Dr. Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany – the country’s EJC affiliate – has accused the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party of having right-wing extremist tendencies.
“In my view, the AfD is much more closely interwoven with right-wing extremism than it appears,” Dr. Schuster told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper. “The party incites fears and promotes a climate of exclusion of minorities,” he said.
The AfD links attacks carried out by Islamist-motivated perpetrators with populist propaganda “in order to stir up hatred against minorities in general,” Dr. Schuster said, pointing out that this “ultimately also creates a climate against Jews.”
Dr. Schuster sees right-wing extremism as posing the “greatest danger” to Germany and Jews living in the country.
Regional elections are scheduled to take place in the eastern German states of Saxony and Brandenburg. The AfD, which is Germany’s main opposition party, is expected to perform well in the state election in Saxony. The party is polling at 25% in Saxony, behind the CDU at 28%, and ahead of the Left party at 16% and the Greens at 12%.
Dr. Schuster warned the remaining political parties against forming a coalition with the AfD, as in his view sustaining such an alliance would eventually require a rightward tilt in their policies and rhetoric.
The head of the Jewish council also spoke out in favor of tougher measures against Islamists.
Dr. Schuster said it’s not just about fighting antisemitism, but also about integrating into society. All people who come to Germany and live here, he said, should adhere to the nation’s values, including recognition of the equal rights of men and women, opposing all forms of antisemitism and racism, recognising the rule of law and accepting the diversity of sexual orientations.
“To convey this system of values is the ultimate purpose of all integration measures,” he stressed.
Dr. Schuster also spoke out in favour of offering guided tours in Arabic of concentration camp memorial sites. The memorial site in Flossenbürg, Bavaria, is already considering the proposal, Schuster said. “This should be extended to all the concentration camp memorial sites.”
Compulsory trips for school children to memorials dedicated to the victims of Nazi atrocities are important, he underlined.
