Frankfurt interfaith row

FRANKFURT’S JEWISH community has quit a state interfaith council over allegedly antisemitic and anti-Israel statements by local Muslim leaders, some of whom are members of the inter-religious panel.

Among other offending statements, a press release from the Islamic Religious Association of Hessen accused the Central Council of Jews in Germany of using the issue of antisemitism in Europe “to divert attention from the war crimes of the Israeli government”.

One member of the Hessen association, who also sits on the interfaith council, posted a link to a virulently anti-Israel article on his Facebook page.

Leo Latasch, the Jewish community’s head of social affairs, said: “These are not people with whom we can work”.