Anti-Semitism | Silence where there should be shouting

Berlin Jews are feeling the consequences of the Middle East conflict. Photo: IMAGO/Rolf Walter The Left Party became the strongest force in the House of Representatives election on September 20th with 25.7 percent. But allegations of anti-Semitism overshadowed the explorations with the Greens and the SPD. Opinions differ among Jews. Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews, warned against the left shortly after the election. Shortly afterwards, 150 Jewish intellectuals supported Elif Eralp and her party in an open letter. Four Berlin Jews speak in “nd” about their thoughts on forming a government.

I am Jewish, in my mid-50s, born in Pankow and currently live in Reinickendorf. In the past I sometimes voted for the Left Party, but not this time.

For me, the current debate about anti-Semitism is just another moment in the long history of left-wing anti-Semitism, which goes back at least 150 years. It starts with terms like “Jewish capital” and extends to the Israel-related anti-Semitism of the pro-Palestinian people. When it says "From the River to the Sea" for me that is Israel-related anti-Semitism because it rejects the existence of the Israeli state - and it's not about Israel having a right-wing government. The USA has that too, but their right to exist is not questioned. I reject the idea of ​​tolerating or even supporting groups that make such statements or approve of them, just because a party needs votes.

And they're not just statements. When pro-Palestinian and Hamas-supporting groups move through Berlin and front doors are marked because Jews live there, then that is threatening. Another example: Hanukkah is coming soon. There is a rule that you put the Hanukkah candlestick in the window. What will it be like this year? Jews are once again wondering whether they should leave this country. Just where?

If I were to describe my current feeling in the city, I would say: "ready for battle." I am the second generation, my mother survived the Shoah. She was on the left all her life, before that in the PDS, before that in the SED. She had a number of arguments there - because of her decades-long criticism of anti-Semitism or because she spoke out against the invasion of Prague. She didn't want German tanks in other countries.

After the Berlin election I feel more at risk. Many younger people felt excluded after October 7th. I never felt like I belonged anyway. Now there is an option for an anti-Israel and therefore anti-Jewish movement to gain a lot of power in our city.

Some good people like Klaus Lederer and Elke Breitenbach have unfortunately left the Berlin Left. You should sit down at the table with them again. At the same time, many people came in who shifted the core of the left. I'm irritated that the silver curls aren't doing anything. Don't people like Bodo Ramelow and Gregor Gysi realize what's happening? Is this opportunism? Is this indifference?

I actually think a red-green-red coalition would be best for Berlin - but only if the SPD finally really stands up for the people again and only with a left that tackles its anti-Semitism problem. And it's not my job to look for solutions. The Left should - immediately - appoint a high-profile group of experts. And unlike German anti-Semitism research, which is very male and non-Jewish, I emphasize: Jewish female scientists also have to be included. And their announcements then have to be implemented.

Since October 7, 2023, anti-Semitism has become noticeably more socially acceptable, including in the art scene and at universities, i.e. in spaces that see themselves as progressive or left-wing. Rooms that were once my home. The fact that they are no longer scares me and disappoints me.

The suffering of the people in Gaza leaves me absolutely unaffected and criticism of Israeli politics must be possible. But anti-Semitic statements are repeatedly made online and at demonstrations, and hardly anyone from our own scene contradicts them. At least I rarely hear that. I perceive this silence or unthinking participation in demonstrations as threatening.

In the end, the right-wingers benefit from this, portraying themselves as protectors of Jewish life, declaring anti-Semitism an “imported” problem, and using it as an instrument for their agitation against Muslims and migrants. And they distract from their own anti-Semitism. In this way, the right may even win over people who feel abandoned by the left, including Jewish people. This must not happen!

The greatest danger to Jewish life and to all of us still comes from the right. But if people with whom we have previously been on the streets against the right turn a blind eye to anti-Semitism, the space for us Jews becomes smaller.

My name is Oleg, I'm 31 years old and I work as a dancer. I was born in Ukraine, grew up in Israel, have lived in Germany for seven years and have German citizenship.

As a Jew and gay man, I currently feel threatened in Berlin. And this is more due to Islamism than right-wing extremism. I find it difficult to see much of a moral difference between certain parts of the radical left and other extremist movements. I've been worried since October 7th. But now I'm really scared.

In the Berlin election, candidates who were supported by the Left Party's Palestine Solidarity Working Group even entered the Berlin House of Representatives. What is my problem with this working group? A journalist once asked LAG member Hannah Bruns whether she wanted to distance herself from the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, and she replied: "I won't distance myself from anything." That is not legitimate political criticism of the Israeli government.

At the same time, it is important to me to remain fair: I know that there are people in both the Left Party and parts of Antifa who resolutely reject anti-Semitism and support Israel's right to exist. I don't want to blame the entire party for certain trends. But the handling of it is too lenient. In my opinion, anyone who stands up for freedom, women's rights and the rights of LGBTIQ people should oppose Islamism, anti-Semitism and calls for violence against Jews with the same determination.

After the war, Germany should have been a safe place for Jews. For me it is no longer that. For me, a Zionist is a Jew who defends himself against attackers. History has taught us what can happen when Jews are unable to protect themselves. That's why I consider anti-Zionism that denies Jews the right to self-determination and self-defense to be a form of anti-Semitism - even if it appears as "criticism of Israel."

When I hear slogans like “Yalla Yalla Intifada” and “Death to the IDF” on the streets in Berlin, it worries me deeply. For me this is not a theoretical or party political question. It's about the life I lead here.

I am a secular left-wing Jew, but also much more: a mother, a woman, a thinker, a language fanatic. I was born in Friedrichshain and now live there again.

The visit of PFLP supporter Ibrahim Ibrahim to the Left's election party is more than problematic for me. There was already an incident when he showed up at a Left Neukölln summer festival on Paul-Lincke-Ufer last year. The Left Party should have nothing to do with such people.

Theoretically, the Left would now have the chance, instead of reflexively going into defense, to say: We are the first party to seriously address anti-Semitism. Because it is of course an illusion to believe that this does not exist in the rest of society and in the other parties.

But if people in the Left Party claim that they don't know who Ibrahim Ibrahim is, no one can take that seriously. It is a conscious decision when you, as a member of the Bundestag, take a selfie with such a well-known person. Ibrahim is close to PFLP and that is an anti-Semitic terrorist organization whose people took part in October 7th. And when it comes to destroying Jews or questioning Israel's right to exist, that is anti-Semitic for me.

I lived in Israel for a long time, part of my family lives there. They consciously migrated from exile to the GDR as communists. In the mid-90s, many went back to their grandparents' countries of origin because they couldn't do anything with the new Greater Germany and the baseball bat years were in full swing here.

Today I would no longer want to live in Israel, even if I still have many friends there. One of my best friends is a Muslim, he is a historian and we have been talking on the phone regularly since October 7th. We have the feeling that, as a minority in our country, we are experiencing similar traumas, i.e. in terms of exclusion from society, the violence of language, but also the languageless spaces.

As a Jew, it doesn't help me when a person on the state executive board says: I am against all anti-Semitism. I call on the left to seriously address anti-Semitism. This means self-criticism of individuals and of structural issues: that is, of the black and white narrative that the party and its leadership have allowed. This isn't a football game! Jewish and Palestinian communities are part of this urban society. You need your own spaces and shared ones. The people who are still fighting for a differentiated view in the Left Party and to ensure that the conversation does not break off are very close to me. I have respect for their work.

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