Munich wants action plan against anti-Semitism – Munich

It feels like standing in the middle of a storm, says Charlotte Knobloch, the president of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde. As if one were calling for help and yet often none came. The hatred that Jews face is increasing, also in Munich – whether at demonstrations against Israel or against the Corona measures, whether on the bus or on the Internet. The number of anti-Semitic crimes in Bavaria rose to 262 in the first half of 2021, an increase of almost two thirds compared to the previous six months. But those affected don’t even need such numbers, says Knobloch. You can hear with your own ears, see with your own eyes, “now almost every day”.

On Thursday, Charlotte Knobloch reported to Munich city councilors how these statistics feel for Jewish residents of Munich. And the city wants to take countermeasures. Based on the Berlin model, but as the first municipality in Germany, Munich has drawn up a systematic action plan against anti-Semitism. To this end, the municipal department worked with Jewish communities and institutions as well as with experts. The city council is due to discuss this in December. On Thursday morning, the department presented the plan for the first time at a city council hearing. If the plan is so decided, the city would like to make Jewish life more visible, for example through a public campaign or through actions on Jewish holidays.

Anti-Semitic patterns can be seen in demonstrations by right-wing extremists and corona deniers

The city also wants to raise awareness of the problem; In particular, the sensitivity to more modern forms of anti-Semitism is still too little developed among teachers, said the head of the department, Miriam Heigl. In general, there should be more training courses in the future, also for employees in the city administration, in the judiciary and the police, or in the area of ​​remembrance culture. Everyone should network more closely than before in the fight against anti-Semitism. A study will be devoted to the experiences and everyday life of Jewish residents of Munich. And finally there should be a fund to support workshops and projects against anti-Semitism.

The journalist Robert Andreasch told the city council how big the challenge is. Anti-Semitic patterns are dragged on by demonstrations by right-wing extremists, racists and corona deniers, he showed. There are always many young people to be seen at demonstrations with anti-Semitic posters, said Annette Seidel-Arpacı from the Research and Information Center Antisemitism Bavaria. And anti-Semitism in particular with regard to Israel is often not perceived as such.

“You can do something,” says Ludwig Spaenle (CSU), the state government’s commissioner against anti-Semitism. On Thursday evening in the old town hall hall, he discussed ways to counter anti-Semitism on the Internet with Munich’s second mayor Katrin Habenschaden (Greens). The “European Leadership Network” (Elnet) Germany, an association that wants to improve German-Israeli relations, was invited. The suggestions here too: more education, more encounters – and more decisive action against hatred, said Carsten Ovens from Elnet. Spaenle had recently suggested to the state government to develop an overall concept against anti-Semitism.

The city of Munich took a concrete, far-reaching step four years ago: In December 2017, the city council decided to ban events of the anti-Israel campaign “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” (BDS) from urban areas. But how long this will last is unclear. The Bavarian Administrative Court ruled in 2020 that the city was thereby inadmissibly restricting freedom of expression. The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig is now negotiating in December. The city’s legal department said on Thursday that they wanted to put human dignity against freedom of expression. It is hoped that the federal judges will follow this line of reasoning.

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