At our meeting with Kerstin Griese, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, we had the opportunity to discuss a number of issues that matter to us:
As Deputy Chair of the German-Israeli Parliamentary Group, Ms Griese has long been familiar with Israeli, German and Jewish topics. A trained historian, she shared our view on the importance of a “culture of remembrance”. For those living here, but also for the integration of those migrating to Germany, an understanding of German history and remembrance of the Holocaust are of great significance – as is the particular responsibility for Jewish life and for Israel’s security that Germany derives from it.
Ms Griese has long been committed to the German-Israeli youth exchange “ConAct” and would like a new German-Israeli youth office to build on it in future.
A further topic was how to deal with anti-Israeli boycott movements such as the BDS movement. Ms Griese firmly rejects them and stressed that there must be no cooperation with, or support for, actors who endorse boycott campaigns against Israel. We were very pleased by this clear statement, since in our view the boycotters are all too often dealt with in a vague manner. For us it is clear: anyone who boycotts the world’s only Jewish state and its citizens as a Jewish collective, and thereby delegitimises it in word and deed, is acting anti-Semitically.
We are grateful for the conversation and have agreed to continue our exchange as occasion arises.
