Klein calls for anti-Semitism officers at universities

After the attack on a Jewish student in Berlin, the anti-Semitism commissioner Klein called on universities to take consistent action against hatred of Jews. Minister Stark-Watzinger also said that all legal means must be exhausted.

After a Jewish student was attacked in Berlin, the federal government’s anti-Semitism commissioner called on German universities to do more to combat anti-Semitism. In the Morning magazine from ARD and ZDF Felix Klein accused the management of the Free University in Berlin of not taking sufficient action against hatred and agitation.

Universities must intervene using the means of domestic law and regulatory law if Jewish students and university professors are threatened or if hatred against Israel is spread at pro-Palestinian rallies, said Klein. Anti-Semitism officers must be appointed at all universities.

Criticism of a lack of solidarity among the population

With regard to Muslim migrants, the state must make it clear from the outset that hate speech against Jews and anti-Semitism will not be tolerated in Germany. Klein praised the attitude of leading German politicians who clearly expressed their solidarity with Israel after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th. But he misses broad solidarity among the German population. Participation in demonstrations that sided with Israel was rather low.

A 23-year-old pro-Palestinian student is said to have seriously injured a 30-year-old fellow student of Jewish faith in the face with punches and kicks in Berlin on Saturday night. The victim is the grandson of one of those murdered in the 1972 Munich Olympic attack and the brother of comedian Shahak Shapira.

Stark-Watzinger demands consequences

Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger stated that such and similar incidents must be consistently punished: “There must be no place for anti-Semitism, especially at German universities.” Like Klein, the FDP politician appealed to all universities to take consistent action against anti-Semitism. “Universities are places of maximum freedom, but they are not lawless spaces,” she told the Germany editorial network.

Anti-Semitism must have clear consequences. University management must make use of all legal options: “Looking the other way is unacceptable.”

The President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, had previously called for harsh consequences, such as exclusion from university: “If the fight against anti-Semitism is taken seriously, anti-Semitic crimes must lead to exmatriculation.” Universities should not become “no-go areas” for Jews.

Chialo warns of dangers for society

Berlin’s Senator for Culture Joe Chialo sees anti-Semitism in Germany as a serious danger for the entire country: “If the dam breaks when it comes to anti-Semitism, I am sure our society will be lost,” the CDU politician told Zeit magazine. The Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th was a turning point for him. He found the silence of the cultural scene to be “droning”.

Chialo caused controversy in January because he wanted to make the Berlin Senate’s cultural funding dependent, among other things, on a commitment against anti-Semitism. Parts of politics and the cultural scene then accused him of an attack on freedom of art and freedom of expression. Internationally there were even calls for a boycott against German cultural institutions. Chialo then had to withdraw the so-called anti-discrimination clause due to legal concerns.

In the Zeit magazine, Chialo said that one could certainly criticize Israel and the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. But despite all the criticism, anyone who questions Israel’s right to exist in Berlin, in the city where the Nazis organized the mass murder of Jews at the Wannsee Conference, should not be supported with taxpayers’ money.