2024-10-07 18:36:14
Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemns “blind hatred of Israel” – and calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
On the occasion of the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) condemned “anti-Semitism and blind hatred of Israel.” He called for solidarity with Jews in this country. The Central Council of Jews denounced calls for open Israel-hate protests as a “new low of humanity in our society.” At the weekend, people across the country remembered the victims of the attack on Israel and the war in the Gaza Strip.
Scholz said in his video podcast published on Sunday that the Gaza war triggered by the Hamas attack was also causing many people in Germany great concern. “In our free society you can always fight for the best path and argue as democrats.” But it should never be the case “that citizens of the Jewish faith here in Germany have to live in fear and terror.”
“The Jews here in Germany deserve the full solidarity of our state – and the solidarity of all decent people in this country,” Scholz continued. With the “hideous” attack on Israel, Hamas had also triggered a catastrophe for the Palestinian people, the Chancellor added.
Given the extent of suffering and destruction, the federal government “continues to persistently advocate for a ceasefire.” The Chancellor warned that the ceasefire must “finally come about now” – so that the civilian population in the Gaza Strip can be better protected and also better cared for. “And so that the Israeli hostages can finally be released!”
Anyone who, in view of the anniversary of the cruel attack, is not able to “feel at least a little empathy for Jews, for the people of Israel, will never do so – and they have a huge problem,” said the President of the Central Council of the Jews, Josef Schuster, the newspapers of the Germany editorial network. “If we in Germany don’t clearly recognize and name that these people exist among us, then we all have a huge problem.”
There were several rallies nationwide on Saturday and Sunday to commemorate the Hamas attack on Israel, which celebrated its first anniversary on Monday. Numerous demonstrations were also called to protest against the Gaza war. In Berlin, the police prepared for a major operation with around 2,000 police officers.
According to police, around 1,800 people took part in a pro-Palestinian rally in the capital on Saturday. About 650 people came to a pro-Israel demonstration. The events were “mostly trouble-free,” said a police spokesman. Hundreds of people also protested against the Gaza war in Hamburg on Saturday.
According to initial information from the police, around 1,000 people came to a pro-Palestinian rally in Kreuzberg on Sunday afternoon; The mood was “heated,” as a spokeswoman said. Around 500 people gathered at a pro-Israel demonstration at the Brandenburg Gate. Central Council President Schuster was scheduled to speak in Munich in the afternoon.
There will be further rallies and events on Monday – for example in Frankfurt am Main, where the administrative court there initially lifted a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations issued by the city.
In Berlin, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks on Monday afternoon after an interreligious service in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and takes part in the Jewish community’s central memorial event. Scholz will be a guest at the memorial ceremony of the Jewish community in Hamburg in the evening.