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Police car in front of a synagogue in Bonn: "Anyone who complains about racism but spreads such anti-Semitic hatred has forfeited everything"
Photo: Oliver Berg / dpa
Burning Israel flags in front of synagogues, in Gelsenkirchen a crowd chanting "shitty Jews": The escalation of the Middle East conflict has led to anti-Semitic marches in Germany.
The chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, Aiman Mazyek, has sharply criticized these anti-Semitic protests in front of synagogues.
"I definitely condemn such disgusting scenes," said Mazyek of the Düsseldorf "Rheinische Post".
»Anyone who complains about racism but spreads such anti-Semitic hatred has forfeited everything.
Anyone who allegedly wants to criticize Israel, but then attacks synagogues and Jews, attacks us all and will get my resistance. "
The anti-Semitism commissioner of the federal government had called on the Islamic associations to de-escalate.
In the past few days, Israeli flags had been lit in front of synagogues in Münster and Bonn.
In Solingen, strangers burned an Israeli flag hoisted in front of the town hall - and in Gelsenkirchen anti-Semitic slogans were heard at the crowd in front of the synagogue, around 180 people had gathered there.
More Israel flags lit.
An Israeli flag hoisted there was also lit in front of the Düsseldorf City Hall. According to the police, the public prosecutor's office and state security are investigating suspected violations of flags and emblems of foreign states as well as "damage to property for the general public". At the Nordhausen town hall in Thuringia, the police and public prosecutor's office are investigating after an attempt to burn an Israel flag. A police spokeswoman said: "We are assuming a political motive".
An Israel flag hoisted in front of the Neubrandenburg town hall was stolen.
Mayor Silvio Witt (independent) suspects an anti-Semitic background.
The city has filed a complaint according to its own information.
Witt: »We wanted to express our solidarity with Israel with the flag.
I condemn and regret this incident very much. «For more than 20 years there has been a twinning between Nazareth in Israel and Neubrandenburg.
Meanwhile, the security authorities are expecting new anti-Israel and anti-Semitic protests in Germany over the weekend.
After the Federal Ministry of the Interior warned of further incidents, attacks with Molotov cocktails on Israeli facilities are feared if the conflict between Hamas and Israel worsens.
Authorities expect new protests - "Nakba Day" on Saturday
In security circles it was said that a "broad mobilization" of Palestinian and left groups in Germany was observed for the weekend.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert sharply criticized expressions of anti-Semitism in front of synagogues and announced criminal action.
The Foreign Office warned against traveling to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
New protests are expected to focus on the weekend, especially in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia because of the high number of Palestinians living there.
In Berlin, various Palestinian groups want to take to the streets on Saturday.
The police are prepared and appropriately positioned, said a police spokeswoman.
According to the police, the demonstrations in Neukölln and Kreuzberg refer to the "Nakba" day (German: catastrophe), which commemorates the flight and expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from what will later become Israel.
Israel's declaration of independence took place on May 14, 1948, and the Palestinians celebrate Nakba Day on May 15 each year.
Central Council President Schuster: "Enough!"
According to the security authorities, there could be a further escalation in Germany, especially in the event that the Israeli army conducts a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Berlin's Senator for the Interior, Andreas Geisel, promised the Jewish community in the capital "the best possible protection".
The security precautions for Jewish institutions have been tightened again.
At the same time, the SPD politician again condemned anti-Semitic threats.
"We resolutely oppose all forms of anti-Semitism and hostility to Israel." Burning flags is not an act of expression, but an offense of hate crime.
This is being followed hard.
"This is especially true at meetings, where we always look carefully."
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Central Council President Schuster: "No child is born an anti-Semite"
Photo: Hendrik Schmidt / picture alliance / dpa / dpa-Zentralbild
The President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, called for solidarity against anti-Semitism and hatred. In a greeting to the FDP federal party conference, he complained of massive agitation against Jews in Germany. "The rejection, the protest are not directed against the Palestinian terror group Hamas and their rockets, but against us, against Jews," he said in his video message. “We see burning Israeli flags outside synagogues. We hear slogans full of hatred of Jews in the streets. "
Schuster said: "Enough!" He called for people not to look away.
“We expect the citizens to stand up against this anti-Semitism!
And loudly and publicly, «says Schuster.
»We also expect solidarity on social media.
You can't imagine the amount of nasty comments we're currently dealing with on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. "
At an event of the Ecumenical Church Congress in Frankfurt, Schuster also said: "If someone is a staunch anti-Semite, we can do nothing." However, no child is "born an anti-Semite, so something has to happen at some point in his life." That must be improved with Educational offers and an exchange are encountered.
Marina Chernivsky, Managing Director of the Competence Center Prevention and Empowerment, also expressed her concern at the Kirchentag discussion about the consequences of the tense situation in the Middle East for Jews living in this country.
She already received a lot of calls in her advice center.
apr / dpa / Reuters