Sunday May 16, 2021
Anti-Semitic slogans on demos
Politicians demand consequences for agitators
After anti-Semitic incidents during demonstrations on the occasion of the Middle East conflict, the Union’s domestic policy spokesman speaks out in favor of limiting immigration. The ex-President of the Federal Intelligence Service calls for expulsions.
From the point of view of the domestic political spokesman for the Union parliamentary group, Mathias Middelberg, anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli slogans at protest rallies show deficits in migration policy. “The anti-Semitic failures of young people of Arab origin or right-wing extremists of Turkish origin in the demonstrations must be punished legally,” said the CDU politician to the German press agency. “But you also ask deeper questions about our immigration and integration policy – at least if we take seriously the commitment to the existence of Israel as part of our raison d’état,” he added.
Immigration must “keep a level that still enables integration”. The commitment to integration should be intensified in a targeted manner. The success control should become more efficient here. “The Middle East conflict must be an issue in our schools,” demanded Middelberg.
The former President of the Federal Intelligence Service, Gerhard Schindler, demanded evictions during a “Bild live” broadcast. “The anti-Semitism that we are now seeing among migrants is a fact that we have to face.” That starts with addressing this fact openly. But: “We also have to get those who abuse our hospitality here out of the country,” he told Springer Medium.
After the escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas, thousands of people took to the streets in German cities over the weekend to show their solidarity with the Palestinians. While numerous demonstrations and expressions of solidarity took place without major incidents and in a peaceful mood, the situation in several locations was highly emotional, according to the police. At a demonstration in the Neukölln district of Berlin, anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli cries such as “child murderer Israel” or “woman murderer Israel” were heard. In the days before, there had been anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli demonstrations in several cities, during which Israeli flags were also lit.
Mazyek condemns agitators and violent criminals
Aiman Mazyek, the chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, condemned the recent violence against synagogues. “Anyone who attacks synagogues and Jews on the pretext of criticizing Israel has forfeited any right to solidarity,” he said in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung”. He firmly condemns the “disgusting attacks on our Jewish fellow citizens” in recent days.
Mazyek also shared posts on Twitter that counter an image that shows Jews and Muslims primarily as enemies. For example, he retweeted a contribution to a sit-in of over a hundred Jews and Arabs in the Negev desert who were gathering in the desert with the message “We refuse to be enemies”, or a picture of two colleagues – one Jewish, one Muslim women – who, according to Mazyek, are working together in a hospital in Haifa. Numerous private Muslims and Jews also clearly condemn anti-Semitism in posts on networks such as Twitter and Instagram and try to show their mutual respect and mutual support as marginalized groups in posts.
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