welcome to moral politics i'm your host bill ford the holocaust center of seattle will plant this spring and and frank sapling and a local public park that sapling is a clone of the chestnut tree and frank described in her diary cost as religion inappropriate use of public space it is my pleasure to welcome to moral politics returning guest dr ybor city welcome thank you bill seattle's and frank n frank diary i know a lot of schoolkids is forced forced upon them maybe a hundred thousand maybe multiples hundred million excuse me maybe multiples of that that have had to read and frank gehry but many of not fact i have an acquaintance that only injustice to the dutch look at all the suffering of the people around the hit at the same time then look at how many of them are even known today and what there was like over twenty thousand maybe twenty five thousand jews that were in the nethe rlands at that i am and then more than half of them were not even found by the and stuff like that so that it's kind of really over symbolizing a big event in order to make a scene out of an individual and there's another irony i read that the franks her family were more secular jews who were not very religious and for her to become the saint of the whole across something she never wrote about think the whole cross has been exaggerated to keep misusing something it will actually lose its original value like that actual suffering that the people have gone through will actually become kind of meaningless to many be able if you seemingly exploited and look at this excess of anne frank is it legitimate for us to speculate how an average jew today might what lesson they might have taken from the whole question i think everybody in the world and if it claim the given what you have been doing to the blessed indians for almost seventeen years and now what listen did you learn from that you know public space it's woodland seattle park is dedicated for the  do spring it's a big question about use of public space for a parochial group so it's very important that it not be parochial in that and frank is taught to be a universal symbol  do you imagine woodland park turning into a disney or a lord or some kind of a brick memorial wall for jewish suffering only and that's another question that if it was should be asking like if they are going be asking now you mention holocaust unity and i'm going to venture that by that you mean the religion of the holocaust which seems to bind the jews to go into some details about holocaust unity what is  universal symbol in the fittest they're not on and on i was taught that way two hundred million if not multiples more no no no no no i don't know that there was actually is to make jewish suffering is the only thing that matters but there's a hard push in our our public schools about the end frank experience and it comes across a universal but that's exactly the success of the in the study itself has got my attention is that justin bieber visited the in frank house in amsterdam and wrote innocently in the guest book there and i have i have it written down truly inspiring to be able to come here and was a great girl hopefully she would have been a believer from jewish websites about the and frank sapling ceremony the plantings and about anne frank herself they're very duplicitous again i lust a include a list to become universal and include the palestinian i would just like to read a couple of them to encourage people to consider the impact of prejudice and hatred in their local area and to stand up to it this is off of a jewish site do they really mean people should stand up to hatred in that it's you know if they're making it universal or does it exclude the ballast i think they should actually learn from what they are lighting in themselves if they really believe in that then they should the still the destruction of life of the palestinians and then three them like actually like the human beings you mean like rate raising the five thousand dollar trees and that's just does us one event struggle against oppression and the human struggle to treat symbolizes that you know that's beautiful it's really beautiful you think it's going to happen you know speaking about in frank's appling and in frank and that's wonderful she's hope amid evil and hopelessness if only it were sound if only the palestinians could be in the hearts of the minds the thoughts the ceremonies these jews it right this pious rhetoric i would believe them i would believe those you wish organisations and individuals who talk like that when the the children of the palestinians exactly the way the look at the end frank exactly and that they would know that they are actually sincere and they really have learned their lesson bravo and what about a shout out overdue from the holocaust survivors and their descendants there's always people have the duty now to show the wallet that they have really learned from the holocaust by the way the thirty the palestinians so far actually they have shown that the experience has universal message but first you have to recognize the jewish story you probably didn't do never proceed any further than that it's probably what he meant if you talk to be able about any  suffering of any other people and mention the word of the holocaust they would actually get upset because they want the holocaust to be only jewish what abe foxman did he got upset because a play and a website portrayed  to universal and not just jewish would just do exactly exactly that now i want to talk about backlash you know you would talk about anne frank your sapling and frank over symbolism and all the excess behind it all there was a play in amsterdam called am and you know modernizes and which you'd be like if you were living in paris but the important point here is that the posters for that play had graffiti some would give fees then this seattle in a public park and if whether the palestinians are invited whether there's mention of palestinian of any law jewish lips at that time it will be important to pay attention to that and and is jewish only but you know originally it was for the b d s movement but it's become adopted much more universally because an after all is a universal i caught she's been talked to so many non jewish school kids for so many decades hundreds of millions if not multiples more she has to remain an icon of universal tolerance and how have and frankly been a life today and so them planting a clone of that just the trees she wrote about in her diary it's empty tree worship unless it really is about universal tolerance and hope and that's got to include the palestinians let me read another what the and frank foundation had to say on their site through her diary and frank a world wide symbol represents all victims of racism the foremost message by it's all forms of racism and anti semitism in frank icon of children and highlighted by violence past and present i think the use of the word and this some of this itself is universal hope and tolerance and not let her be degraded as a jewish only icon for jewish suffering and symbol symbol of destruction jews think that she could be certainly the persona and is being misused you think the real land would be that girl and can feel fighting for i have no that would that have had and frank being a life that they she would be only woodland park seattle i would say kind of like three things the number one hey guys would you like can we bring a branch of an all of three that belonged to the palestinians and the planted here next to them frank and say actually that that this actually comes from  killed are also symbolized in this story and the right some of the names next to the three and stuff like that that's what i think dignitaries should be saying and asking and that's all wonderful it's all universal it doesn't exclude anybody and includes everybody  what give me some cold actions but i have no problem with the jewish people plan thing any trees anywhere they want as long as it's a private probity but i do have a program with using public finally be a real person to literal heart come through because we know that underneath there was a really nice young girl there and that the persona sometimes is silly putty and used by propagand very much taking on and frank over symbolism not and frank because we admire the girl we recognize the tragedy of her experience and we hope that that tragedy is not end others unfortunately it is and some of the people who are not recognizing it or responsible for it again thank you for touching this topic thank you but