Özdemir: "Don't think the Jews are to blame!"
85 years after the day on which synagogues were burned in Germany and Jewish Germans were murdered and deported, the Bundestag commemorates this night. References to Hamas terror and today's anti-Semitism dominate the debate. Minister Özdemir finds strong words.
It was a night of hatred: hundreds of people were murdered, around 26,000 were abducted and fires were set in several cities. Germans, whether in Nazi uniforms or not, rioted against Jewish institutions, hunted people down and gave free rein to brutality. Synagogues were set on fire all over Germany. November 9, 1938 was a date on which even uninvolved contemporaries could no longer ignore what hatred of Jews can trigger. That the unimaginable can follow.
November 9, 1938 now faces a new date. October 7, 2023 will go down in history as the day on which more Jewish people were murdered since millions of Jews perished in German extermination camps. So it was no ordinary commemoration of the pogrom night this morning in the Bundestag, which was followed by 102-year-old Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer, Joseph Schuster from the Central Council of Jews and Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor in the guest gallery. Anti-Semitism is once again rampant in Germany, thousands of Muslims are demonstrating against Israel - and for many - too many - this goes hand in hand with a thoughtless, blunt hatred of Jews because they are Jews.
The speakers in the Bundestag countered these demonstrators with clear messages: "We stand firmly on Israel's side. There can be no 'buts' these days," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. "Anyone who attacks people, justifies mass murder and abuses civil liberties cannot invoke the protection of freedom of expression, no!" Instead, they should face the "full force of the rule of law". "Our democracy does not tolerate any hatred of Jews."
Özdemir's appearance
The Minister of Agriculture, of all people, found perhaps the most forceful words. Cem Özdemir addressed himself directly to the young men who are currently the subject of much discussion - Muslims who are marching through German streets and inciting hatred against Israel. "Don't let yourselves be harnessed to Hamas, Islamic Jihad or Hezbollah," the Green politician called out to them. "Don't believe that the Jews are to blame!"
It is Hamas that is holding people hostage. They need people to suffer. "They abuse you as useful idiots. There will only be freedom for the Palestinians with Israel, never against it," said the son of Turkish immigrants. Anyone talking about the expulsion of Palestinians should not remain silent about the expulsion of Jews from Arab and Muslim countries. It is okay to criticize the Israeli government. But it is not okay "to sympathize with Hamas, to be happy about dead Jews, to show teachers and police officers no respect". And: "Anyone who has a problem with this must have a problem in future!"
Özdemir spoke out against anti-Semitism in any form. "When it comes from the left, it is said to be an anti-colonial liberation struggle," he said. However, some on the left have failed to show humanity. If anti-Semitism comes from Muslims, they say it has nothing to do with Islam. Yet studies show how widespread anti-Semitism is among Muslims. It is absurd for right-wing extremists to pretend that there is no anti-Semitism among them. If Muslim associations first condemned anti-Semitism in German when asked, but then said the opposite in Turkish and Arabic, this should no longer be allowed to pass.
Özdemir also received applause from the opposition. CDU MP Christoph de Vries thanked the minister for his words, but added pointedly: "We hope that the responsible ministers will also make this their policy."
Booming silence
AfD politician Beatrice von Storch took a rhetorical hammer to Muslims in Germany, speaking of hundreds of thousands of men who are young and aggressive and filled with hatred of Jews. FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr countered that the AfD was the only party whose MPs were under investigation for anti-Semitic crimes.
CSU politician Dorothee Bär criticized the fact that the Hamas terror had not been criticized enough in the art and cultural scene. She took up the term "droning silence" and recalled the anti-Semitism scandal at the Kassel Documenta. However, she also thanked the pianist Igor Levit for his planned solidarity concert. The SPD politician Helge Lind, who is "left-wing" by his own admission, passionately opposed "indifference and relativizing murmurs" in "some cultural institutions".
Left-wing parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch reminded the audience that anti-Semitism is not only widespread among Muslims. The churches had been fomenting this in Germany for centuries. "Germany industrialized the extermination of the Jews," he said. "This crime against humanity must not be forgotten." And, he added, Hamas did not commit the attack in Halle. On October 9, 2019, right-wing extremist Stephan B. murdered two people after failing to break into a locked synagogue. He also mentioned the anti-Semitic tendencies of coronavirus deniers who marched through the streets with Jewish stars and talked about a Jewish conspiracy online - as well as the right-wing extremist flyer ridiculing the murder of Jews that was found in the school bag of Free Voter leader Hubert Aiwanger.
- The Central Council of Jews, led by Joseph Schuster, attended the commemoration in the Bundestag, emphasizing the presence of anti-Semitism in contemporary Germany.
- Cem Özdemir, the Minister of Agriculture, explicitly addressed Muslims demonstrating against Israel, urging them not to align themselves with extremist groups like Hamas or Islamic Jihad and to reject the blame-shifting towards Jews.
- The AfD politician Beatrice von Storch accused hundreds of thousands of young Muslims in Germany of harboring hatred towards Jews, while FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr criticized the AfD for having its own members under investigation for anti-Semitic crimes.
- The SPD politician Helge Lind passionately disapproved of the "indifference and relativizing murmurs" in some cultural institutions regarding anti-Semitism.
- The CSU politician Dorothee Bär criticized a lack of criticism towards Hamas terror in the art and cultural scene, recalling the anti-Semitism scandal at the Kassel Documenta.
- Dietmar Bartsch, the left-wing parliamentary group leader, pointed out that anti-Semitism is not only prevalent among Muslims but has also been fostered by churches in Germany for centuries, and condemned the right-wing extremist tendencies in coronavirus deniers and policy figures.
Source: www.ntv.de
