A very disturbing video and news story came to light this week because of footage captured by a doorbell camera. It showed several DHS agents approaching, arresting, and detaining Rumeysa Osturk a Turkish woman who is a doctural student at Tufts University. She is a Fulbright Scholar working in the field of child study and human development. She was sent to a detention facility in Louisiana despite a judge’s order not to remove her from Massachusetts. She is accused of supporting Hamas, a terrorist organization. So far the only specific details related to her supposed “terrorist support” is an op-ed she wrote along with four other students a year ago in which they called for the university to oppose the genocide of Palestinians and divest from companies doing business with Israel. Expressing these opinions are certainly not a crime. Her arrest and attempted deportation send a chilling and frightening message to any of us who believe in the fundamental right of free speech in this nation. Even if you do not agree with the opinions she expressed, Rumeysa Osturk’s arrest off the street and removal to another state should be a rallying cry to support her and anyone else targeted by the government because of holding beliefs and opinions contrary to the current administration. The video posted below includes the footage of her arrest. Although the context is different than those in Germany in the 1920’s -40’s, please continue to read and reflect on the story of the Rev. Martin Niemoller and the famous poem he wrote. Pray and stand up for vulnerable people regardless of their nationality, race, or religion. We are at a critical time in the ongoing struggle for human dignity and justice for all.
One of the most famous writings in the aftermath of World War II was a poem by the Lutheran pastor and theologian Martin Niemoeller. At the beginning of the Nazi regime in 1933, Niemoeller initially supported Hitler. On the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust website, a short biography includes his reasoning at the time:
Like many Germans at the time, Niemöller believed that the Nazis and Hitler would provide strong leadership to make Germany a powerful and respected nation again. He also saw the Nazi party as a way for Germany to return to the Christian morals he thought had been abandoned, even referring to Hitler as an ‘instrument sent by god’.(bold print added for emphasis)
When the Nazis initiated the take over of Protestant churches, Niemoeller resisted and was arrested. He eventually spent close to seven years in several concentration camps. He was finally freed in April 1945 when American troops liberated the concentration camp where he was held. After the war, he publicly repented of his earlier antisemitism and support of Hitler calling for the German nation to do the same. It was during these early post-war years that he wrote the following famous poem “First They Came”:
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
Over the decades since it was written, this poem has inspired thousands of people to stand up for those targeted for discrimination and persecution. May we be among those committed to speak out and stand up today.