Vol. 99, No.30 50 Cents Per Issue April 8, 2021 • 26 Nisan, 5781 MEMPHIS, TENNESEE A German car company keeps reminding us of Hitler’s horrific legacy An ill-conceived marketing stunt done ahead of April Fools’ Day touts a rebranding of “Voltswagen” in an effort to draw attention to the lone electric vehicle it’s currently selling in the United States By Gabriel Eichler (JNS) March 31, 2021 — The Dachau concentration camp, set world press widely reported on up by Heinrich Himmler in 1933 March 19, 2019 that the chief to use dissidents as slave labor, executive of Volkswagen had and later became part of the Nazis’ apologized for evoking a Nazi deception for the real use of the slogan to describe the importance concentration camps. The most in- of boosting the group’s profits. famous camp gate under the slogan was at Auschwitz in Poland. Mansour Abbas, head of Israel's Islamic Raam party, speaks during a press conference in the northern Germany-based auto executive city of Nazareth, April 1, 2021. Credit: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images Herbert Diess used the line Ebit Just when we thought that Volk- macht frei at a company event. swagen and its related brands— The phrase echoed the words Porsche, Audi and others—learned Who is Mansour Abbas, the Arab-Israeli who arbeit macht frei, meaning “work their lessons of history, the auto- sets you free,” which was fa- maker once again goes ahead and could hold the key to Israel’s next government? mously emblazoned in wrought- does something deeply offensive, By Ben Sales revered by Muslims as the Noble ity. Another party, the right-wing iron on the gates of the Auschwitz using an April Fool’s “joke” to Sanctuary. Yamina, is also positioning itself concentration camp. explain it away. (JTA) April 2, 2021— Follow- The Northern Branch’s leader, as a swing vote, meaning that Ebit is a commonly used acro- On March 31, press reports ing yet another Israeli election, Raed Salah, has been repeatedly both sides might need both swing nym for “earnings before interest criticized the company’s newest ad- voters are getting to know an prosecuted by Israel for incitement parties to form a government. On and taxes.” vertising slogan: VOLTSWAGEN. unlikely kingmaker: Mansour Ab- to violence and related crimes. He Wednesday, Israeli President Re- In a statement, Diess said he In fact, according to news re- bas, an Arab-Israeli lawmaker who once said, “The streets of Jerusa- uven Rivlin will task a party leader was sorry for what he described as ports, Volkswagen of America lied might be the one to break Israel’s lem will be purified by the blood — either Netanyahu or one of his “definitely an unfortunate choice about rebranding to “Voltswagen” two-year political stalemate. of the innocents whose souls were rivals — with the job of forming of words.” in an effort to draw attention to Abbas, head of the United Arab taken by the Israeli occupation a coalition. If that person fails, the He explained that he was refer- the lone electric vehicle it’s cur- List political party, is not the kind soldiers.” opportunity falls to someone else. ring to the freedom afforded to VW rently selling in the United States, of politician who usually wields In contrast, Abbas has dis- So after decades in which Is- brands in strong financial health according to Reuters and The power in the Jewish state. He’s avowed violence, and his Southern raeli Arabs have been excluded and added: “At no time was it my Wall Street Journal. It was an ill- an Islamist who has more in com- Branch is relatively moderate. It from Israel’s leadership, Abbas intention for this statement to be conceived marketing stunt done mon ideologically with Egypt’s has fielded a party in Israeli elec- may be the one who shatters the placed in a false context. At the ahead of April Fools’ Day. Muslim Brotherhood than with any tions for the past 25 years, usually taboo on forming a joint Jewish- time, I simply did not think of this This all started when Volkswa- of Israel’s establishment political in partnership with another Arab- Arab governing coalition. possibility.” gen of America “accidentally” parties. But through unorthodox Israeli slate. Until this year, the Who will he support? The German chief executive published a draft version of a press electoral maneuvering, Abbas party, called the United Arab List Arab-Israelis have long been also acknowledged his company’s release announcing the change on has set his small party up as the (or Raam, as it is referred to in associated with the country’s po- “special responsibility in connec- Monday, which was first reported potential swing vote between Israel), ran as part of the Joint List, litical left, but Abbas has remained tion with the Third Reich.” by CNBC. The company had de- longtime Prime Minister Benjamin an umbrella Arab-Israeli party coy about who he will support as Volkswagen was founded in clined to comment on the report, Netanyahu and his broad array of that’s currently the third-largest the next prime minister. 1937 as part of Nazi ruler Adolf and spokesperson Mark Gillies sworn opponents. in parliament. In a speech Thursday broadcast Hitler’s vision to enable German repeatedly declined to say whether Here’s a primer on Abbas and (Abbas is not related to long- on Israel’s major TV networks and families to own their first car. On the name change was a marketing his potentially pivotal role in the time Palestinian Authority Presi- delivered in Hebrew, he instead May 26, 1938, Nazi dignitaries stunt. wake of the latest election. dent Mahmoud Abbas.) positioned himself above the fray, gathered near Fallersleben, a dis- The automaker, which pleaded Who is he? Why is he influencing the race urging unity across Israel’s ethnic trict in the City of Wolfsburg in guilty to deceiving regulators A dentist by training, Abbas, to form a coalition? and religious divisions. northern Germany, to lay the foun- about the true pollution levels of 46, got involved in political ac- Abbas accrued power this year “I bring a prayer of hope, and dation stone for the Volkswagen hundreds of thousands of diesel tivism while studying at Hebrew by breaking from the Joint List of uncompromising determination Works. Hitler was present, predict- vehicles, then published a press University, where he chaired the and saying he would consider al- for a shared life based on mutual ing that this Volkswagen, initially release on Tuesday morning say- Arab Students Committee. He lying with any Israeli politician, respect and true equality,” he said, known as the Kraft-durch-Freude- ing the change was a “public later became a leader in the Islamic left or right, Netanyahu or not, as defining himself as a “man of the Wagen, or KdF-Wagen, would be declaration of the company’s Movement in Israel, an offshoot of long as they agreed to advance his Islamic Movement, a proud Arab “a symbol of the National Socialist future-forward investment in e- the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood communal interests. Arabs make and Muslim and a citizen of the people’s community.” mobility.” The company said the that seeks to draw Arab Israelis to up about a fifth of Israel’s popula- state of Israel. During World War II, the Wolfs- “Voltswagen” branding would be Muslim observance and political tion, but no Israeli Arab-led party “Our common denominator burg-based firm manufactured ve- on all of its EVs going forward. activism, in part by providing has been part of a coalition in the is greater than what divides us,” hicles for the German army, using Volkswagen of America is now social services like health clinics, country’s 73-year history. he said. more than 15,000 slave laborers expected to reveal that the name schools, mosques and a sports Abbas’ party gained barely The Joint List, which held 15 from nearby concentration camps. change was a stunt, according to league. The movement is split enough votes to enter Israel’s par- seats in the outgoing parliament, The company actively drew Reuters. The larger Volkswagen into rival Northern and Southern liament, the Knesset, last week, is firmly on Israel’s political left forced labor from the concentra- Group declined to comment. Branches. Abbas is a member of winning four seats out of 120. and is an outspoken critic of Ne- tion-camp system. One VW plant “We have said, from the begin- the Southern Branch. But Israel’s political landscape is tanyahu and his allies. In 2019 and engineer traveled to Auschwitz ning of our shift to an electric future, The Northern Branch was out- interminably split, and Netanyahu 2020, when three earlier rounds of and selected 300 skilled metal- that we will build EVs for the mil- lawed by Israel in 2015 based on and his rivals are both looking for Israeli elections produced similar workers from the massive trans- lions, not just millionaires,” CEO accusations of extensive financial as many seats as possible to add stalemates, Netanyahu’s oppo- ports of Hungarian Jews in 1944. of Volkswagen of America Scott and organizational ties to Hamas, to their potential coalitions. Both nents considered forming a coali- In addition, 650 Jewish women Keogh proudly boasted in the press the militant group governing the camps are courting Abbas as the tion with the Joint List in order were transferred to assemble release, which, at publication time, Gaza Strip. The group does not leader who could deliver them a to oust the prime minister.