Matthias Küntzel
Encyclopedia
Matthias Küntzel is a German
author
and a political scientist. He is a research associate
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
and a member of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
.
of Germany’s Green Party
. In 1991, he received his doctorate
, summa cum laude, in Political Science at the University of Hamburg
. His thesis Bonn & the Bomb. German Politics and the Nuclear Option, London: Pluto Press
was in English
in 1995. In 2004, he has been named a research associate at the Vidal Sassoon International Centre for the Study of Antisemitism
(SICSA) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Since 2001, his main field of research and writing have been anti-Semitism in current Islam
ic thinking, Islamism
, Islamism and National Socialism, Iran
, German and Europe
an policies towards the Middle East
and Iran. Among others, he wrote for The New Republic
, the Wall Street Journal and Internationale Politik
. In 2006 he became a member of the Board of Directors of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
.
. In 2004, he was a panelist at the "Lessons & Legacies VIII International Conference on the Holocaust: From Generation to Generation" at Brown University
. In 2005, he discovered antisemitic tracts at the Iranian stands at the Frankfurt Book Fair
: an incident he wrote about in the Wall Street Journal. He was a panelist at the 2006 Paris conference "Les démocraties face au défi islamiste" (The democracies in the face of the Islamist challenge) organised by the Center for Security Policy
and L’institut pour la Défense de la Démocratie
. He organized the 1999 conference "Die Goldhagen-Debatte: Bilanz und Perspektiven" (The Goldhagen-Debate: results and perspectives) of the Heinrich Böll Foundation
, Germany, with Daniel Goldhagen
, Andrei Markovits
, Wolfgang Wippermann, Jürgen Elsässer, et al. in Potsdam
/Germany.
in England on the topic ‘Hitler’s Legacy: Islamic Antisemitism in the Middle East.’ The university's student Islamic society complained about what they called the lecture's "provocative" title and the University removed the words "Hitler" and "Islamic" with the title amended to read: "The Nazi Legacy: The Export of Anti-Semitism to the Middle East." However, several hours before the talk was due to take place, the talk was unexpectedly cancelled due to "security concerns," following protest e-mails from some of the university's Muslim students claiming the lecture was an "open racist attack".
Dr. Küntzel said he had given similar addresses (at Yale University
, as well as universities in Jerusalem and Vienna
) around the world and there had been no problems. "I know this is sometimes a controversial topic," he said, "but I am accustomed to that and I have the ability to calm people down. It's not a problem for me at all. My impression was that they wanted to avoid the issue in order to keep the situation calm. My feeling is that this is a kind of censorship."
Dr. Küntzel also said that the contents of emails described to him did not overtly threaten violence but "they were very, very strongly worded". He added: "It's stupid, because I also talk about Christian anti-semitism." Members of the German department at Leeds accused the university of "selling-out" academic freedom
.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and a political scientist. He is a research associate
Research associate
The title of research associate is used to denote an academic research position at a university or similar institution. A research associate usually conducts research under the supervision of a principal investigator. In contrast to a research assistant or research officer, a research associate...
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
and a member of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East is an independent non-profit international community network of academic scholars, which according to its founder, conducts "pro-Israel advocacy"...
.
Career
From 1984 to 1988, Küntzel was a senior advisor of the Federal Parliamentary FractionBundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
of Germany’s Green Party
Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
. In 1991, he received his doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
, summa cum laude, in Political Science at the University of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
. His thesis Bonn & the Bomb. German Politics and the Nuclear Option, London: Pluto Press
Pluto Press
Pluto Press is a radical, progressive, independent publisher based in London. Pluto Press specialises in "progressive, critical perspectives in politics and the social sciences", and describes itself as "one of the world’s leading radical publishers". It has published authors such as Noam Chomsky,...
was in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
in 1995. In 2004, he has been named a research associate at the Vidal Sassoon International Centre for the Study of Antisemitism
Vidal Sassoon International Centre for the Study of Antisemitism
The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism was established in 1982 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem by an international group of scholars, as an interdisciplinary research center dedicated to an independent, non-political approach to the accumulation and...
(SICSA) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Since 2001, his main field of research and writing have been anti-Semitism in current Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic thinking, Islamism
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
, Islamism and National Socialism, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, German and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an policies towards the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and Iran. Among others, he wrote for The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, the Wall Street Journal and Internationale Politik
Internationale Politik
Internationale Politik is the journal of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für auswärtige Politik . It provides authoritative publications on contemporary topics under current editor Sylke Tempel....
. In 2006 he became a member of the Board of Directors of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East is an independent non-profit international community network of academic scholars, which according to its founder, conducts "pro-Israel advocacy"...
.
Work
In 2003, he delivered the Keynote Address at the Conference on "Genocide and Terrorism – Probing the Mind of the Perpetrator" at Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. In 2004, he was a panelist at the "Lessons & Legacies VIII International Conference on the Holocaust: From Generation to Generation" at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
. In 2005, he discovered antisemitic tracts at the Iranian stands at the Frankfurt Book Fair
Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. As to the number of visitors, the Turin Book Fair attracts about as many visitors, viz. some 300,000....
: an incident he wrote about in the Wall Street Journal. He was a panelist at the 2006 Paris conference "Les démocraties face au défi islamiste" (The democracies in the face of the Islamist challenge) organised by the Center for Security Policy
Center for Security Policy
The Center for Security Policy is a Washington, D.C. think tank that focuses on national security issues. The Center was founded in 1988 by Frank Gaffney, Jr....
and L’institut pour la Défense de la Démocratie
Institut pour la Défense de la Démocratie
The institut pour la Défense de la Démocratie is a French Think Tank, it provides information, analysis and research on democracy and freedom. It is a non-profit association and considers itself secularist and apolitical...
. He organized the 1999 conference "Die Goldhagen-Debatte: Bilanz und Perspektiven" (The Goldhagen-Debate: results and perspectives) of the Heinrich Böll Foundation
Heinrich Böll Foundation
The Heinrich Böll Foundation is a German, legally independent political foundation. Affiliated with the German Green Party, it was originally founded in 1987 and rebuilt in 1997...
, Germany, with Daniel Goldhagen
Daniel Goldhagen
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen is an American author and former Associate Professor of Political Science and Social Studies at Harvard University. Goldhagen reached international attention and broad criticism as the author of two controversial books about the Holocaust, Hitler's Willing Executioners and...
, Andrei Markovits
Andrei Markovits
Andrei S. Markovits is currently the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Karl W. Deutsch Collegiate Professor of Comparative Politics and German Studies at the University of Michigan...
, Wolfgang Wippermann, Jürgen Elsässer, et al. in Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
/Germany.
Controversy over cancelled lecture at the University of Leeds, England
On March 14, 2007, Küntzel was due to address University of LeedsUniversity of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
in England on the topic ‘Hitler’s Legacy: Islamic Antisemitism in the Middle East.’ The university's student Islamic society complained about what they called the lecture's "provocative" title and the University removed the words "Hitler" and "Islamic" with the title amended to read: "The Nazi Legacy: The Export of Anti-Semitism to the Middle East." However, several hours before the talk was due to take place, the talk was unexpectedly cancelled due to "security concerns," following protest e-mails from some of the university's Muslim students claiming the lecture was an "open racist attack".
Dr. Küntzel said he had given similar addresses (at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, as well as universities in Jerusalem and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
) around the world and there had been no problems. "I know this is sometimes a controversial topic," he said, "but I am accustomed to that and I have the ability to calm people down. It's not a problem for me at all. My impression was that they wanted to avoid the issue in order to keep the situation calm. My feeling is that this is a kind of censorship."
Dr. Küntzel also said that the contents of emails described to him did not overtly threaten violence but "they were very, very strongly worded". He added: "It's stupid, because I also talk about Christian anti-semitism." Members of the German department at Leeds accused the university of "selling-out" academic freedom
Academic freedom
Academic freedom is the belief that the freedom of inquiry by students and faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy, and that scholars should have freedom to teach or communicate ideas or facts without being targeted for repression, job loss, or imprisonment.Academic freedom is a...
.
Books
- Jihad and Jew-Hatred: Islamism, Nazism and the Roots of 9/11, Telos Press, New York, 2007.
- Djihad und Judenhaß: über den neuen antijüdischen Krieg, Ça Ira, Freiburg, 2002
- Der Weg in den Krieg. Deutschland, die Nato und das Kosovo (The Road to War. Germany, Nato and the Kosovo), Elefanten Press, Berlin, 2000
- Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Goldhagen und die deutsche Linke oder: Die Gegenwart des Holocaust (Goldhagen and the German Left or: The Presence of the Holocaust), ed. Matthias Küntzel, Ulrike Becker, Klaus Thörner et al., Elefanten Press, Berlin, 1997
- Bonn & the Bomb: German politics and the nuclear option, Transnational Institute (TNI), Pluto PressPluto PressPluto Press is a radical, progressive, independent publisher based in London. Pluto Press specialises in "progressive, critical perspectives in politics and the social sciences", and describes itself as "one of the world’s leading radical publishers". It has published authors such as Noam Chomsky,...
, London; Boulder, Colorado, 1995. - Bonn und die Bombe: deutsche Atomwaffenpolitik von Adenauer bis Brandt, Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt/Main; New York, 1992
Publications (selection)
- Confronting Anti-Semitism — But How?, Telos PressTELOS (journal)Telos is an academic journal published in the United States. It was founded in May 1968 to provide the New Left with a coherent theoretical perspective. It sought to expand the Husserlian diagnosis of "the crisis of European sciences" to prefigure a particular program of social reconstruction...
, September 28, 2006 - A Sense Of Foreboding: German Reactions to Ahmadinejad, Transatlantic IntelligencerTransatlantic IntelligencerThe Transatlantic Intelligencer is an advocacy website centering on European politics and its American reception. Up until August 2005, it was a blog, but at that point it transitioned into a news magazine website format. It tries to surpass the perceived "language gap" between the continents...
, November 7, 2005 - The "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Transatlantic Intelligencer, October 24, 2005
- A Dubious Achievement: Joschka Fischer, the Road Map, and the Gaza Pullout, Transatlantic Intelligencer, 2005
- Suicide Bombing "for a Higher Ideal"?, Germany’s Central Office for Political Education on "Paradise Now", Transatlantic Intelligencer, October 10, 2005
- Are 500,000 Keys to Paradise Enough?, Germany "Confronts" Ahmadinejad, December 27, 2005
- Antisemitism in the Middle East: Abbas and Hamas, SPMEScholars for Peace in the Middle EastScholars for Peace in the Middle East is an independent non-profit international community network of academic scholars, which according to its founder, conducts "pro-Israel advocacy"...
, February 2005 - European Roots of Antisemitism in Current Islamic Thinking, matthiaskuentzel.de, November 2004
- German Silence: Nazis, Jihad, and the Left, matthiaskuentzel.de, April 2003
- Germany and the Kosovo, How Germany paved the way to the Kosovo War, matthiaskuentzel.de, April 2000
- National Socialism and Anti-Semitism in the Arab World, Political Studies Review at matthiaskuentzel.de, Spring 2005
- The Booksellers of Tehran, Every book fair exhibits bestsellers. But anti-Semitic bestsellers? And in Germany, of all places?, The Wall Street Journal Online, October 28, 2005
- Islamic Antisemitism And Its Nazi Roots, matthiaskuentzel.de, April 2003
External links
- Homepage
- English articles at matthiaskuentzel.de
- M. Küntzel's articles with the Transatlantic Intelligencer
- Interview with Matthias Kuntzel from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum