Debate about anti-Semitism: How Berlin Jews look at the left

I'm worried about increasing anti-Semitism - but I'm not afraid of a red-green-red government. Social politics is exactly what Berlin needs. After all, Jews are like everyone else: they can hardly find an apartment in this city and pay far too much for their rent.

Something very similar is happening here to what happened around a year ago when Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York: a wave of indignation from conservatives who are actually just afraid of left-wing politics. They use the accusation of anti-Semitism as an unbeatable argument.

The debate is being conducted on the backs of the Jews. That's why I, together with other Berlin Jews, supported the Left Party in an open letter the day after the election. If the critics were about us, then we would talk about other things. For example, the fact that the AfD has become the strongest force in two federal states. Or that statistically anti-Semitic incidents mostly come from the right.

It is also not the Left Party that has cut the Living Democracy funding program and is thus endangering civil society projects against anti-Semitism. Nor did she embezzle funding in Berlin that was intended for the fight against anti-Semitism. And in Bavaria she is not in coalition with Hubert Aiwanger, who in his youth distributed a leaflet in which he fantasized about free flying through the chimney of Auschwitz. That was the Union.

That doesn't mean that there aren't anti-Semitic incidents on the left and that they shouldn't be taken seriously. If politicians have contacts with organized crime or terrorist organizations, then that is of course a problem. I also sometimes lack differentiation in the Left Party. It is right to speak out clearly against Israel's crimes. But some on the left can't do that without glorifying violence. Or they do not make a clear distinction between Judaism, Zionism and Israel.

But anti-Semitism is a German-wide problem and certainly not a new, left-wing or imported one. In my opinion, the leaders of the Left Party deal with the issue in a very differentiated way. Ines Schwerdtner has really impressed me over the last few days. I believe that left-wing politics is ultimately a good remedy against anti-Semitism. More investments in the welfare state and education help to reduce misanthropy. (Protocol: Frederik Eikmanns)

It's no longer about actually helping Jews, but about making political capital out of them. I'm talking about the Left Party, which criticizes an obvious slip of the tongue by Friedrich Merz, but only to distract from its own anti-Semitism. But also from the Union, which is currently getting tangled up in firewall debates, even though it would obviously be problematic for Jews if the firewall came down.

The Left may not yet be an inherently anti-Semitic party, but anti-Semitism is tolerated there and has structure. The party is currently trying to equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. But no one here is talking about the fact that the left criticizes Israel too much. That is not the accusation. The accusation is that we are dealing with tangible anti-Semitic incidents.

If a PFLP member shows up at a campaign party, we have a problem. If a left-wing member of the Bundestag, who has already attracted attention in the past, takes photos with PFLP supporters, then we have a problem. This Monday we celebrated Yom Kippur, which is the highest Jewish holiday. Two days earlier there was an arson attack on the synagogue in Wuppertal, and in January there was an arson attack on the synagogue in Giessen. We don't have a Jewish holiday on which we are not confronted with some horror news on our cell phones - attempted attacks or actual ones, like the recent one in England in Golders Green. To be photographed with those who glorify terror in such a phase speaks volumes.

We also live in a time in which Hamas is becoming more international. And then there is a rapper who speaks of “intifada” at a left-wing election campaign event and a list candidate who calls for an “electoral intifada”. Nobody intervened. Now there is a huge outcry because otherwise the other parties would not want to form a coalition with the Left in Berlin. But I don't think Elif Eralp's five-point plan is concrete.

I've been wearing the kippah outside for nine months. You can do this wonderfully if you are okay with being constantly addressed in anti-Semitic ways. We also see this at universities or recently in an incident in which a young man gave the Hitler salute in front of a synagogue. This kind of thing happens all the time, but only in the rarest of cases does a camera roll and then people talk about it. The reality of life for Jews in this country is that if you don't hide, you have to expect to be treated anti-Semitic. (Protocol: Konstantin Nowotny)

My brother was killed on October 7, 2023. Afterwards I joined the “Parents Circle Families Forum, bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families for peace”. I used to be a peace activist in Israel, but I'm left-wing and people hate me in Israel, so I've been living in Berlin for a few years. I feel very safe here – as a left-wing, Jewish trans person. I speak Hebrew all the time, even in Arabic restaurants in Neukölln, and tell the waiters that I come from Israel – without any problems. I recently had a German passport and voted for the Left in the elections, but I'm not a member.

Regarding the current debate about the party, I would like to note that Neukölln is the place with the largest Palestinian diaspora in Germany. Of course I can't understand everything people are saying, but everyone is grieving something different. I know some ways of grieving can seem very radical. But I understand many people, even if I wouldn't use their words myself. For example, “Death to the IDF,” which the rapper Dahabflex sang at a Left Party election rally in Neukölln. If someone has lost family members to the IDF and sees Germany continuing to support Israel, I can understand why they would say that. I don't think that's anti-Semitic.

The best way to combat anti-Semitism is not to silence people. Of course, it is anti-Semitic when someone lumps all Jews together and says they should all die, or justifies the death of innocent people. But there are also people who simply don't know enough about Jews and Judaism. We should enlighten them.

I am against Ferat Koçak resigning from his mandate in the Bundestag or any of his other positions. I don't know anything about the PFLP, whose supporters the Left Party supposedly maintains contacts with. Of course, we should look closely at who supports whom on what points. But I am against cancel culture. Then you could just as well say: Jews who support the Israeli government should be “cancelled.”

I certainly understand if Jewish people don't feel safe in places like the Dahabflex concert, but at the same time Palestinians should not be silenced. I know, this is tricky. But instead of not inviting a rapper like him, I think it would be better to sit down with someone from this group of Jewish people and the artist in advance to find common ground for a performance where everyone feels welcome and safe - even if you don't agree with everything that is said. You just have to endure that. We as Jewish people must also open ourselves to the Palestinian perspective. We cannot reach peace via a one-way street. (Protocol: Lotte Laloire)

I look at the developments of the last few days with great skepticism. This already started during the election campaign. Anyone who saw the Left's posters in the Neukölln or Gesundbrunnen districts had to believe that Berlin's big problems lay in Gaza. I can see an exaggerated fixation on Israel.

Elif Eralp announced consequences after the incidents in Neukölln. But the Neukölln district refuses to do so. Party members there are proud that a rapper was allowed to perform who glorifies the Intifada. This part of the left calls for hatred. I don't think a party like that is capable of governing.

The left believes that it can define itself what is to be viewed as anti-Semitic and what is not. I don't think she would presume to do that when it comes to racism against people with a migrant background. In any case, we as the Jewish community of Berlin only found out about the 5-point plan against anti-Semitism that the Left presented in the election campaign afterwards from the media.

People in the Left Party now often say that this is a right-wing campaign. Anti-Semitism is being exploited here to attack the left. That's not true. The warnings come from large parts of the Jewish communities in Germany.

Alternatively, the Left points to the anti-Semitism of the other parties. It would be better to acknowledge that you have a problem and deal with it, regardless of the problems of others. My expectation of all parties is that they have a 360-degree view of the issue of anti-Semitism, i.e. that they stand against hatred of Jews from every political direction. But the left looks the other way when it comes to anti-Semitism from leftists or Muslims. It's not even named.

The chansoniere Sharon Brauner recently released the song “Child of this City” in which she says goodbye to Berlin. This reflects the mood of many people in the community very well. Especially the younger ones who have children are wondering whether there is still a future for them here. The uncertainty is not new, but it has grown rapidly recently. You have to take note of that. (Frederik Eikmann’s minutes)

It was foreseeable that there would be a campaign against the Left Party after the election. It's not really about anti-Semitism, but simply about the fact that a left-wing party could become the mayor of the German capital. By portraying the Left as anti-Semitic, the SPD gets an easy excuse to reject a coalition and prevent the expropriation of the housing companies. A large part of the media and the social mainstream is taking part. That's cynical.

How little substance the allegations have is evident from the fact that different topics are mixed together. Anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of Israel, for example. Or it is pretended that organized crime and anti-Semitism somehow belong together. Islamism is also said to have been involved. It was a man with connections to the PFLP who was at the election party in Neukölln. This is a secular group that has nothing to do with religious extremism. There is racist resentment behind these confused accusations.

In any case, there are people on the left with attitudes that are not appropriate for a left-wing party. But this is about activists and ordinary party members. I have never heard anything from elected left-wing politicians or the party leadership that crosses the boundaries of what is permissible.

It is clear that there are Jews who do not feel safe in Germany. But the fact that some people are afraid of the Left Party has more to do with the discourse than with the actual party. When the Central Council warns that Jews are not safe in Germany because of the Left Party, many people feel really threatened. But it has nothing to do with the left.

Conversely, this does not mean that the left in the Berlin government should not do more to ensure that Jews and all other people feel safe. This applies regardless of all the current allegations against the party. (Protocol: Frederik Eikmanns)

I voted for the left for the first time because I support their election program the most. But of course I had a stomach ache. Because of the anti-Semitism problem in the party. Other parties also have a problem with this, but I wouldn't vote for them anyway. The only reason I struggle with the left is because I even consider it. Before this election, it looked to me as if they now had a plan and were dealing with it instead of denying it. For example with Elif Eralp, who wants to pursue an embracing policy instead of the unnecessarily polarizing language that dominates this debate.

Now after the election I find everything just absurd. Especially where the accusations of anti-Semitism are now partly coming from - from corners where I think: Please take a look at your own nose first. For example, from the CDU, which itself has canceled funding for the prevention of anti-Semitism and embezzled tax money to do so. But also from certain media: Where was their panic that the AfD was elected? This double standard drives me crazy. I demand that all parts of society address what anti-Semitism simply is. Namely more than hatred of Jews. There are also a lot of conspiracy stories, for example that Jews are particularly smart or good at business. Likewise, the incredible caution people show when they know I'm Jewish and talk to me annoys me. And what makes me particularly angry is when people talk particularly badly about refugees or take particularly anti-Muslim positions. Do they think they are particularly anti-anti-Semitic?

It is important to me to say that I am not afraid of the Left Party, just of this anti-Zionist bubble. When someone wears a Palestinian scarf, I can never know what they mean by it. This can be a totally okay person, but also an anti-Semitic one. That's exactly how I feel when I see watermelons. I wouldn't go to one of their demos. I don't feel safe or welcome there. Not being able to go there is really bad for me, because I would love to go to demonstrations where freedom for Palestinians is demanded.

That's why I preferred to have this conversation in person instead of sending a voice message while I was on the street in Kreuzberg, as I had initially thought. I tried to do this several times, but I just didn't feel comfortable doing it. But my sense of security has nothing to do with the election now. And in Berlin-Marzahn I would feel just as uncomfortable saying on the street that I am Jewish. I have lived in Berlin for 34 years and have no connection to Israel. I've only felt unsafe since October 7, 2023. Since then, I've noticed that even in left-wing circles, not in the party, but in internet comments, stories are being told that already existed in the Middle Ages, for example that Jews eat children or some such nonsense.

What I now hope from the left is that it doesn't react stubbornly, that is, that it doesn't simply reject everything and also that it doesn't leave it at a few symbolic actions and that's it. But rather that it seriously deals with the reality of life for Jews and asks us what we are afraid of. I am for dialogue. But a party that wants to govern also has to draw boundaries. Ferat Koçak should definitely give up his Bundestag mandate. People like Ibrahim Ibrahim, who has PFLP connections, or rappers like this Dahabflex should not appear on the left. If you want to create an embracing policy, you have to design your program in such a way that everyone feels comfortable. So do we. (Protocol: Lotte Laloire)