About 5,000 attended the event, held under the banner "Stand Up:
Jew Hatred - Never Again!", which coincided with the first ever annual
meeting of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) in the German capital.
"The fight against anti-Semitism is our state and civic duty," said
Merkel in an address at Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate, close to the
city's Holocaust Memorial.
"I will not accept it, and none of us here will accept it."
In July, at the height of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, Germany's
Jewish community condemned an "explosion of evil and violent hatred of
Jews" at pro-Palestinian rallies where some demonstrators chanted that
Jews should be "gassed", "burnt" and "slaughtered".
More seriously, four people were shot dead in May at the Jewish museum
in Brussels, Belgium. The museum only reopened on Sunday.
The spate of ugly incidents that deeply unsettled Germany's
resurgent 200,000-strong Jewish community also saw a petrol bomb hurled
at the facade of a synagogue in the western city of Wuppertal.
The attacks came 75 years after the outbreak of World War II, during
which Nazi Germany murdered six million Jews, a crime that remains a
source of enduring shame in the country.
Merkel said the fact that today Jews are living again in Germany "is almost a miracle".
"Jewish life belongs here and is part of our identity.... There must
be no room for discrimination and marginalization," she said.
Merkel - who has won Israel's highest civilian honour for her
efforts against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial - said that "Germany
is aware of its eternal responsibility for the break of civilization
called the Shoah".
"Those who hurl abuse at people
who wear a kippah or a Star of David on a chain, attack them or assault
them, also hit out at and injure all of us," she said.
"Those who deface gravestones in a Jewish cemetery also deface our
culture. Those who make synagogues targets of hatred and violence also
shake the foundations of our free society."
Germany, which was home to some half a million Jews before WWII, saw
that number plummet to only around 15,000 after the war. The Jewish
community has grown again, in part as Germany took in Jews from the
former Soviet Union, and now numbers around 200,000.
'Medieval stain of anti-Semitism'
'Medieval stain of anti-Semitism'
WJC president Ronald S. Lauder praised post-war Germany for being "one
of the most responsible countries on earth" and "Israel's ally and
friend," but added that "something has changed".
"This summer, all of the progress of the last 70 years has been darkened
by a rising tide of anti-Semitism," he said. "There are some places I
might expect to see this - but not here in Germany."
He cited several reasons for the recent resurgence of the "medieval stain of anti-Semitism".
"When the economy declines, people become fearful and often they look
for a scapegoat. Throughout history, that scapegoat has been the Jews,"
he said.
He also pointed at "some of the vilest anti-Jewish propaganda coming
out of the Middle East" and spreading across the Internet.
He warned that history has shown that "a group that instills fear
and hatred may start small but can grow into a large and dangerous tidal
wave".
The head of the Central Council of Jews in
Germany, Dieter Graumann, said recent months saw "horrible shock waves
of hatred against Jews, across Europe".
"Synagogues were attacked, Jewish people have been threatened," he told
the rally, attended by many German political and religious leaders.
"In social networks tons of buckets of hatred, of malice and agitation were poured over us."
Graumann demanded that "Muslim organisations here must do a lot more
than in the past to consistently combat the catastrophic hatred of Jews
in their ranks".
Many Israeli flags and placards were raised at the rally, one of which read "Against Violence and Hatred - Security for Jews".
Eduart Schechter, 69 and originally from the former Soviet Union,
said: "We moved to Germany with great hopes and dreams. But the reality
is different to what we imagined. Now we are scared."
Alexander Schramm, a 29-year-old PR professional, said: "I think
it's regrettable that it took so long to organize this rally. I am here
to show that we'll stay alert."
thelocal.de
1 comMENTS:
Interesting isn't it
The Nazis being Nationalist Zionists
That it was the Zionist Jews being responsible for the internment of non Zionist Jews in work camps such as Auschwitz
http://ezekiel31army.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/eustace-mullins-jewish-schism-divulged.html
Maybe Merkin needs to Revise Her understanding of History?
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