We wrote to the parties CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP, Die Linke and Bündnis90/Die Grünen and asked them to comment on our questions concerning their election manifestos. Here are the answers.
Response from the CDU/CSU:
For the CDU and CSU, Jewish life is a firm and constitutive part of our societal identity. To ensure that Jewish perspectives inform the work of our parties, in 2018 we founded the Jüdisches Forum (Jewish Forum) in both the CDU and the CSU. It serves as a network for all those who wish to help protect and promote Jewish life in Germany. The Union-led federal government is also taking further measures for the future of Jewish life in Germany: the two federal programmes „Demokratie leben!“ and „Zusammenhalt durch Teilhabe“ will be continued with annual funding of more than 125 million euros. In the funding period up to 2024, the fight against right-wing extremism and antisemitism is a priority. With the office of the Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism, the federal government has created the means to coordinate measures to protect Jewish life across departments. In parallel, Dr Ludwig Spaenle MdL was appointed in May 2018 by the Bavarian Minister-President as Commissioner for Jewish Life and against Antisemitism, for Remembrance Work and Historical Heritage.
Response from the SPD:
We bear a perpetual responsibility for Jewish life in Germany and stand unreservedly for the protection of Jewish women and men and of Jewish institutions in Germany. Every form of aggression and violence against them must be prosecuted and punished with the full force of our laws. We are glad and grateful to have such vibrant Jewish life in Germany. Numerous newly opened synagogues, training institutions for rabbis and cantors and many other establishments bear witness to this. We want to strengthen and promote this treasure of an ever more diverse Judaism. That Jewish life is once again part of our country is also due to the immense trust of Jewish women and men: in remaining in this country as well as in coming to Germany from abroad. In view of our country’s guilt, this is a moment of joy and of humility at the same time.
Response from the FDP:
For us Free Democrats, Jewish life in Germany and Europe is an integral part of our civil society. To mark the anniversary year “1,700 Years of Jewish Life in Germany”, our parliamentary group in the Bundestag has tabled a motion on Jewish diversity in Germany with a detailed catalogue of measures, in order to take better account of the needs and perspectives of Jewish women and men (Bundestag printed paper 19/29743). Not only, but quite particularly, from the history of the Third Reich and the Shoah there arises a responsibility for our society to protect Jewish life and actively make it possible. Protection against antisemitism is the central precondition for enabling Jewish life in all its breadth (see question 6 for details). Measures to protect against antisemitism should form part of a pact between the federal government, the Länder and municipalities for the self-determination of Jewish citizens, which also contains measures such as anchoring Jewish culture and religion more firmly in school teaching, developing the German-Israeli youth exchange into a youth office and – quite routinely – taking Jewish holidays into account in public planning and examinations.
Response from Die Linke:
DIE LINKE stands for the legal equality of all religious and philosophical communities. We therefore call for the introduction of state-protected public holidays for Jewish and Muslim religious communities. In 2019, together with other parliamentary groups, we launched a legislative initiative to improve the old-age provision of Jewish quota refugees as quickly as possible. In Thuringia, where DIE LINKE has provided a Minister-President for the first time since 2014, we are also seeking, in government responsibility, to make Jewish life in Germany visible and to promote it. To give one concrete example, the “Jewish Culture Days”, cancelled in Berlin in 2015 for the first time in 30 years, were continued by Thuringia as the “Achava Festival”, in order to send an important signal for tolerance and dialogue. The next festival is planned for October 2021.
Response from Bündnis 90/Die Grünen:
We want Jewish women and men in Germany to be able to feel safe. We GRÜNE will consistently promote Jewish life in Germany in all its diversity and make it visible. We support projects and initiatives that strengthen secular Jewish as well as religious Jewish life, Jewish culture and Jewish education. We want to make political and cultural educational provision accessible to all citizens, in order to convey knowledge about Jewish life in general as well as contacts and experiences with Jewish women and men and with Jewish institutions in Germany. The safety of Jewish women and men and the protection of Jewish institutions and communities must be comprehensive. This requires guidelines, in the development of which the Jewish communities must be involved. Antisemitic attacks in the present day, above all the attack in Halle in 2019, remind us how widespread hostility and hatred towards Jews as well as ignorance about the reality of Jewish life in Germany still are. It is our shared responsibility to counter antisemitism and antisemitic hate speech – including in everyday life and whatever the motives – with all determination. This requires better analytical capacities and the resolute punishment and documentation of antisemitic incidents. Antisemitic narratives, Israel-related antisemitism and conspiracy-ideological accounts – including in connection with demonstrations by pandemic deniers and pro-Palestinian demonstrations – must be addressed preventively in a wide range of settings, not least in the digital sphere. This calls for concrete awareness-raising and prevention projects in associations and civil society organisations, for which we GRÜNE want regular funding. The prevention of and engagement with antisemitism should also be anchored in curricula as a guiding perspective beyond history lessons. We GRÜNE want to expand training in a targeted way, above all for staff of the security and law enforcement authorities and of the courts. Only if antisemitism is recognised can it be punished and combated. We also want to strengthen the social security of the older Jewish generation in Germany, mostly Holocaust survivors and their descendants, many of them from the former Soviet Union. In terms of pensions they must be placed on an equal footing with the (late) ethnic German resettlers who immigrated from the states of the former Soviet Union.Response from the CDU/CSU:
The CDU and CSU acknowledge Germany’s special responsibility towards Israel. Israel’s right to exist is inviolable for us and part of Germany’s raison d’État. We stand by Israel’s right to self-defence. Israel must be able to live free from fear, terror and violence. The Union-led federal government shares the criticism that Israel is repeatedly criticised and marginalised in an inappropriate and one-sided manner in bodies of the United Nations. The following principles are decisive for the federal government’s voting behaviour at the United Nations and for its political assessment of draft resolutions: we acknowledge the historical responsibility for the Jewish and democratic State of Israel and its right to exist, as well as the endeavour to achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East within the framework of a negotiated two-state solution. Germany coordinates closely with the other EU member states in the negotiations and votes on Middle East resolutions and works to avert unbalanced decisions directed against Israel and to prevent unacceptable wording. We oppose unfair treatment of Israel at the United Nations and support Israel’s legitimate interests. The federal government also works to ensure that attacks on Israel are clearly named and condemned.
Response from the SPD:
Germany also works within the UN to ensure that Israel’s right to exist is not called into question, that Israel is not subjected to one-sided political criticism and that the treatment of the Middle East conflict stands in reasonable proportion to other topics. Germany issued a declaration to this effect in May 2019 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Israel’s admission to the UN. In the case of UN resolutions dealing with the Middle East conflict, the federal government insists emphatically that Israel’s concerns be taken into account in the negotiations and that Israel not be pilloried in a one-sided manner: it works for balanced resolution texts that reflect Germany’s Middle East policy positions and serve the interests of a lasting peace in the Middle East within the framework of a negotiated two-state solution. Through intensive negotiations with the Palestinian side, the EU regularly succeeds in preventing resolutions from being adopted in a considerably sharper form.
Response from the FDP:
As early as March 2019 the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag tabled a motion on realigning voting behaviour with regard to Israel at the United Nations and placed the issue on the political agenda (Bundestag printed paper 19/7560 ). In the motion the federal government is called upon to distance itself clearly, in the bodies and specialised agencies of the United Nations (such as the UN General Assembly, the UN Human Rights Council or UNESCO), from one-sided, primarily politically motivated initiatives and alliances of member states hostile to Israel, and to protect Israel and Israel’s legitimate interests from one-sided condemnations. Germany’s voting behaviour to date should be scrutinised in this context and changed where appropriate.
Response from Die Linke:
Israel’s security is non-negotiable. That is a mandate given to us by German history. There can, however, be differing views on how that security can be established and preserved. We reserve the right to criticise the policy of the Israeli government towards the Palestinians and towards its neighbouring states. Where criticism is evidently intended to delegitimise the State of Israel, we reject it. Where clear violations of international law by Israel are criticised, we join in that criticism. Antisemitic tirades of hatred, such as we are again witnessing at present, must be socially ostracised and prosecuted under criminal law. We also call for a halt to German arms exports to the Middle East, including to Israel. DIE LINKE criticises the policy of the Israeli government towards the people in the occupied territories and calls for an end to this situation. This includes the illegal settlements, the wall, expulsions, land seizure, the unjust distribution of water and many forms of harassment that make people’s lives more difficult. The more time passes, the longer the occupation continues and the more settlements are built, the harder it becomes to hold on to the two-state solution. DIE LINKE stands for ending the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, which is contrary to international law, and for achieving a two-state solution within the borders of 1967 that includes a State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital. In our view it is therefore right and necessary to maintain political pressure on the Israeli government. We view the obstructive stance of the USA in the UN Security Council very critically.
Response from Bündnis 90/Die Grünen:
We GRÜNE stand for Israel’s right to exist and for Israel’s security, without ifs or buts. That also applies to policy in the multilateral arena. This obligation arises from the community of values of the democracies and from the lessons of the darkest chapter of our country, the Shoah. The founding of Israel was one answer to it, just as was the founding of the United Nations (UN) after the Second World War. We stand by the UN and by the rights-based multilateral system of values. We must therefore strengthen it and make it better and, where possible embedded in a European framework, seek the best possible solutions. The number of UN decisions concerned with Israel is absurd in comparison with decisions on other states. Here, too, antisemitism and anti-Israelism must always be exposed.Response from the CDU/CSU:
The CDU and CSU support the EU putting its relations with Turkey to the test. In recent years Turkey has moved away from democracy and the rule of law internally and has pursued a nationalist, aggressive policy externally. That also applies with regard to Israel. There will be no full EU membership for Turkey with us. Instead we will agree a close partnership. As a first step towards rapprochement, common interests should be defined and contractual agreements on their implementation adopted. Iran’s regional activities, its ballistic missile programme, its nuclear ambitions and its continued refusal to recognise Israel’s right to exist run counter to the security and stability of the Near and Middle East. We continue to work with our partners to bring about a change in Iran’s conduct. We are committed to Iran strictly complying with its obligations under the Vienna nuclear agreement of 2015 (JCPOA) and ending its ballistic missile programme and its aggressive role in the region.
Response from the SPD:
Israel’s security and right to exist are part of Germany’s raison d’État. This also encompasses political, economic and diplomatic engagement throughout the region. Because of this special responsibility we will, together with our European partners and the USA, also support new initiatives to revive the Middle East peace process. To this end the states of the region must also be involved.
In addition, in coordination with the new US administration, we want to resume the talks on how full implementation of the international nuclear agreement (JCPoA) with Iran can be achieved.
Response from the FDP:
Israel is the only functioning democracy in the Middle East. Since its founding 70 years ago the Israeli state has been under constant pressure. Israel and Germany are bound in the closest friendship. This friendship and the trust between the two states and their citizens are today a stroke of historical good fortune that scarcely seemed possible again after the breach of civilisation that was the Shoah. Israel’s security and right to exist are for us a German raison d’État; the protection of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state is and remains a cornerstone of German foreign and security policy. Israel’s right to defend its population and its territory against Islamist terrorism is self-evident to us. From Israel’s perspective, Iran’s presence in its Arab neighbouring states as well as the massive build-up of launch facilities for rockets and artillery shells in southern Lebanon and southern Syria by Hezbollah represent an existential threat. We Free Democrats want Germany to press the Iranian leadership emphatically to end the country’s aggressive and destructive regional policy as well as that of Hezbollah and PID, which are closely linked to it. Moreover, for a revival of the nuclear agreement with Iran it is imperative that the country return to full compliance with its obligations. We condemn in the strongest terms the continued messages of hatred directed at Israel by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Response from Die Linke:
DIE LINKE views Turkey’s aggressive, expansive foreign policy with great concern. With his statement before the Turkish parliament, “Jerusalem is our city”, and going as far as describing Israel as a “terror state”, Turkish President Erdogan has repeatedly made clear that he poses a danger to all states in the region. The interventions in Syria that violate international law, the interference in the Libyan civil war, the threats and provocations against the EU states Cyprus, Greece and France, and the participation in the war alongside the family dictatorship of Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh have shown what Erdogan is prepared to do in his pursuit of expansion. DIE LINKE has sharply criticised this policy and has always called on the federal government to take a clear stand against Erdogan. For the federal government and the EU, however, only geopolitical interests count, above all a Turkey that continues to serve as a profit centre for German and European corporations. In dealing with refugees, too, the federal government and the EU rely on a policy hostile to human rights that ties them to Mr Erdogan: because of the refugee agreement between the EU and Turkey the EU finds itself unable to criticise Turkey more clearly. We want to change that and to end both the arms exports and the EU-Turkey Association Agreement as well as the refugee deal. We consider it crucial that the nuclear agreement with Iran (JCPoA) be revived and that the USA rejoin the agreement after leaving it under President Trump. The agreement also creates security for Israel by preventing Iran’s nuclear armament while at the same time relieving the Iranian economy of sanctions. We accordingly welcome the relevant negotiations currently under way, which aim at a return of the USA to the agreement. DIE LINKE further proposes a conference on security and cooperation in the Near and Middle East, involving both Israel and Iran, a forum comparable to the CSCE in Europe from 1973, which paved the way for overcoming the Cold War. DIE LINKE generally advocates a ban on nuclear weapons and therefore also calls on all states in the region of the Near and Middle East to sign and ratify the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and to scrap their nuclear weapons.
Response from Bündnis 90/Die Grünen:
For us GRÜNE the Islamic Republic of Iran, with its leadership, ideology and policies, is a highly problematic actor both domestically and internationally. The human rights situation is devastating, the aggressive regional policy destructive, the rhetoric of annihilation directed against Israel and the arming of proxy organisations that threaten Israel’s existence unacceptable. We GRÜNE support a revival of the JCPoA. An end to the agreement would be a catastrophe for the region, with the incalculable consequences of a spiral of rearmament, and would increase the threat to Israel. Iran’s regional policy has contributed to the escalation of crises and to terrorism. Talks must be taken up in these areas as well. The antisemitic rhetoric of Turkish President Erdoğan is unacceptable and unworthy of the head of state of a NATO member. We GRÜNE seek an improvement in relations between Turkey and Israel, building on the state they had reached by the first decade of this century.Response from the CDU/CSU:
Right-wing extremist activities represent one of the greatest threats to the free democratic basic order. The CSU and CDU view this development with great concern and have already implemented many measures. These include increasing the staffing of the security authorities as well as extending the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (Network Enforcement Act) to improve the criminal prosecution of right-wing extremist propaganda. With the cabinet committee on combating right-wing extremism and racism, the Union-led federal government has anchored the fight against right-wing extremism at the highest political level. We have also introduced the standard enquiry by the weapons authorities to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and created the legal basis for membership of an anti-constitutional association alone to result in a presumption of unreliability under weapons law.
We want to create the possibility for judges to impose a general, lifelong weapons ban directly upon convicting an extremist offender. We want to break the spiral of brutalisation in political debate, especially in the digital sphere. We want investigations by the law enforcement authorities to be able to be initiated in particularly serious cases even without a formal complaint.
Response from the SPD:
The recently presented report of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has shown that democracy must be protected still more effectively against extremists and that the diverse engagement of civil society must be strengthened in a lasting way. Antisemitism is a phenomenon at the centre of society which, sadly, is found across all social strata. We need prevention programmes tailored to specific target groups. After the Bundestag election the Democracy Promotion Act must be brought forward as quickly as possible with new majorities. Experience shows that cooperation with civil society at all levels must be made permanent and deepened in order to combat antisemitism sustainably and successfully. It is all the more important to secure permanent funding for projects and educational measures in the field of prevention. To this end the decisions of the cabinet committee against right-wing extremism and racism must be implemented.
Response from the FDP:
Right-wing extremism poses a concrete threat to Germany’s internal security. The series of murders committed by the so-called National Socialist Underground (NSU), the murder of Walter Lübcke, the attacks in Halle and Hanau as well as numerous further right-wing extremist assaults that have received less public attention show how undiminished the danger emanating from right-wing extremism is for our country. It must therefore be brought more sharply into the focus of politics, the security authorities and the intelligence services. In this, cooperation between the federal government and the Länder in combating right-wing extremism must also be improved and, for this purpose too, the federal security architecture must be reformed. The increase in posts in the security authorities must be used to strengthen the fight against right-wing extremism and right-wing terrorism appreciably. Right-wing extremist associations must be consistently banned and the surveillance of right-wing extremist threat actors intensified swiftly. Right-wing extremist threat actors must also be consistently disarmed. Outstanding arrest warrants against right-wing extremists must be executed and the protection of particularly endangered groups and institutions improved. Nor should there be any place in the public service for people with dangerous right-wing extremist attitudes. The FDP parliamentary group has therefore campaigned emphatically for a study on extremist and racist attitudes in the police as well as for security vetting of all applicants for police service.
Where anti-democratic attitudes grow out of the centre of society, the state must likewise be vigilant. Preventing such developments is the foremost task of the democratic parties and of civil society. It must be possible to conduct debates on the basis of good arguments and without hatred. Democratic parties must have the courage to draw red lines and to make clear which statements and forms of behaviour lie outside democratic discourse. Finally, the fight against right-wing extremism will not be won without projects from civil society. For this, however, it is necessary that the federal government should at last be able to fund successful projects permanently and reliably.
Response from Die Linke:
The threat posed by the far right is alarming. Far too late, and only after the attacks in Kassel (Walter Lübcke), Halle and Hanau, even the Interior Minister speaks of a “trail of blood of right-wing extremism”. DIE LINKE calls for resolute action against right-wing terror and for the immediate disarmament of the scene. What paves the way for violence from the right is a shift in the political coordinates, attributable above all to the AfD and its milieu. The causes of this development, such as the advancing social division of society, must be given greater attention. DIE LINKE wants to implement a Democracy Promotion Act at federal level so that the important initiatives and projects against antisemitism, racism and right-wing extremism can at last be funded permanently. In addition we want to establish an “Observatory on Authoritarianism and Group-Focused Enmity”, which is to monitor right-wing extremism, antisemitism, racism, religious fundamentalism and other forms of group-focused enmity – not only at the margins but at the centre of society – and to develop strategies for combating them sustainably.
Response from Bündnis 90/Die Grünen:
We GRÜNE are firmly convinced that combating right-wing extremist structures must finally become a priority. This has been ignored by the federal government for years, even though these structures today already reach into the security authorities and into the Bundestag. The old answers of security policy, such as the excessive and unregulated deployment of informants within the scene, have deepened the problem instead of solving it. We want a paradigm shift in dealing with anti-constitutional threats, towards a policy that makes right-wing extremist networks visible and breaks them up instead of defining them away – including through scientific studies of anti-constitutional tendencies in the security authorities. Through an urgently needed improvement in how the security authorities are positioned against right-wing networks and through a lasting strengthening and promotion of civil society and of prevention with a Democracy Promotion Act, we want to protect people far more effectively than before.Response from the CDU/CSU:
Islamism is an extremist political ideology. We combat it with the full force of our constitutional state. This fight is directed against those who stir up hatred and violence and strive for an Islamist order in which there is no equality between men and women, no freedom of opinion or religion and no separation of religion and state. It is directed against those who fight our democratic basic order, reject Israel’s right to exist and endanger domestic peace. We will ensure that the ideological basis of Islamism is examined more closely. In doing so we will tolerate no spaces of retreat. We also want to create greater transparency regarding foreign funders of mosques in Germany. We want to prevent Islamist hate preaching in Germany and to ensure that imams trained in Germany teach an Islam here that embodies freedom and tolerance. Mosques, Islamist associations and educational establishments in which hate preachers prepare the ground for terror must be monitored consistently. At the same time bans on associations must be applied consistently. In future the federal government should regularly submit extremism reports to the German Bundestag.
Response from the SPD:
As the SPD we want to enforce a zero-tolerance policy towards hate preachers and Islamists. A large proportion of fundamentalist Islamists in Germany become radicalised here, in our country. We will close extremist Islamist mosques and cut off their funding.
We will work together with the many non-radical mosque congregations and Islamic associations. We are strengthening the good advisory and prevention structures on the ground and ensuring at an early stage that young people in our country do not become radicalised. We will counter hate propaganda online with alternative messages. Islam has long been part of Germany – for the simple reason that many Muslims are part of Germany. The overwhelming majority of Muslims living here naturally feel and think democratically – while at the same time practising their religion.
Response from the FDP:
Legalistic Islamism, like political Islam, is not without danger. Even Islamist organisations that operate without violence sometimes pursue aims that are incompatible with our free democratic basic order. The parliamentary group of the Free Democrats has taken a clear position in the German Bundestag (see Bundestag printed paper 19/24369): transgressions and calls to commit criminal offences must not be tolerated. Mosques in which Islamist ideas are taught must be monitored and, where possible, closed. Associations that prepare radicalisation and violence by means of Islamist educational provision must be consistently banned. We call for a new joint prevention strategy of the federal government and the Länder against Islamist radicalisation. An effective fight against Islamism also requires positive Muslim role models and Muslim early-warning systems. Muslim umbrella organisations have a responsibility of their own to exclude radical and anti-democratic member organisations. In general we want to give greater weight to liberal and progressive Muslims. This also means that mosque congregations should not be financed and steered from abroad.
Response from Die Linke:
DIE LINKE opposes all ideologies that call into question the equality of human beings and seek to abolish democratic procedures. That also applies to Islamist fundamentalism and to the ideology and practice of armed jihad. The primary aim must be to prevent people from joining these religious ideologies. To this end general (youth) social work must be strengthened considerably and civil society initiatives against Islamism and religiously motivated violence must be funded permanently. Where these ideologies result in attacks on life and limb or on freedom, these must of course be prosecuted by the police and the public prosecution service. The observatory for all forms of group-focused enmity and hostility to democracy, which we have long called for, is intended to help citizens recognise Islamist currents and engage with them.
Response from Bündnis 90/Die Grünen:
We GRÜNE take very seriously the danger posed to Germany and Europe by religiously motivated extremism and in particular by Islamist terrorism. We condemn every form of extremism and violence in the strongest terms. It is clear that the inhumane ideology of Islamism has no place in our society. Our democratic values and our open society must be defended by every means available to the constitutional state. At the same time a distinction must be drawn between legitimate and welcome political engagement by religious communities on the one hand and an inhumane, extremist ideology on the other. We GRÜNE are committed to a reform of the security architecture for more effective defence against Islamist threats, to a better exchange of information between the federal government and the Länder, to intensive monitoring of so-called threat actors, to stepping up the examination of bans on associations and to improved monitoring of financial flows.Response from the CDU/CSU:
The growing antisemitism in our country shames us. It is the responsibility of all of us to counter antisemitic hatred resolutely. We must name and combat antisemitism clearly – no matter where it comes from: whether from the far right, the far left or from milieus shaped by migration. We stand with full conviction for Jewish women and men in Germany always having a home, living in safety and being able to practise their faith. We want to intensify exchange between Germany and Israel at all levels of society – in particular with a German-Israeli youth office and more scholarship programmes. For the CDU and CSU, Jewish life is part of Germany. We are grateful for this – and not only against the background of our historical responsibility. We regard it as our foremost duty to protect Jewish institutions and Jewish life and to act resolutely against antisemitism every day – online as well as offline. Even latent hostility must not be permitted. This includes financial support for investment in the security of synagogues and other buildings, and the availability of the police and security authorities to advise on comprehensive security concepts.
Response from the SPD:
The bitter truth is that even today antisemitism is present in German school playgrounds, in social media, in stereotypes and prejudices reaching far into the centre of our society. We must stand up against it. Daily, in small matters and at all times in large ones too.
That is why we have created a new criminal offence of incitement-based insult. Antisemitic motives now explicitly aggravate sentencing. In order to act emphatically against antisemitism, better exchange and coordinated action, for example through the creation of a federal-Länder commission, is a further important step. In addition, offences in this area must be recorded and punished more consistently. We support the establishment of specialised public prosecutor’s offices for the prosecution of antisemitism and racism.
Response from the FDP:
We are concerned about the growing antisemitism in Germany, which we have again had to experience very clearly in recent weeks and months. Politics and the security authorities must take the specific endangerment of Jewish life seriously and oppose it resolutely. There must be no tolerance of any form of antisemitism. Jewish institutions must be effectively protected by state measures. In doing so the security concerns of the communities must be addressed. Contact persons must be designated within the police and the judiciary in order to deal with antisemitically motivated dangers and offences in a targeted manner and with the necessary sensitivity. In schools, teachers and teaching materials are needed to expose everyday antisemitism and to prevent antisemitic prejudice and hatred. In the economy we want to ensure that there is no place on German markets for antisemitic and anti-Israeli business practices such as those occurring in air travel. The definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance should serve as a point of orientation here and should also form the basis of the work of the German authorities. We observe the activities of BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) with great concern and oppose them clearly. For us this also includes examining a ban on the al-Quds march in Berlin as well as tougher criminal sanctions for the burning of Israeli flags as an expression of Israel-related antisemitism. Furthermore, the day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism on 27 January should be given greater standing by introducing a nationwide minute’s silence modelled on the Israeli Yom haShoah.
Response from Die Linke:
Antisemitism in every form must be actively combated by the state. In the next parliamentary term DIE LINKE wants to establish an “Observatory on Authoritarianism and Group-Focused Enmity”. This is to monitor right-wing extremism, antisemitism, racism, religious fundamentalism and other forms of group-focused enmity and to provide information about them. With a Democracy Promotion Act we want to secure successful projects in the field of antisemitism permanently. Antisemitism has increased in recent years, barriers and taboos have been deliberately torn down – it has long been more than a problem of the political fringe. DIE LINKE contributes to documenting this development through regular parliamentary questions.
Response from Bündnis 90/Die Grünen:
The rising number of antisemitic assaults and offences makes clear that combating antisemitism in society requires clear concepts and strategies as well as resolute implementation. The federal government and the Länder have a duty to anchor the necessary protective measures across the board and to be able to adapt security concepts flexibly to acute threat situations. It must further be ensured that antisemitic offences are consistently punished. We GRÜNE want training on recognising and preventing all manifestations of antisemitism in (security) authorities and in the judiciary, as well as effective coordination through a federal-Länder commission. In addition a coherent overall strategy against hatred and discrimination online is needed. We GRÜNE have already been able to provide important impetus here with our proposals for improving the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (NetzDG, Network Enforcement Act).Response from the CDU/CSU:
In schools in particular we regard a sensitive approach to the subject of antisemitism as an important preventive measure. Our concern is to strengthen further the teaching about National Socialism at general education schools and to promote remembrance-oriented learning formats, so that historical events are conveyed to pupils not only through textbooks but also through visits to memorial sites and places of remembrance accompanied by subject-specific teaching support. The CDU federal executive committee calls, for example, for historical and political education to be promoted by intensifying trips to memorial sites. Every pupil should be enabled to visit a concentration camp memorial before leaving school.
Beyond this we consider it important that teachers should not be left alone with the subjects of antisemitism, Islamism and racism. Comprehensive, cross-curricular concepts and strategies for addressing anti-democratic attitudes must be learned in initial and continuing training.
Response from the SPD:
Education plays a major role; democracy needs more civic education. This can of course only be delivered with appropriately trained teachers. Adequate initial training and continuing education provision for teachers is therefore needed, as well as an expanded offer of civic education across the entire educational spectrum. The needs and expectations of Jewish communities must be included in continuous dialogue. Nationalism, racism, antisemitism and antigypsyism confront us with new challenges, particularly in coming to terms with the crimes of National Socialism and the Shoah. We will provide better support for the scholarly and history-didactic preparation of eyewitness accounts and of source material on the National Socialist era. We will provide stronger support for small initiatives and places of remembrance and, mindful of the passing of eyewitnesses, promote the development of new forms of remembrance culture.
Response from the FDP:
There are considerable deficits in how state institutions deal with antisemitism and with those affected by it. In this connection the FDP parliamentary group has already proposed a series of measures (Bundestag printed paper 19/29743): improvements can be achieved by regularly raising the awareness of public service employees of changing antisemitic codes and by applying the IHRA working definition of antisemitism consistently in the federal and Land police forces and addressing it already during the training of police officers and property protection personnel. In addition to regular training to raise awareness of Jewish life, antisemitism commissioners should be appointed within the police forces nationwide, whose central task is education and awareness-raising within the authorities. Reporting offices for antisemitic incidents must also be established across the board. Likewise, engagement with the diverse culture and religious practice of the Jewish women and men living in this country must be deepened in school programmes and in civic education. German school textbooks should be reviewed nationwide for antisemitic content on the basis of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism and in cooperation with the Land commissioners against antisemitism and for the protection of Jewish life. Media literacy teaching should also be included in school curricula nationwide with regard to extremist, racist and antisemitic content online.
Response from Die Linke:
The frequent lack of sensitivity towards victims and relatives of politically motivated attacks became apparent in the NSU complex and was in part also evident in the treatment of the victims of the attack on the synagogue in Halle. Greater attention to antisemitism and racism in the initial and continuing training of the police and the judiciary was one conclusion of the NSU parliamentary inquiry committee. DIE LINKE wants to initiate an evaluation of these measures. Prejudices and forms of structural racism and antisemitism in state institutions must be examined scientifically and proposals for combating them put forward.
Response from Bündnis 90/Die Grünen:
A zero-tolerance policy towards antisemitism must be enforced in the education sector. To this end, antisemitic patterns of argument and thought must be critically exposed along the entire educational chain and their specific manifestations and characteristics addressed. Among teachers, awareness must be raised that hostility and hatred towards Jews is neither a problem that has been overcome nor a problem of others. We GRÜNE want teachers to be comprehensively trained, through initial and continuing training, in recognising and preventing antisemitism and in dealing with it pedagogically. It is further important to us that Jewish life in Germany should not be confined in curricula to the years 1933-1945. The eventful history and the diversity of Jewish life in the present day must be addressed in lessons. In addition, the Middle East conflict, which is a reference point for Israel-related antisemitism, must be treated at school in a differentiated way.Response from the CDU/CSU:
Immigration is a gain and an opportunity for our country when it is accompanied by successful integration. For us, integration consists of support and expectation. A precondition for successful integration is a commitment to Germany’s fundamental values and norms, its constitution, its laws, its institutions, its history, language and culture. We expect the people who come to us to share our values, abide by our laws and speak our language. We want to accelerate language acquisition and are relying increasingly on digital, flexible and target-group-specific provision. For targeted early support we consider a comprehensive assessment of children’s language levels and the introduction of mandatory language support to be necessary. Through targeted digital provision we want to support women and mothers in acquiring the language. We therefore want to promote further the recognition and transferability of foreign qualifications and to place particular emphasis on the labour market integration of women. With a time-limited programme we want to convey knowledge about the steps involved in founding a business, access to credit and licensing requirements in a targeted way. We encourage more young people with an immigration background to choose a professional career in the public service.
Response from the SPD:
Integration is a permanent task for society as well as for the state. We want to guarantee all people who newly come to us an entitlement to integration and participation provision. For our life together we are strengthening the integration and language courses for all immigrants in Germany, to which they should have access from day one. All children must have the immediate opportunity to attend a day-care centre; compulsory schooling likewise applies immediately to all children. But it is not only about newcomers. The public service must be a role model in matters of integration. In the interest of equal opportunities, care must be taken to ensure that marginalised groups of people also gain access to positions in the public service and that all employees are equally able to undertake further training and to advance. We also need a participation act that obliges state institutions to undergo a process of intercultural opening.
Response from the FDP:
We Free Democrats want an integration policy that welcomes diversity and therefore invites immigrants to become part of our society, but that also requires an integration effort of their own from them. We want to make use of the opportunities of immigration for Germany, because our country depends on immigration. Integration is the key to immigrants becoming part of our society and contributing to its success. That is why we want to promote integration: through provision for learning our language and our social order, integration sponsors modelled on the Canadian example, as well as additional integration measures aimed specifically at women, children and older people, but also at particularly vulnerable groups. The guiding principle of integration policy is the Grundgesetz (Basic Law) with its catalogue of fundamental rights, which is independent of religion and reflects the diversity of society. The aim of integration courses must therefore above all be to convey respect for our legal order and democracy, in particular the equality of women and men, the acceptance of different sexual orientations and gender identities, as well as tolerance towards all forms of belief and non-belief.
Response from Die Linke:
DIE LINKE has long campaigned for society-wide solutions whose core is the creation of social, economic and societal participation for all migrants, irrespective of social origin or religion. We are opposed to the Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz (Skilled Workers Immigration Act), because it regulates migration according to criteria of economic usefulness and does not do justice to humanitarian and integration-policy requirements. We call for authoritative rules to strengthen the immigration society: a citizenship law with naturalisation after five years of residence, irrespective of income or social status, as well as multiple citizenship and voting rights at all levels for those living here on a longer-term basis. We want to implement more participation and inclusion:
> With a participation act, in order to represent the diversity of people in society. This includes a quota to raise the proportion of people with a migration history in public administration in line with their share of the population, and a participation council that is involved in important decisions in the economy, science, politics, culture and the media.
> Responsibility for migration and integration must lie with a Federal Ministry for Migration and Integration rather than with the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
> No exceptions to the minimum wage. Integrate asylum seekers and refugees into the labour market quickly and fairly and give them early access to integration and language courses irrespective of residence status.
> Provide language courses in sufficient form and pay teaching staff in line with their task and qualifications. No discrimination in the labour market. In the public service, raise the proportion of people with a migration history and experience of racism in line with their share of the population.
Response from Bündnis 90/Die Grünen:
Arriving in a diverse immigration society is a reciprocal process with the aim of creating equal access and equal opportunities for participation. This process makes demands both on those who come to us and on all those who have been living here longer, and it succeeds only if everyone comes together and takes a common path. The values of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law) are the foundation for living together. We GRÜNE want all newly arriving migrants and refugees to have a right, from the outset, to free access to tailored, easily accessible and federally funded language and integration courses. Just as important for successful integration are decentralised accommodation, a broad range of advisory services and access without distinction to, for example, day-care centres, education, training and work, that is to say participation in cultural and social life. We GRÜNE want to establish a municipal integration fund at EU level in order to support arrival in the municipalities directly.
