Dispute over column – Harald Martenstein leaves the “Tagesspiegel”
The author Harald Martenstein says he is wrong where one believes one is in possession of the sole truth
Quelle: pa/Frank May
Author Harald Martenstein and the “Tagesspiegel” go their separate ways. There had previously been a debate about his column, in which he described wearing “Jewish stars” during corona protests as not anti-Semitic. The editor-in-chief then distanced itself from the text.
Dhe longtime “Tagesspiegel” columnist Harald Martenstein leaves the newspaper after a heated debate about one of his texts. “This is my last column for this newspaper, with which I have spent almost exactly half my life,” writes Martenstein on page one of the February 20th edition of the “Tagesspiegel”. “I stand by my opinion,” he says text overwritten.
It is no secret that the editors-in-chief of the “Tagesspiegel” formally distanced themselves from one of his texts and deleted it: “I was not involved in this decision. Something like that usually means that you separate, I made the decision to do so.”
In the controversial column of February 6, Martenstein described wearing “Jewish stars” at corona demonstrations with the inscription “Unvaccinated” as “an arrogance, also a trivialization” and “difficult for the survivors to bear”, but “certainly not anti-Semitic “, because the bearers identified themselves with persecuted Jews.
“Where you think only you own the truth, I’m out of place”
The text was sharply criticized within the editorial team and also by the readership. The editor-in-chief later explained that it should not have been published in this way and withdrew him back onlineafter having previously spoken to “colleagues, scientists and those affected and, of course, also to the author”.
As always, he wrote what he thinks, writes the 68-year-old in his farewell column. People who use Jewish stars to stylize themselves as victims are stupid and oblivious to history, people who call for the destruction of Israel at demos are a bit more dangerous: “I haven’t changed my mind. Maybe I’m wrong. I’m out of place where one believes that only one is in possession of the truth.” Martenstein has been writing for the newspaper since 1988. He is also a columnist for “Zeit” magazine.