Germany’s interior minister on Sunday called for the creation of an antisemitism officer to tackle increasing violence against Jews in the country.
Thomas de Maiziere, a member of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) said “hatred towards Jews must never be allowed to take hold again in Germany.”
“Each crime motivated by antisemitism is one too many and shameful for our country,” de Maiziere told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
He said the number of disparaging remarks, inappropriate jokes and discriminatory behaviour against “our Jewish citizens” has grown.
Germany’s Central Council of Jews, the country’s EJC affiliate, has repeatedly called for the government to appoint a commissioner to combat rising antisemitism in the country.
The council has suggested the new antisemitism officer could record attacks and serve as a point of contact for people who experience prejudice.
Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews, previously told Bild newspaper that there are still parts of Germany where it is dangerous to be Jewish.
“In some districts in major cities, I’d advise people not to identify themselves as Jews,” he said. The issue has been in the spotlight recently, after homemade Israeli flags were burned during a protest against American President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“We cannot tolerate it when a country’s flag is burned in public,” de Maiziere said. “It is the symbolic annihilation of a country’s right to exist.”
