Germany Fights Anti-Semitism

For John, BLUF:  Germany needs to fight harder.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Resisting ethnic prejudice by other means

From Samizdata, by Mr Niall Kilmartin, 26 May 2019.

Here is the lede plus five:

Germany resists islamophobia. German law seeks to purge the public domain of such offensive views.

Germany also resists anti-semitism. The German government’s anti-semitism commissioner has warned Jews to avoid being Jewish in public.

The BBC sees the German far right behind the rise in anti-semitism that prompted the commissioner’s advice.  Is it just me or are they ignoring a rival explanation?

Also, is it just me, or is the German method for resisting anti-semitism rather different from the German method for resisting islamophobia – so different, in fact, that their advice to Jews resembles what their law demands of ‘islamophobes’: become invisible in the public domain lest you cause offence?

I wrote a poem about this a while back.

Do please feel free to say that it’s just me and there is really nothing more to see here. After all, I expect that’s what the German government’s anti-semitism commissioner would say – but he might be only obeying orders, or only obeying the anti-islamophobia law.

And here is the view of Jonathan Tobin, in National Review.

It is a mess.  I wish Chancellor Angela Merkel had started wearing a kappa (skullcap), as a sign of unity and support, as the Danish King did during the German occupation during WWII, wearing a yellow six pointed star on his outer garment.

On the other hand, the editors of the German dail y Bild gets it.  The News Agency France 24 has this headline:  "German paper prints cut-out kippa to fight anti-Semitism".

Regards  —  Cliff