 |
From Left: Israeli President Moshe Katsav, German President Horst Koehler, Gila Katsav and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer lunch at the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, May 2005
Photo: AFP
|
|
|
The following is a list of statements from prominent and less prominent German politicians, ahead of Sunday's legislative elections. Most were collected by the Christian oriented European Coalition for Israel (ECI) as well as the Juedische Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper (JAZ).
Some comments were given directly to EJP.
Helmut Metzner, department head of the election department of the liberal Free Democratic Party told EJP: “Germany is a country of immigrants. We are pushing for a competent integration policy. Integration cannot come from itself. It needs to be pushed. Where integration fails is when we have, so called, parallel societies. We are working on a concept to integrate long-term foreign residents. But these residents must also be willing to integrate and to learn the German language.”
In June, JAZ reported Angela Merkel as saying “Germany has an historical responsibility towards Israel, and Israel is the only reliable and democratic partner […] that Germany and the EU have in the region. Germany has a responsibility for guaranteeing Israel’s right to exist…”
|
Angela Merkel
“Germany has an historical responsibility towards Israel, and Israel is the only reliable and democratic partner […] that Germany and the EU have in the region. Germany has a responsibility for guaranteeing Israel’s right to exist…” |
Merkel is the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) leader challenging chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. She is leading in the polls.
In an interview with the Israeli daily Haaretz published this week, she said :
“We will fight with determination against this [anti-Semitism] and use all legal means at our disposal. It is important to heighten the society’s awareness of the meaning of anti-Semitism, which means the hatred of mankind.
Lothar Bisky, head of the newly constituted Left Party told ECI that he supports the expansion of German-Israeli relations. “Germany has an eternal responsibility towards the Jewish people and Israel which, in practicality, includes the consequential fight against anti-Semitism”.
Bisky suggested that Germany has an important role to play in the peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict.
The Left Party is made up of a union between the former head of the Social Democrats, Oscar Lafontaine, and the PDS, the successor to East Germany’s former communist party.
|
Joschka Fischer
"The trauma of the Holocaust makes us all responsible for keeping anti-Semitism and racism at bay in the future, globalized world" |
Dirk Niebel, Secretary General of the Free Democratic Party told ECI: “the relations to Israel are singular and admirable, considering the uniqueness of the German-Israeli relationship. This special character will continue. We will strive in order that the Israelis and Palestinians will be able to live without fear and within secure borders.”
Fritz Kuhn, speaker of the foreign relations committee of the Green party told ECI, that “the federal government must make it clear at talks, at all levels, that Israel’s right of existence is a corner stone of Germany’s foreign policy…”
Franz Muentefering, leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), told JAZ that his party “unequivocally supports the policies of the federal government of Gerhard Schroeder. Israel’s security is a constant in German foreign policy […] The SPD recognizes [the need for] a strong Israeli state and supports it…”
Krista Sager, head of the parliamentary group of the Greens told ECI that she supports the government’s position of Israel’s right of existence and safety for its citizens.
Germany’s DPA press agency reported that the Green Party head, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told a panel at the 2004 anti-Semitism Conference in Paris that “the trauma of the Holocaust makes us all responsible for keeping anti-Semitism and racism at bay in the future, globalized world.”
At the same conference, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called on all citizens to fight anti-Semitism.
Schroeder said, “Jews, but also all of society must be made safe from anti-Semitic terror and violence”.
|
Gerhard Schoerder
"Jews, but also all of society must be made safe from anti-Semitic terror and violence" |
Stefan Lux, of the extreme rightwing National Democratic Party (NPD) told EJP that the NPD has no relations to Jews or Jewish organizations.
“The NPD would certainly consider creating contact with important Jewish organisations. The NPD is not an anti-Semitic party. First one needs to clarify what anti-Semitism is.The term is used by ‘professional-Judaism’ to defame and discriminate against non-Jews. The NPD is fighting this ‘opinion dictatorship’ of ‘professional-Judaism’ which is the root of anti-Semitism.”
Hans Eichel, German finance minister told ECI that “the German-Israeli partnership is not a normal one – it is a priceless gift.”
Rainer Bruederle, deputy chief of the FDP, told ECI that “relations between Germans and Israelis have become more intensive – through which many friendships have developed.”
Bruederle is a board member of the German-Israeli Economic forum.
Dagmar Schmidt, SPD Member of Parliament believes that anti-Semitism in Germany will cease once more people get involved in groups that fight anti-Semitism and xenophobia.
Schmidt told ECI that involving Palestinians in trilateral dialogue in Germany would “help bring down barriers and misunderstandings.”
The last 60 years of German-Jewish dialogue has only had a modicum of success, claimed Green party member Robert Zion. Zion told ECI, “the ruling party of the Gelsenkirche City Council donated one day’s stipend during an emergency town hall meeting towards the building of the town’s new synagogue.”
Ironically, the meeting was called by the right wing populist Republican Party.
Referring to the rise in Islamic anti-Semitism, Zion suggested that anti-Semitism could “only be battled through the enlightenment of modern, secular forces,” so ECI.
Olav Goehs, of the foreign relations desk of the parliamentary faction of the Christian Democratic Party CDU and its sister party the Bavarian CSU suggested to BCI that intensifying exchanges between Israel and Germany would help to continue breaking down the barriers that are in place as a result of Germany’s Nazi past.
For Further information see also: www.projekt-bundestagswahl.de
European Coalition for Israel: www.europeancoalitionforisrael.org