Since October 7, the conflict that began in the Middle East has experienced upheavals on German territory, with an increase in anti-Semitic and Islamophobic acts, and a polarization of the debate.
In Germany, the ongoing conflict in Gaza has a much more significant resonance than in the other countries of the European Union. Manifestations of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are on the rise in the country. So has the conflict widened the gap between Jews and German Muslims? Do politicians respond in the same way to the Jewish and Arab communities? Our journalist Monica Pinna went there.
In Germany, one of the largest Palestinian communities in Europe lives in a country where the weight of History, and that of the Holocaust, remains. During the month following October 7, anti-Semitic acts increased by 300%, according to an observatory responsible for recording this type of incident. Since then, the Jewish community has been on alert.
“We don’t need empathy, we don’t need therapy, what we need are safety measures,” says Ita, mother of five and member of a Jewish community whose synagogue was targeted with Molotov cocktails shortly after the start of the war.
The Muslim community has also recorded a marked increase in Islamophobic acts. Community leaders fear many incidents go unreported.
Jian Omar is a member of the Berlin State Parliament. Of Kurdish and Syrian origin, he was the target of Islamophobic attacks. According to him, the threats increased after October 7.
“There are groups on the right who act against Muslims and against migrants as a whole. Some victims have the impression that attacks against Muslims hardly move public opinion and that, consequently, some of the Arab community shows a certain distrust towards the State”.
Pro-Palestinian rallies were banned for nearly a month after the war began. Germany has been accused by Muslim countries of silencing pro-Palestinian voices. Today, activists say free speech is at stake.
“We have been discriminated against by the German government. The police are criminalizing us,” a Palestinian activist said at a rally.
Germany’s support for Israel is explicit, as with most other European countries. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that “Germany’s history and its responsibility for the Holocaust” obliged it to “maintain the security and existence of Israel.”
Certain statements have fueled controversy. Friedrich Merz, leader of the conservative opposition CDU party, said “Germany could no longer take in refugees from Gaza.” “We have enough young anti-Semites in the country,” he added.
In December, the conservative state of Saxony-Anhalt passed a decree to require written recognition of the existence of Israel from applicants for naturalization. “This decree is not really legally flawless,” explains Tarik Tabbara, professor of law and economics at the Berlin School of Economics (Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin, HWR).
“What Saxony-Anhalt is doing requires a change in the law by parliament. We have one citizenship law and it should be the same in all states. This is a political message.” According to the Oyoun cultural center, Germany goes too far in preventing anti-Semitism. The state of Berlin cut funding for this community of artists and activists, due to their stance on Israel, which had refused the cancellation of an event demanded by the city.
At the beginning of November, Berlin approved the export of military equipment worth more than 300 million euros to Israel. A sum ten times greater than that allocated in 2022.