Jewish leader backs plan to track antisemitic incidents at German schools

Antisemitism at schools is on the rise, a German-Jewish leader said on Tuesday, in an interview with broadcaster ZDF concerning the bullying of a Jewish girl at a primary school in Berlin.

The Berliner Zeitung daily reported earlier this week that Muslim pupils abused a Jewish second-grader at the Paul-Simmel-Grundschule, with one classmate allegedly threatening to kill her because she does not believe in Allah, according to girl’s father.

“I have the feeling that they [antisemitic incidents] are increasing, particularly in the urban environment,” said Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. “Berlin obviously has an unfortunately leading role here.”

Schuster said he backed a proposal by the German Police Union to collect data on incidents of this kind, in order to get a clearer picture.

Muslim institutions have an obligation to help prevent such incidents, and they are partly to blame for the phenomenon, he said.

“My primary demand must be that the Muslim associations pay close attention to what is preached by some imams within the mosques,” Schuster told ZDF.

“I think there is something wrong here,” he added, noting that while there is cooperation between Jewish and Muslim associations, “concretely, as far as the issue of antisemitism is concerned, there are so far few joint projects.”