Evangelicals: “Never again should Jews in Germany become a target of violence”

The German Evangelical Alliance reacts to antisemitic attacks observed in some pro-Palestinian protests. The Interior Minister vows to combat religious-motivated attacks with “the full force of the law”.

Evangelical Focus

BERLIN · 21 MAY 2021 · 15:34 CET

Photo: <a target="_blank" href="https://unsplash.com/@noahholm">Noah Holm</a>, Unsplash CC0.,
Photo: Noah Holm, Unsplash CC0.

The German Evangelical Alliance has said it “condemns all kind of antisemitism” and will defend the right of Jews in the European country to be protected.

Such declaration came after pro-Palestinian demonstrations in several cities and towns of Germany led to antisemitic acts.

A part from licit criticism of Israel’s role in the recent conflict with Islamist militant group Hamas, there were also insulting chants against Jews, throwing of stones against a synaoguge, and burning of Israeli flags.

Such actions were “definitively condemned” by Aiman Mazyek, leader of the Central Committee of Muslims in Germany, who added: “Those who deplore racism but then spread antisemitic hatred themselves have forfeited everything”.

The images shared on social media also reached members of the German federal parliament. According to Deutsche Welle, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, called for a tough crackdown on “antisemitic hate preachers, agitators and violent criminals”. He added: “There shouldn't be one centimeter of space for antisemitism on our streets. Never again”.

 

German Evangelical Alliance

In its one-page document, the German Evangelical Alliance has also underlined that “never again Jewish people, their worship places or other equipment be targets of violence”.

“We condemn any type of verbal, symbolic or physical violence”, the body said, and called on “our federal government to protect our Jewish co-citizens as best as possible”.

The Evangelical Alliance defends the right of Israel as a State to defend itself although it also calls to seek for peaceful solutions by “escaping the spiral of violence”.

The evangelical body laments that “old and well-spread conspiracy theories about Jews have been spread again in the last months, since the beginning of the pandemic”. Such theories that scapegoat Jews are a “basis for anti-Semitism”.

The Alliance ends up by pointing out that the recent attacks against Jews do not only come from Islamistic groups, but also are often promoted in Germany by both far-right and far-left extremist groups.

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