Some 40 Jewish groups in Germany call on government to confront anti-Semitism
After several high-profile incidents of anti-Semitic violence, Germany’s Jewish community has had enough. They have appealed to the government to institute a kind of anti-Semitism oath for groups seeking public funding
BERLIN—“Anti-Semitism, racism and Islamophobia cannot be equated,”says a statement issued this week by some 40 Jewish organisations in Germany which called on the government to confront anti-Semitism following a series of attacks against Jews in the country. These groups have joined forces with civil society groups.
“Anti-Semitism cannot be successfully fought as a mere subcategory of racism,” they said.
The latest anti-Semitic incicdent occurred last Friday in Berlin when some 10 people attacked a Jewish man wearing a Star of David chain.
The attack, which left the man with head injuries, took place at the Hackescher Markt area of eastern Berlin that is popular with tourists. Police say the 25-year-Jewish man asked one of the people for a light for his cigarette, after which he was attacked when they saw his Star of David.
The 10 arrested were all aged between 15 and 25 and included six Syrians and three Germans. Three of the alleged perpetrators were women.
One of the attackers ripped the chain from the man’s neck and made anti-Semitic remarks. When the man ran away, he was pursued by a group, knocked to the ground and beaten and kicked. The attack ended only after passersby intervened.
“I expect the government to take seriously anti-Semitism among Muslims,” said Lala Süsskind, head of the Jewish Forum for Democracy and against anti-Semitism (JFDA), one of the groups which presented their statement on Monday in Berlin.
The group wants all state-funded organisations in Germany to make an explicit public statement rejecting anti-Semitism. The move is seen as a challenge to a new Islam theology department at a Berlin university, supported by Muslim groups that have declined to condemn annual Muslim demonstrations in Berlin calling for the destruction of Israel.
The JFDA warned that relativising anti-Semitism among some German Muslims – and among new refugee arrivals – was viewed by victims of anti-Jewish attacks as a further slap in the face.
Germany’s response to such attacks was a “litmus test for German democracy after the Shoah”, the group said.
The statement also calls for the country to adhere to the International Alliance for Holocaust Remembrance’s definition of anti-Semitism and to take seriously the experiences of victims.
It also calls for recognition that anti-Semitism is an “an attack on the inviolability of human dignity and on the foundations of the entire liberal democratic community.”
Süsskind regretted that ‘’there are few Muslim associations to which you can speak openly.”
‘’After all, not only Jewish life in Germany, is at stake,’’ she said. “If people are not ready to stand up for their democracy, it goes down the drain.’’
She said she frequently receives hate mail, including one message that read: “In goes the knife, out goes the knife, the Jew’s dead.”
When she tried to report the authors of those hate messages to the authorities, she was repeatedly informed that they were protected under freedom of speech legislation. “Is that really possible?,” she asked.
The German government has not yet responded to the appeal issued by the country’s Jewish community. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced earlier this month that the government plans to extend financial support for the Central Council of Jews in Germany. The annual subsidy will rise from €10 million ($11.75 million) to €13 million. The reason behind this was, according to Seehofer, the growing threat to Jewish life in Germany. “Those who threaten our Jewish citizens threaten us all,” he said.
The government also plans to send 170 anti-bullying experts to selected schools to counter a rise in assaults and abuse of Jewish pupils.
In many cases the alleged perpetrators have been the children of Muslim immigrants, particularly in Berlin, which has the largest Muslim and Jewish communities.
Family Minister Franziska Giffey said: “Antisemitism in schools is a big problem. We need to take religious bullying in classrooms and schoolyards seriously.”
The government will finance a scheme to dispatch social workers to help teachers in the coming school year. They will be trained in working with young people and many will have an immigrant background themselves.
Germany has created a new government position to deal with the problem. Anti-Semitism Commissioner Felix Klein took up his post in May.