Antisemitic acts of violence and slogans are on the rise in Germany, including against the Jewish restaurateur Yorai Feinberg in Berlin, who is subjected to antisemitic abuse on a daily basis. An interfaith alliance made up of the Ibn Rushd – Goethe Mosque, the Protestant parish of Tiergarten (Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Tiergarten), the Jewish Forum for Democracy and against Antisemitism and the WerteInitiative – jüdisch-deutsche Positionen has now sent a clear signal against antisemitism. Together they gathered at the restaurant Feinberg’s and showed their solidarity with Yorai Feinberg and his team.
In the photograph, front row (left to right): Yorai Feinberg, Seyran Ates, Rebekka Weinmann, Dr Elio Adler
Back row (left to right): Abbas El-Fares, Lala Süßkind, Jochen Felicke
(c) Ibn-Rushd Goethe Moschee(c) JFDA – Jüd. Forum f. Demokratie u. gegen Antisemitismus„Antisemitism is hostility towards human beings and therefore attacks all of us in an open society. As the Ibn Rushd – Goethe Mosque we are part of German society and likewise consider ourselves under a social as well as historical obligation not merely to condemn antisemitism but to combat it consistently,“ is how Seyran Ates explains the idea behind the event.
Pastor Rebekka Weinmann of the Protestant parish of Tiergarten adds: „I stand in solidarity with Yorai Feinberg because I am convinced that no one should be attacked. Not because of their origin, their religion, nor for any other reason. It was an enriching experience to sit at the table together with people of Muslim, Jewish and Christian faith, to eat, to have good conversations and to pray, because it shows me that the power of faith can unite us peacefully – and besides: what brings people together more than a shared meal with good conversation.“
Lala Süsskind of the Jewish Forum for Democracy and against Antisemitism made her anger at the resurgence of antisemitism plainly felt: „I have had enough: it is high time that all decent people committed themselves to a more peaceful coexistence!“
Elio Adler of the WerteInitiative – jüdisch-deutsche Positionen stressed that in a democracy it is events such as this that help to make peaceful coexistence the norm. The WerteInitiative was glad, he said, to lend political support to “beacons” that work on the basis of the free democratic basic order for the good of society as a whole.
Abbas El-Fares, coordinator for interreligious dialogue at the Ibn Rushd – Goethe Mosque, expressed his satisfaction with the event: „Today we succeeded in sending a clear signal for peaceful and respectful coexistence. Any form of hatred, incitement, antisemitism, intolerance and xenophobia is condemned by us in the strongest possible terms.“
