Anti-Semitism in the Berlin Left: Danger for Elif Eralp

T he left-wing election victory in Berlin is a huge opportunity. Elif Eralp credibly embodies that Berlin will become different under her as Governing Mayor: fairer, more affordable, more livable. But anti-Semitism – or at least sympathy for anti-Semites – in parts of her party threatens the project. Not just morally, but also politically. In particular, stray members in the Neukölln district become a real threat to progressive politics.

It is repulsive how some left-wing members there openly seek proximity to the Palestinian terrorist organization PFLP. On Sunday evening, Ibrahim Ibrahim, an activist from the organization's immediate environment, also celebrated at the local association's election party. And during the election campaign, the district association had already had a rapper perform who celebrated the PFLP.

How can one deny that fraternization with the PFLP poses a threat against Israelis and implicitly also against Jews? How to presume to be left-wing and at the same time glorify an organization that systematically murdered civilians? No freedom struggle justifies detonating a nail bomb in a market, as a PFLP suicide bomber did in Netanya, Israel, around 2002. Or the massacre of October 7, 2023, in which the organization was also involved.

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Eralp always clearly distances himself from the aberrations in the Neukölln left. And yet this could pose a political threat to them. In order for her to become mayor, the Greens and the SPD must first be convinced to form a coalition. Incidents of anti-Semitism do not help. Just like the impression that Eralp has no assertiveness within the party.

The PFLP friends on the Berlin Left are therefore not only harming the Jews in Germany or their own top candidate. They also betray the hundreds of thousands who voted left on Sunday so that something really changes in Berlin.