Unanimously and unequivocally: The Munich City Council strongly condemns the terrorist attacks by Hamas and supports Israel unreservedly and with compassion. The General Assembly passed a resolution to this effect without a dissenting vote on Wednesday. Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) emphasized that Munich would continue to do everything “to express solidarity as often as possible.” This sign is important for the people of Israel, but also for the Jews in Munich, “who rightly feel unsafe.”
“The cruelty and brutality of terrorist attacks on innocent people, families with children, men and women of all ages shock us deeply and cannot be justified by anything,” the resolution says. The city of Munich declares its “unrestricted solidarity” with its sister city Be’er Sheva and all people in Israel. “This terror must end immediately, which is why we support Israel’s right to self-defense, which is guaranteed under international law. We oppose any form of justification or even support for this inhumane terror with all consistency and determination,” it continues.
A few days after the terrorist attacks began, around 2,000 people showed their solidarity with Israel in front of the Jewish center on Jakobsplatz. Mayor Reiter had announced a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations there, which was subsequently implemented by the administration. But after complaints against it, the Bavarian Administrative Court declared a general ban to be inadmissible. However, the responsible district administration department continues to examine in each individual case whether, for example, the danger to public safety or the expectation of criminal offenses justifies a ban.
Before the resolution was passed, representatives of the factions had clearly committed themselves to Israel’s right to self-defense and rejected any relativization of Hamas’s atrocities. The CSU parliamentary group leader Pretzl praised the attempts to ban pro-Palestinian demonstrations as an important political signal. Only the Left/The Party faction wanted to add a passage as an appendix to the resolution that also addressed the humanitarian situation of the people in the Gaza Strip. She took the wording from a statement from the German section of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, which, however, met with sharp criticism.
The demand made there for an end to the “spiral of violence” in Israel puts Hamas’ terrorist attack into perspective, according to the majority of the city council. Left-wing city councilor Brigitte Wolf immediately deleted this wording from her application in order to counteract this impression. The motion still found no supporters in the city council outside of their own parliamentary group.
The Hamas attack was “shocking, bestial and inhumane,” said Green party spokeswoman Mona Fuchs. Their goal is to generate “as much hatred and as much suffering as possible,” added SPD city councilor Lena Odell. Shortly before November 9th, the anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938, people have to worry about their Jewish fellow citizens again. Odell called for the anniversary to be celebrated with dignity and to set an example, also with a view to the Holocaust: “Never again!”