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Toilet graffiti in Marburg
Photo: Arne Dedert/dpa
Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews, drew attention to widespread anti-Semitism in educational institutions in Germany.
"Unfortunately, anti-Semitism is a structural problem in schools," said Schuster in an interview with the "Passauer Neue Presse".
"We find it in all subjects, in all its manifestations, for example with reference to Israel, and also among teachers themselves," added the Central Council Chairman.
Teachers often do not know how to deal with anti-Semitic prejudices.
The educators must therefore be given "tools" to be able to react appropriately and clearly in the event of such incidents: "Looking the other way is by far the worst of all options."
How good prevention work on anti-Semitism can be implemented in schools is also the subject of a specialist conference in Berlin on Wednesday.
The conference is organized by the Central Council of Jews, the federal and state commission of anti-Semitism commissioners and the Conference of Ministers of Education.
Among other things, this involves the question of how anti-Semitism can be dealt with in as many teacher training courses as possible and how Jews are portrayed in textbooks.
him/dpa