After terror in Israel
Steinmeier visits synagogue: “That’s why my place today is among them”
Steinmeier visits a synagogue in Berlin: “Today’s Friday is also a day of fear for German Jews,” says the Federal President.
© dts news agency / Imago Images
After Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier sought talks with a Jewish community in Berlin. There he declares the fight against anti-Semitism to be everyone’s duty.
A young man comes riding his bike and stops in front of the dark car with the federal eagle flag. Inside, in the Fraenkelufer synagogue in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, the Federal President is having a conversation Frank-Walter Steinmeier with some members of the Jewish community. The conversation is taking place behind closed doors, but the young man wanted to come anyway: to catch a quick glimpse of the Federal President, he says, and to show solidarity.
The Federal President himself also wants his visit to the Berlin synagogue today to be seen as a sign to the Jewish community and to Israel: “Israel has the right to self-defense and we stand by Israel,” said Steinmeier when he spoke after the conversation the press occurs. The current Federal President and former Foreign Minister has been to Israel many times. He is close friends with President Yitzchak Herzog and spoke to him on the telephone shortly after the Hamas attacks.
Last Saturday, Hamas first fired rockets at Israel, then fighters from the Palestinian terrorist organization invaded the country. They murdered people indiscriminately, raped women and kidnapped hostages to the Gaza Strip.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier wants to set an example
This Friday, Hamas terrorists have called on their followers around the world to commit violence against Jewish life. “Today, Friday, is also a day of fear for German Jews,” says Steinmeier in his statement. “That’s why my place today is among them.” Representing the entire nation, he stands on the side of “our threatened compatriots, on the side of the Jews in Germany.”
In Germany, calls for acts of violence against Jewish institutions are circulating on social networks this Friday. The Federal Criminal Police Office has once again increased the protection of Jewish institutions in all 16 federal states. The interior ministers of the federal states met with Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) for a conference in the afternoon to discuss the situation. The Central Council of Jews announced that it was experiencing a new quality of anti-Semitic sentiment.
The anti-Israel group Samidoun, among others, caused outrage in Germany, whose members distributed sweets on Sonnenallee in Berlin’s Neukölln district a few hours after the bloodbath in Israel in honor of Hamas. In his government statement in the Bundestag on Thursday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) announced bans on Hamas itself and the Samidoun network.
Steinmeier: “Anyone who is German must know and understand Auschwitz”
A father and his son who were present at the conversation with Steinmeier in the synagogue actually saw the Federal President’s visit in this situation as a strong sign of support. This is what they say, who would rather not read their names in an article than walk along the Landwehr Canal after the event.
Steinmeier listened seriously. “It wasn’t: The great Federal President is coming to our small community. Rather, the conversation was close, on one level,” says the young person, who still goes to school. They had told him that the solidarity that was now being invoked would also have to exist in the long term. And that they think that communication in schools is also important, that education is the best way to really counteract hatred.
After the conversation, Steinmeier said: “Anyone who is German or wants to live in our country permanently must know and understand Auschwitz.” The Federal President emphasizes that he must also know that anti-Semitism is not an opinion, but a crime. “And he must also make the safety of Jews in our country his concern.”
The two men hope that something will change. “I’ve been living here for 22 years, my son was born here. We feel comfortable here,” says the father. He adds: “But I wouldn’t walk around here wearing a yarmulke and talking to my son in Hebrew.” He pauses briefly and adds, “And that’s the problem.”