crime
Against hate: New strategy to curb anti-Semitism
The paper “National strategy against anti-Semitism and for Jewish life” was presented in Berlin at the federal press conference. photo
© Wolfgang Kumm/dpa
It is by no means the first attempt to curb hostilities against Jews in Germany. A new “national strategy” is now to take effect at all levels.
Shots fired at a former rabbi’s house in Essen, rubbish and destruction at a synagogue in Berlin, attacks on the sculpture of a Jewish athlete in Thuringia – these are just three examples from the past few weeks.
The statistics recorded 306 crimes with an anti-Semitic background for the period from July to the end of September alone, including eleven violent crimes. The police do not always see a political motive, and it is not always clear what is actually behind it. But these incidents always contribute to the fact that Jews in Germany feel uncomfortable or hostile.
The federal government is countering this with its new “National Strategy Against Anti-Semitism and for Jewish Life”. The aim is to better protect Jews from prejudice and hatred and to strengthen Jewish life in Germany. That alone is not new. But for the first time, the new concept of anti-Semitism commissioner Felix Klein should now have a systematic effect on all state and social levels, from the police and judiciary to schools and universities to sports clubs. He “invites everyone to use it in their everyday work,” said Klein when presenting the strategy.
In concrete terms, this includes taking a close look at what is missing in the fight against anti-Semitism and collecting the relevant data. Central to Klein’s concept is education and enlightenment, both about Jewish history and the Holocaust as well as about Israel and the special importance of the country for Jews worldwide. Last but not least, it is about targeted action by the police and judiciary against hostilities and criminal offenses so that Jews can live in safety.
Around 120,000 to 150,000 Jews live in Germany
It is also important to Klein to make Jewish life more visible. With an estimated 120,000 to 150,000 Jews in Germany, the following applies to many in the country: They don’t know each other and only eye each other from a distance. Taking away fears of contact, arousing curiosity, that’s also part of the job for Klein.
In his NASAS abbreviated strategy, the Federal Commissioner came up with a so-called 5×3 model – five fields of action and three cross-sectional dimensions. In parts, his plan sounds pretty abstract. The opposition immediately criticized this. The strategy is too vague, complained the anti-Semitism expert of the Union parliamentary group, Michael Breilmann (CDU), and warned, for example, of financial signs in the federal budget. “There is no knowledge, but an implementation deficit,” he said.
Otherwise, Klein received a lot of praise, especially for the seriousness and determination to tackle the problem systematically. The Central Council of Jews spoke of an important sign at the right time and acknowledged that Jewish associations and organizations had been involved. “The anti-Semitic incidents at the documenta and the way they were dealt with have shown in a blatant way how Jewish voices are ignored,” explained the President of the Central Council, Josef Schuster. The strategy also takes up recommendations on how to deal with anti-Semitism in schools. “Because education is one of the most important tools in the fight against the poison anti-Semitism.”
“The challenge now is the full implementation of the strategy”
Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor also praised Klein and welcomed the federal government’s efforts with the new strategy. “The challenge now is the full implementation of the strategy in all spheres of German society,” said Prosor.
Because as long-lived as the campaign against anti-Semitism is – Klein himself referred to a long series of government commissions, reports and papers on which his strategy is based – the problem is not fundamentally decreasing. Anti-Semitism is looking for new paths such as conspiracy ideologies during the corona pandemic and new disguises such as alleged criticism of Israel, which is then specifically aimed at Jews in Germany. And he finds new nourishment in fears and problems for which scapegoats are sought.
The current times of crisis in particular are a test of social cohesion, said Klein. “Because in these times of uncertainty, people tend to give supposedly simple answers – answers that polarize, exclude and divide. Anti-Semitism is one of these supposedly simple answers.” Hate postings have exploded on the Internet. And in the analog world, official statistics have been showing an increase in anti-Semitic incidents and crimes for years.
That not only threatens Jews, said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD). “Anti-Semitism is an attack on all values that we stand for as a democratic constitutional state. That’s why we fight anti-Semitism with all our might – and at all levels of our state.”