“Anyone who rejects Jewish life in Germany or calls Israel’s right to exist into question can have no place in our country.” It was with this statement by Stephan Harbarth that media reporting began around the comprehensive motion for combating antisemitism which was adopted by almost all parties in the German Bundestag on 18 January 2018. The “asylum dispute” between the CDU and the CSU had only just passed its zenith when Stephan Harbarth took the time to meet Jonathan Kalmanovich and Elio Adler from our association. We exchanged views on how the motion against antisemitism came about and discussed the need to equip the position of Federal Commissioner against Antisemitism, created in that motion, comprehensively with staff and resources. Another topic was the fact that different manifestations of hatred of Jews have to be countered in different ways. The uncontrollable influence of hate content on social media and in parts of the foreign media represents a particular challenge in this respect. There was great interest on both sides in further exchange. Many thanks for the conversation!
