Household rule - Fighting against Antisemitism clause in sponsorships
The Coalition's plans to prevent the funding of antisemitism with tax money through the budget remain controversial in Schleswig-Holstein. Opposition politicians criticized the approach during the three-day state parliament session until Friday. CDU and Greens in their bill set unspecified legal terms.
No one wants to promote antisemitic tendencies, said the FDP interior politician Bernd Buchholz. The state budget applies not only to culture but to all state funding. Who should determine if a company boss sets himself for a diverse society, asked the former economics minister. The bill is not just a bureaucracy monster. "This is also a politically dangerous law." People could declare themselves martyrs due to a failed funding.
Controversial Amendment
In the Coalition's bill, it says literally, "the granting of grants can be made subject to the condition that the responsible body only grants to grant recipients or grant applicants who are known or apparent that they acknowledge themselves as part of a diverse society and stand against any discrimination and exclusion and reject any form of antisemitism."
Culture Minister Karin Prien (CDU) dismissed the criticism and presented several studies showing that grants could be awarded under these conditions. However, a law is necessary. Extreme care will be taken with artistic and freedom of expression. "It's not about a declaration of faith." The antidiscrimination clause is drafted in such a way that it can also be used as a funding requirement for all departments.
"Antisemitism from the right, from the left, in the increasingly aggressive islamist and Muslim-influenced variant, and unfortunately the banal antisemitism of the middle are not new phenomena but have worsened in recent years," said Prien. The Coalition ensures that funding is only provided where it is known or apparent that the recipients acknowledge themselves as part of a diverse society.
Criticism from the Opposition
The SPD deputy Martin Habersaat spoke of a difficult endeavor. "It's wonderfully sympathetic to exclude all forms of discrimination," he said. But that's a wide field. "An antisemit who is a hate-drunk will not be deterred by a cross." In Berlin, an antidiscrimination clause only lasted for a month.
The FDP deputy Annabell Krämer emphasized, "this proposal belongs in the category: well-intentioned but not well-executed." There are legal and factual concerns with the formulation. It is not very helpful to argue with undefined legal terms. Moreover, the plans lead to significant administrative additional work. A declaration of faith infringes fundamentally on freedom of expression.
SSW-Faction Chief Lars Harms stressed, "Enemies and detractors of our values should certainly not profit from subsidies from tax revenues." Concepts are debatable. An SSW proposal refers to specific articles of the Basic Law and the State Constitution. "Only constitutionally guaranteed rights can provide relatively secure criteria for state grant allocation; anything beyond that is always politically tinted and therefore arbitrary as a grant criterion." The plans are now to be discussed in the committee.
- Despite the CDU and Greens' attempt to incorporate an antidiscrimination clause in their bill during the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament session, the FDP's Bernd Buchholz expressed concerns about potential bureaucracy and infringement on freedom of expression.
- Annabell Krämer, an FDP deputy, criticized the Coalition's bill, stating that it belongs in the category of "well-intentioned but not well-executed" due to legal and factual concerns and significant administrative additional work.
- In response to the controversy surrounding the Coalition's amendment, Karin Prien, the Schleswig-Holstein Culture Minister, emphasized the necessity of ensuring that only funding is provided to entities acknowledging themselves as part of a diverse society, aiming to address antisemitism and discrimination.
- The SSW-Faction Chief, Lars Harms, supported the idea of preventing enemies and detractors of values from profiting from subsidies, suggesting that only constitutionally guaranteed rights can provide secure criteria for state grant allocation, steering clear of politically tinted and arbitrary grant criteria.
- Martin Habersaat, an SPD deputy, voiced skepticism about the bill's ability to deter hate-driven antisemites, arguing that the clause will likely be ineffective against extremist individuals, as their motivation would not be deterred by mere grant conditions.
