Responses from the parties
Rightly, the fight against classic antisemitism (for example economic, political and journalistic conspiracy theories) is a matter of political consensus. Yet “criticism of Israel” shaped by double standards, “anti-Zionism” and the “BDS movement” are the same hatred in a different guise. No room may be given to it. We therefore call for prevention through education, and for antisemitic incidents and statements to be ostracised.
The CDU and the CSU oppose every form of antisemitism, both nationally and internationally. The protection of Jews and of Jewish institutions is an important concern for us. We are also committed to countering antisemitism through education and public information, through deradicalisation programmes and, if necessary, through severe penalties.
Because of its history, Germany is under a particular obligation to keep alive the memory of the consequences of dictatorship and tyranny. This applies in particular to the National Socialist dictatorship with its crimes against humanity, above all the Holocaust. In order to make the memorial sites more accessible to young people, we will support them in developing their educational concepts further. People with a history of immigration, too, must be made more aware of this part of German history than has been the case to date. In this connection we are also committed to strengthening work with contemporary witnesses.
We are experiencing growing diversity in our country. This makes it all the more important that the fundamental values of our liberal democracy are and remain the basis of our daily life together. Human rights and liberties cannot be taken for granted; they must be defended anew again and again. If we succeed in strengthening cohesion among the people in our country, we will also make a decisive contribution to greater security. Muslims in Germany have a part to play here as well. Muslim associations are called upon to take part in security partnerships in order to prevent or counteract radicalisation.
We are concerned at how easily language becomes uninhibited, hatred is spread and violence is called for, particularly on the internet. The CDU and the CSU are working for a new culture of responsibility on the internet and for better protection against hate attacks, insults and threats on social networks.
Social Democrats have been fighting for more than 150 years for an inclusive, pluralistic and tolerant society in Germany, in Europe and worldwide. For us that also means, quite clearly, that exclusion, racism, antisemitism, right-wing extremism and discrimination must have no place in global society. In concrete terms this means for us the consistent prosecution of antisemitism and of every form of hostility and contempt towards human beings.
At the same time we must resist the beginnings: this is why we rely in particular on comprehensive prevention and educational work at every level. We have therefore secured a more than threefold increase in the funding of the federal programme “Demokratie leben!” in recent years. We shall continue on this path of prevention. This also includes taking up the recommendations of the independent panel of experts on antisemitism and implementing them in prevention and educational work.
Antisemitism must be combated, whatever guise it appears in, classic or supposedly modern. In this too I agree with the current report of the independent commission of experts on antisemitism and with its recommendations.
We reject a boycott of Israel as an instrument of German and European policy. We condemn antisemitic and racist statements of every kind in the strongest possible terms. At anti-Israeli demonstrations there are repeatedly aggressive moods and statements directed not only against Israeli government policy but also against Israel’s right to exist and against Jewish citizens. Criticism of specific policies pursued by the parties to the conflict must not be misused as a pretext for antisemitic statements and for calling Israel’s security fundamentally into question.
Every form of hatred of Jews and of antisemitism must always and everywhere be opposed with resolve and full rigour as soon as it arises. Antisemitism must be fought resolutely and across party lines – not only in the interests of Jews in Germany and worldwide, but in the interests of our democratic political culture.
From the findings already set out under point 3, it follows for the AfD that any antisemitism is to be ostracised, in whatever guise it may clothe itself. The term “antisemitism” is, however, imprecise, because in linguistic terms it drapes hatred of Jews in a purely racial cloak. For clarity of thought and argument in the debate, the term “hatred of Jews” would in fact be preferable to the term “antisemitism”. An awareness that antisemitism, or hatred of Jews, contradicts human dignity, and of how it does so, must be a self-evident consensus in society. Where such insight is lacking, education must take effect first, and where necessary serious sanctions as well.
In our republic there is no place for group-focused enmity such as antisemitism. Unfortunately, education and public information have not yet succeeded, as had been hoped, in making antisemitism disappear. We therefore want to maintain the existing commitment on the part of the state and of society and, where possible, to expand it.