Party in a madhouse.

• Author: Broder, Henryk
• Position: German pacifism as a reaction to terrorism; excerpt from 'Die Deutschen und der Terror' - Brief Article - Excerpt

Following the terrorist attacks in the United States a wave of pacifist excitement swept through Germany. It was driven by two ideas: what did the Western world do to the perpetrators so that they saw reason to become as nasty as they did? And: what do we have to do so they spare us in the future? Retribution and, worse even, revenge would be ruled out; instead the dialogue between the cultures should be intensified. Some people demanded "emergency measures" to fight the root causes of terrorism, which they thought to be poverty and hunger in the third world....

It seemed to be a party in a madhouse ... and the motto of the celebration was: "No war, nowhere." There has never been such a thing as a just war, one was to hear, a war would not solve a single problem, but rather create more suffering and injustice....

Any condemnation of the terror attacks against America came with a "but": But isn't it true that the victims share some of the guilt? Wasn't it...