Xavier Naidoo and Anti-Semitism: Because he did not know what he was doing? comment

Xavier Naidoo is not an anti-Semite. At least that can not be proven. The District Court of Regensburg on Tuesday issued the complaint of the Mannheim pop singer against a president of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, who said in the summer of 2017 on the sidelines of a conference: "He is anti – Semitic (. ..) structurally detectable. "

said the judge in charge and badessed Naidoo's personality in this case, higher than the freedom of expression. Because only the obvious proximity of the conspiracy theorists of the Reich citizenship movement (of which Naidoo is distanced) as well as two pbadages of the songs "Marionettes" (2017) and "Exit from the Reichstag" (2009) In person at the end of June, during the trial, he claimed that his son finally had a Hebrew name and that he had been committed against racism for years.

His concert promoter, Marek Lieberberg, who defended Naidoo against hostility last year, is also of Jewish origin, according to Naidoo

There is no such serious arguments, but it would be difficult to prove the 46-year-old structural anti-Semitism. As an enemy of the Jews, Naidoo never expressed himself openly. Therefore, the judgment of Regensburg is just the first time, doubt protects the accused: to be considered anti-Semitic, it is especially in Germany in the context of Nazi crimes and the Holocaust, an extremely serious stigma, a career killer.

The problem with this decision is not that Naidoo can legally protect himself against defamation. The problem is the gray area that leaves the verdict.

For how do you judge the lines of text that Naidoo wrote and sung? There is talk of "Baron Totschild", a figure for the Rothschild Jewish banking family, of a "Schmock" who is a "fox". With "puppets" he delivered a furious anthem against the so-called "puppeteers" hidden control powers. They are clichés and anti-Semitic codes impeccable. He did not know it – and he did not know how important it was, Naidoo told the court. This seems unlikely. Naidoo is not a naive pop-dream dancer, who enters into his lyrics, into an extremist role prose, who only wants to upset or stimulate discussion, but who has nothing to do with his person .

It is true that he is committed to racism in society; he himself was discriminated against because of the color of his skin when he was a child. In many interviews and words, he demonstrates a thorough knowledge of social processes and political events, is critical and resistant, sometimes with radical views. As a Naidoo person, do not bother yourself as a fictional character acting rhetorically or provocatively on stage. It is hard to believe that he lacks knowledge and feelings for anti-Semitic codes. He did not really know what he was doing?

The judge of Ratisbon believed it. And creates a paradox hard to tolerate: Xavier Naidoo can not be described as anti-Semitic, although his lyrics contain anti-Semitic clichés. For risks and side effects, you do not have to consult a doctor or pharmacist to suspect that this legal dialectic creates a lot of possibilities for those who want to use their lyrics or other works of art. art with resentment, crude theories and hate

. You must also find this poison in the future and call it as it is. So long, until no one can stay stupid anymore.