Attacks on Jewish symbols and institutions are worrying Germany.
In the CDU presidium there are warnings of “imported anti-Semitism” - Armin Laschet warns of short circuits.
Berlin - A bloody conflict between Hamas and Israel has been raging in the Middle East for a good week.
The tremors can be felt as far as Germany - in the form of escalating demonstrations or attacks on Jewish symbols and institutions.
The top of the Chancellor's CDU * party is also alarmed: several members of the presidium warned internally on Monday of “imported anti-Semitism”.
CDU debates anti-Semitic incidents internally: Klöckner warns of “discounts” for immigrants
According to the participants, CDU Vice Julia Klöckner spoke out in favor of resolute action against “immigrant hatred of Jews” in Germany.
Anyone who “incites against Jews on German soil cannot hope that there will be any kind of discount” because one immigrated or seeking asylum or was born in Germany.
The Jewish communities in Germany are more insecure and worried than they have been for a long time, said Klöckner, according to a report by the dpa.
She was quoted as saying: "The message of hatred of Jews is so grave that we have to take decisive action here." It needs "a much clearer address." One can be happy to be against Israel's policies and then demonstrate in front of the Israeli embassy, said she continues - "but to use that as a pretext and to incite against Jews, that contradicts everything that we are committed to here in Germany."
CDU: "Imported anti-Semitism" - Spahn worries about the problem from several sides
Health Minister Jens Spahn was similarly clear. "We have no doubt imported anti-Semitism," he said after information from
bild.de
. “That is nothing more than extremism.” According to the report, Spahn attested “chauvinist nationalism” and “the desire to eradicate a nation” and other people “who are supposedly not worth that much”. That concerns Nazis and right-wing extremism - but also the Turkish group “gray wolves” or Hamas and its supporters in Germany.
Party leader and Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet * also expressed himself at a press conference after the meeting on the subject: "Israel's security is part of Germany's reason of state," he said - but the same also applies to "the security of Jews living in Germany".
Attacks on synagogues or the burning of flags are unacceptable: "We condemn anti-Semitic agitation in the strongest possible way," Laschet emphasized.
This applies to left, right or “immigrant anti-Semitism”.
Hatred of Jews in Germany: “Bring perpetrators out of the country”?
Laschet reacts cautiously - "There are rules"
Ex-BND boss Gerhard Schindler derived a specific demand from the concern over the weekend. "The anti-Semitism that we are now seeing among migrants is a fact that we have to face." That begins with addressing this fact openly. But: "We also have to get those who abuse our hospitality here out of the country," he told
Bild live
.
Laschet was very cautious about this move. The concern is that German citizens are also affected: “Deportation doesn't help.” Germany's reason of state that the Holocaust should not be repeated applies to all Germans, regardless of whether they have immigrated, naturalized or born in the country. For all non-Germans, on the other hand, the following applies: “Whoever commits criminal offenses, there are rules as to when one is expelled.” One cannot make a “general debate” out of the incidents - the problem must be viewed in the overall context with right or left anti-Semitism.
Laschet also warned against generalizations.
He emphasized that 25 percent of Germans had a history of immigration: "Those who committed criminal offenses at the weekend or shouted anti-Semitic slogans are not representative of these millions of people."
Merkel's spokesman condemns anti-Semitism: "Shameful"
The Federal Government of Chancellor Angela Merkel * has meanwhile sharply criticized anti-Semitic failures in demonstrations against the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "What has been heard in the last few days of hatred of Jews and anti-Semitic abuse is shameful," said government spokesman Steffen Seibert on Monday in Berlin. Every demonstrator could be asked to distinguish between criticism of the policies of the State of Israel, which everyone is allowed to express, and "what we can under no circumstances accept", namely hatred and aggression against Jews and the Israeli people.
In view of the escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas, thousands of people took to the streets in German cities over the weekend, mainly to show their solidarity with the Palestinians.
Another reason for demonstrations was the annual memorial day on May 15, on which Palestinians commemorate the flight and expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from what will later become Israel in 1948.
Anti-Semitism in Germany: the Jewish memorial in Berlin covered with paint
Several demonstrations led to incidents and riots, the worst of which occurred in Berlin. There the police check the criminality of individual actions, such as anti-Semitic slogans. At a demonstration with 3,500 people in Neukölln, called for by Palestinian groups, rioters threw stones and bottles at the police. 93 police officers were slightly injured and 65 people were provisionally arrested. According to Berlin's Senator for the Interior, Andreas Geisel (SPD), a Jewish memorial in Berlin-Friedrichshain was also showered with green paint on Monday night.
Protesters had already set fire to Israeli flags in front of synagogues in North Rhine-Westphalia in the middle of last week. Laschet also condemned the acts in his role as NRW Prime Minister. (
dpa / fn
) *
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