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Germany vows to fight anti-Semitism as thousands hold pro-Israel rally

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Femke COLBORNE, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Participants wave Israel flags during a rally in solidarity with Israel in Berlin, Germany, October 22, 2023. Clemens Bilan, EPA-EFE" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/overseas/10/22/20231022_germany-rally_epa.jpg"/><figcaption>Participants wave Israel flags during a rally in solidarity with Israel in Berlin, Germany, October 22, 2023. <em>Clemens Bilan, EPA-EFE</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>BERLIN, Germany -- Several thousand people rallied in support of Israel in Berlin on Sunday as the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to stamp out a resurgence of anti-Semitic incidents in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict.</p><p>Police said around 10,000 people gathered at Brandenburg Gate for the demonstration in solidarity with Israel and in opposition to anti-Semitism, though organizers put the figure at 25,000.</p><p>&quot;It is unbearable that Jews are living in fear again today -- especially in our country,&quot; Germany&#x27;s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the crowds.</p><p>&quot;Every single attack on Jews, on Jewish institutions, is a disgrace for Germany. Every single attack fills me with shame and anger,&quot; he said.</p><p>Earlier in the day, Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed a similar message at the opening of a new synagogue in the city of Dessau.</p><p>&quot;There must be zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in Germany,&quot; Scholz said.</p><p>Germany will &quot;defend and protect&quot; Jewish life, he added, voicing his shock at anti-Semitism spreading &quot;around the world and, shamefully, also here in Germany&quot;.</p><div><strong>- Molotov cocktails -</strong></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="German Chancellor Olaf Scholz holds a kippa after the inauguration of the Weill Synagogue in Dessau, Germany, October 22, 2023. Filip Singer, EPA-EFE." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/overseas/10/22/102323_olaf-scholz_epa.jpg"/><figcaption>German Chancellor Olaf Scholz holds a kippa after the inauguration of the Weill Synagogue in Dessau, Germany, October 22, 2023. <em>Filip Singer, EPA-EFE.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Germany has seen a spate of anti-Semitic incidents in the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel and Israel&#x27;s retaliatory bombing campaign.</p><p>Some Jewish homes in Berlin have been marked with the Star of David and attackers last week hurled two Molotov cocktails at a Jewish synagogue in the city.</p><p>There must be no turning a blind eye &quot;when Jews are not safe on Germany&#x27;s streets, when Stars of David are smeared on homes, when firebombs are thrown at synagogues&quot;, Scholz said.</p><p>The opening of the synagogue in Dessau came 85 years after a synagogue in the city was destroyed in the &quot;Kristallnacht&quot; anti-Jewish pogrom on November 9, 1938, when Nazi mobs torched and ransacked synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses across Germany -- widely seen as the start of the Third Reich&#x27;s drive to wipe out Jews.</p><p>The new building has been named the Weill Synagogue after the German-American composer Kurt Weill, whose father was a cantor in Dessau&#x27;s Jewish community.</p><p>Dessau is just 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Halle, where a gunman killed two people after failing to storm a synagogue on Yom Kippur in October 2019.</p><p>Germany has the third-largest Jewish community in Europe, according to the interior ministry.</p><p>The Central Council of Jews in Germany puts the number of practicing Jews in the country at around 100,000 and the number of synagogues at around 100.</p><div><strong>- Painful memories -</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pmHK2RZ9yEg?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>Anti-Semitic acts have increased sharply in the country amid the latest turmoil in the Middle East, according to the Federal Association of Research and Information Centers on Anti-Semitism (RIAS).</p><p>In the period from October 7 to 15, RIAS documented 202 anti-Semitic &quot;incidents&quot; compared with just 59 during the same week in 2022.</p><p>Sigmount Koenigsberg, a pointman on anti-Semitism for the city&#x27;s Jewish community, told the Rheinische Post newspaper on Sunday that the rise anti-Jewish incidents brought back painful memories of Nazi Germany.</p><p>&quot;It is the first time since Nazi rule that this is happening again in Germany. It reminds my community very much of that terrible time,&quot; he said.</p><p>Susanne Liebegott, a 60-year-old teacher, said she attended the rally in Berlin because &quot;it is important for me to stand against anti-Semitism&quot;.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m not necessarily pro-Israel and don&#x27;t really take a stand. But the anti-Semitism in Germany, which is also on the rise, worries me a lot,&quot; she told AFP.</p><p>Carsten Remmers, 41, a music business manager at the demo with his four-year-old daughter, said it was &quot;enormously important to say that we stand by Israel&quot;.</p><p>&quot;Especially we as Germans have a special responsibility,&quot; he said.</p><p>Germany has seen several large rallies in support of both Israel and the Palestinians since October 7.</p><p>A planned pro-Palestinian demonstration near the Brandenburg Gate on Sunday was banned due to fears of anti-Semitism and violence.</p><p>© Agence France-Presse</p><div><br/><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2851980" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div> </div>

Several thousand people rallied in support of Israel in Berlin on Sunday as the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to stamp out a resurgence of anti-Semitic incidents.

Germany vows to fight anti-Semitism as thousands hold pro-Israel rally

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Germany vows to fight anti-Semitism as thousands hold pro-Israel rally

Femke COLBORNE,

Agence France-Presse

Published Oct 23, 2023 12:49 AM PHT

Read More:

Israel

Germany

anti-Semitism

Olaf Scholz

Jews

Israel-Hamas war

Gaza Strip

Palestine

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