FROM ANGELA MERKEL’S CONFERENCE SPEECH
We must never give up. Rather, we have to make it clear: if gravestones in Jewish cemeteries are defaced, then our culture is defaced.
If synagogues are targets of hate and violence, this shakes the foundations of our free society.
That is why our security services take every assault on Jews and Jewish institutions seriously. We go after antisemitic crimes with all the legal means at our disposal.
The fight against antisemitism is a shared responsibility of the state and civil society.
This is why I find it so important that antisemitic incidents in sports, especially football, are dealt with. The importance of this is shown when you consider attacks against athletes from the Jewish sports club Maccabi in Berlin, — attacks that we must neither trivialise nor accept. So I am grateful to all football clubs and fan groups that address this issue. And I am also pleased that representatives of the German Football Association and Uefa accepted your invitation to this conference. Because sport is an important part of society. It can help build values like fairness and tolerance and break down resistance to other cultures. After all, the same rules apply to everyone.
...A few weeks ago, the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, said that concern about possible antisemitism among new refugees was not about “fomenting aversion to people coming from regions where antiIsrael messages abound. It is about the concern that these messages could be carried to Germany, and could lead to an antisemitism here that could influence our values in a direction that we do not want.”
Some people subjected Josef Schuster to harsh criticism for these words. But I find it completely legitimate for him to express his concern about antisemitic views among people who grew up in an antiIsrael and anti-Jewish influence. But what is important are the conclusions we draw from this concern.
For me, that is that anyone who lives in Germany, whether as a long-time resident or a newcomer, must understand that there is no place here for antisemitism and prejudice.
Unfortunately, we know that hate directed against Jews and against Israel often form an unholy alliance. People are accosted, threatened and attacked if they identify as Jews or take Israel’s side.
When we condemn antisemitism in Germany and Europe, this applies to every kind of antiJewish expression. It also includes all antisemitic comments and attacks that pretend to be criticism of Israel’s policies, but actually are simply expressions of hate against Jews.
It must be made absolutely clear: anyone who abuses the perfectly legitimate criticism of the political actions of a country, be it our own or Israel, as a cover for expressing hatred against Jews — for example at demonstrations — is abusing our treasured, basic rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.
The state and civil society must take up the fight