Nancy Faeser at Miosga
“I would like to see fewer cases dropped”
By Marko Schlichting
27.05.2024, 05:05 a.m.
Racist slogans as a party hit, attacks on politicians, loudly expressed anti-Semitism – if you follow the headlines of the last few weeks, the inhibitions to give free rein to hatred and violence seem to be sinking. What should we do? Federal Minister of the Interior Faeser has no really satisfactory answer for Miosga.
When the video appears on the Internet, the horror is immense. Whitsun on Sylt. Party time in the Pony Bar in Kampen. A party classic from more than twenty years ago is playing: “L’Amour toujours” by Gigi D’Agostino. It is about love, about romance. But not for some of the bar’s visitors. They yell “Germany for the Germans, foreigners out”. One of them gives the Hitler salute. The bar staff probably doesn’t notice. The guests standing around do. But they don’t seem to mind. The video has been on the Internet since Thursday and is going viral. The Pony Bar has filed a criminal complaint and banned the five people involved from the premises for life. One has since apologized.
The incident was deeply inhumane and racist, says Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser. The SPD politician will be a guest on the ARD talk show “Caren Miosga” on Sunday evening. The show will be about how violence in society can be counteracted. Violence, for example, such as the attack on a Green politician in Göttingen on Saturday. The state parliament member was slightly injured.
Shouting racist slogans is not actually violence. But it is the precursor to it. “It is important that the boundaries are shown,” says Faeser. The rule of law and democracy in Germany are still very stable. At the beginning of the year, it was already clear that many people were outraged by the fantasies of some right-wing extremists who wanted to deport people from Germany. Nevertheless, “we know from social media that some right-wing ideas are gaining traction in the middle of society. And we have been experiencing a shift for a few years now that is escalating into violence,” says Faeser.
“That is why I appeal”
Nevertheless, one might get the feeling that the federal government is powerless against acts of violence, but also against the shouting of hate slogans – as was the case after the Young Liberals’ state congress in Weiden in Upper Palatinate. Two members are said to have chanted racist slogans in a disco. Something similar happened during the Holstein Kiel football club’s promotion celebration. Words can become actions, warns Faeser, similar to the murder of the Hesse CDU politician Walter Lübcke. He too had been threatened beforehand. “That is why I appeal to those who think these days that we can formulate things more harshly or push the boundaries further to the right, which worries me greatly: that there are things in our society where we should approach things with much more mutual respect and appreciation.”
Shouting slogans like “Germany for the Germans” is not a criminal offense, but it is offensive to many people. Nevertheless, a strong society must tolerate and endure certain things. “Freedom of expression and assembly are absolutely fundamental in a constitutional state,” said Faeser. After the video from Sylt was published, the guests were hunted down on various social networks. “That also worries me, that the boundaries are being shifted from one direction to the other. That people are then often pilloried and that this is not left to those who are there for it, namely law enforcement authorities, who will definitely follow up on the report and then also identify the perpetrators.”
Faeser sees a deterioration in morals on social networks. “That’s why I say that we have to look at it from a socio-political perspective,” Faeser continued. The minister is calling for faster proceedings, especially from the judiciary. “And I would like to see fewer cases dropped so that society is clear again about what is and isn’t allowed.” Faeser doesn’t seem to have any suggestions as to how we could ensure that incidents like the one on Sylt don’t happen in the first place.
Anti-Semitism in Germany
Faeser is not the only guest at Miosga’s. Ronen Steinke is also in the group. The lawyer and journalist from the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” had to be protected by the police during a reading tour last year. He praises the work of the officers who also monitor Jewish institutions. “I think people are very grateful for the protection they receive,” he says. “It’s no fun standing guard in front of synagogues. It’s no fun taking your children to a school that has to be guarded.”
According to a study published last week, violence against Jewish people in Germany has increased dramatically in the past year. Nevertheless, anti-Semitic incidents in Jewish communities are often not reported. Those affected believe that going to the police would not help them. The “manageable but shocking cases of chat groups where individual officers make fun of or mock Holocaust victims, black people or people with disabilities” also play a role, says Steinke. The traffic light government has changed a lot here, explains Faeser. Police officers are now removed from police service more quickly if there is a corresponding suspicion.
Unfortunately, the minister appears particularly helpless when asked about the university protests of the past few weeks. For example, the police recently had to break up a pro-Palestinian camp at the Free University in Berlin. Jewish students were worried about entering the campus. “We have a special responsibility in Germany to protect Jews,” says Faeser. “And that is the most important thing for me. I am surprised at some of the things we see at universities, the hatred that prevails there. And then you have to take strict action.”
But Faeser also knows what she wants to do to combat anti-Semitism in schools and universities – apart from police operations: “We have to invest much, much more in prevention, especially in schools and universities, and also explain what is behind it and whose right to exist is being threatened here.”