or later. Presumably he would praise Adolf Hitler for the holocaust. If a major political faction like Hamas simply refuses to acknowledge the presence of Israel, how does Grass expect peace to prevail in that troubled area? Israel has every right to protect itself from destruction and in today's world, a nuclear arsenal is the best deterrent in this regard.
Given what Grass has to say about today's Israel, I have little doubt that he would consider it an honor to be declared persona non grata by Israel. He is not exactly dying to visit the occupationist, apartheid state of Israel!
Israel is rightly concerned about Grass stains as it fight turf wars and
turns the neighboring yards into killing fields in its efforts to mow
down all weeds and critics who keep appearing no matter how much the IDF
gardeners try to uproot all native flowers in the "Garden of Eden" in
Palestine. Israel is trying to censor all criticism of its illegal and
war criminal activities. Thanks to the internet and continuous news
coverage, it will no longer be possible for Israel to get away from its
war crimes and due justice at the ICC.
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