Migrants Expressing Anti-Semitism in Germany Could Face Deportation

A remarkable burst of common sense by the German government?

FILE PHOTO The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany © Hannibal Hanschke / Reuters

Lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and sister party, the CSU, are seeking to adopt measures to deport migrants who express anti-Semitic views in Germany, according to local media.

Those rejecting Jewish life in Germany or questioning Israel’s right to exist “cannot have a place in our country,” a draft of the document, seen by Die Welt, says. A “complete acceptance of the Jewish life” is a “criterion for successful integration,” it reportedly reads.

According to the draft, anti-Semitism received a “new facet” following the reception of hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East. “This phenomenon and anti-Semitism among Muslims living in Germany must be given special attention.”

I have been warning for at least two years that the migrant influx into Europe would result in increased antisemitism. It's heartening to see that Germany finally realizes that and it is very unfortunate that it is the only western EU country that does.

Stephan Harbarth, the deputy chairman of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group, told the newspaper ahead of the Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January: “We must also resolutely oppose the anti-Semitism of migrants of Arab descent and those from African countries.”

It should be crystal clear for each and every migrant, according to the politician, that “Whoever spurs anti-Semitic hatred and rejects Jewish life in Germany, can have no place in our country.” 

A wave of anti-Israel protests swept Berlin last month in response to Donald Trump’s controversial move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Several flags were burned in an anti-Israel rally in front of the American Embassy on Pariser Platz, which drew around 1,500 people. The enraged crowd chanted “Death to the Jews!” and “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is great). 

In the wake of the protests, the German authorities said that arriving refugees and migrants must be reminded of the country’s responsibility to the Jewish state accrued during the Nazi Holocaust.

Speaking at an event marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Israel, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that all people who live in Germany must understand the country’s historical responsibility to Israel.

“This responsibility does not end for the people who were born [after the Holocaust] and has no exceptions for the immigrants,” he said, adding that it is “not a subject for discussion for anyone living in Germany or wanting to live there.”

Justice Minister Heiko Maas said the issue of the Holocaust should be a central part of German integration courses for refugees and migrants.

“I believe it is absolutely necessary to make the Holocaust and its significance for our society a central topic in our integration courses,” the minister said in a piece written for Der Spiegel weekly. 

The German authorities will not tolerate any form of anti-Semitism, including that brought to Germany by refugees, he added. Stating that anti-Semitism and xenophobia are “two sides of the same coin,” he cautioned that any immigrant should be aware that Berlin fights “neo-Nazis’ anti-Semitism, and we will not tolerate any imported anti-Semitism from migrants either.”

Does this mean some level of 'screening' for new migrants? What about those already in Germany, the 1500 people who chanted 'death to Jews'; will they be deported? Not very likely!

Mayor of German City Stabbed in Neck After Taking in More Refugees Than Quota

The New Normal - Germany

The mayor of Altena, Andreas Hollstein © Global Look Press

The mayor of the western German town of Altena suffered a slash to the neck in what security authorities believe was an attack with a “political motive.” Under the current mayor, the town has accommodated more refugees than required by national quota.

On Monday evening, a reportedly drunk man approached Mayor Andreas Hollstein, who had gone to a downtown kebab shop to get a donair for his wife. According to German media, the man loudly criticized the mayor’s policies and asked Hollstein if he was the one before pulling out a knife. 

“You let me die of thirst and bring 200 refugees to Altena,” he told Hollstein, according to the mayor, who spoke Tuesday at a press conference. The assailant then stabbed 54-year-old Hollstein in the neck with a blade, local police say, causing a 15cm-long gash. “Shoot me!” yelled the assailant, held by witnesses, when officers arrived. Hollstein was rushed to the hospital and released hours later.

“Yes, I feared for my life and I'm pretty sure I would not have it [life] anymore – if I had not had help,” he confessed, saying it felt like it was his “third birthday,” having also beaten cancer. “I was given another life yesterday.”

The attacker intended to kill the mayor, according to the owner of the kebab shop, where the incident took place. The proprietor was one of those who caught the assailant and held him until the police arrived.

“The attacker asked the mayor whether he was the mayor, the mayor said ‘Yes’ and it happened very fast, he pulled out a knife. I think he took it out of his pocket, he put him in a headlock, and wanted to cut his throat completely,” Ahmet Abdullah told Ruptly.

The attacker had an “alleged xenophobic motivation,” a police statement reads.

“The security authorities believe that there was a political motive to this attack,” North Rhine-Westphalia’s CDU state premier, Armin Laschet, said. The offender commented on a migration issue, Laschet added.

Hollstein’s wife had repeatedly warned him of a possible attack numerous threats against the mayor, he said. Still, he “will continue to work for people, both for refugees and for people who have been there before and will come, just as any other mayor.”

“We have good, bad and normal people everywhere,” he added.

Hollstein’s liberal policies towards asylum seekers have earned his city nationwide fame. Altena, with the population of some 17,300, received the National Integration Prize from Chancellor Angela Merkel for taking in extra refugees and assisting them under a special program. “I believe we are leading Germany towards a bright future - that future is diverse,” Hollstein said at the time.

Ah, yes! Sunny ways! 

However, not everybody in Altena seemed to welcome the policy. In 2015, a firefighter and his accomplice set fire to a house, into which a group of Syrians had just moved. The arsonist later admitted that he didn’t want any refugees in the neighborhood, fearing “thefts, burglaries or sexual assaults.”

Following the Monday attack on the mayor, Chancellor Merkel said she was “horrified,” via her spokesperson in a Twitter post.

Arab ‘Mafia’ Infiltrates German Police, State Services – German Police Union Official

Germany's fear of xenophobia far exceeds its fear of Islamic criminals.

It is possibly that very thing that feeds xenophobia!

FILE PHOTO © Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

Powerful Arab criminal clans are actively trying to plant their members into Berlin’s police and other state services, a local German Police Union head has claimed. He went on to say the mafia gangs are seeking to control police actions.

Large criminal clans of migrant descent are purposefully seeking to provide some of their members access to the inner working of the state services, Bodo Pfalzgraf, the head of the Berlin branch of the German Police Union, told the German ZDF broadcaster Wednesday. “The truth should be revealed,” he said.

Now what kind of attitude is that? What will Frau Merkel think?

“There are clear indications that big Arab clans have a [infiltration] strategy and try to keep certain family members away from criminal activities so that they could later infiltrate into any state services,” Pfalzgraf explained as he appeared on ZDF’s ‘Morgen Magazin’ program. The migrant mafia has “a vital interest in first-hand knowledge of how the state works, how police operates and when searches [and raids] are conducted,” he said.

These developments require special attention from the German authorities, he said, adding, that allegations against police should be investigated not by the police itself but by a special task force instead. At the same time, he warned against racial or other forms of profiling by saying that no one should be “denied access to the state services just because of their name.”

Pfalzgraf also called for a stricter admission criteria for police enrolments. He said such admission criteria have not been amended for a long period and are currently failing to meet contemporary realities.

Berlin police was, however, quick to dispute the allegations concerning potential infiltration by migrant mafia clans. “These claims are definitely false,” Berlin police chief, Klaus Kandt, said at a special meeting of Berlin’s parliament on Wednesday.

He words were echoed by the Deputy Head of the Berlin Police Department, Margarete Koppers, who said during the same session that any infiltration into police by criminal Arab clans is “ruled out.” She went on to say that no members of such clans are studying in any police educational facilities.

The accusations and counter-statements come amid a high profile scandal involving a law student who undertook an internship at one of the German capital’s police departments.  The student at the Berlin School of Economics and Law, who is from Arab descent, was arrested after she took photos of confidential police documents and sent them to an unknown contact via the WhatsApp messenger service.

According to the local BZ daily, the female student, 22, particularly took pictures of the photos of wanted members of a suspected Arab criminal clan. The student reportedly volunteered to an internship in this particular police department, the daily added. The incident took place in late October but surfaced in the German media only this week.

Berlin’s Interior Minister has meanwhile warned against the rise of xenophobia and prejudice against police officers of migrant descent. “That is something I would not tolerate,” Andreas Geisel said as Germany records a growing number of complaints against immigrant recruits within the police.

It started about a week ago when a lecturer at the Berlin Police Academy was heard complaining in a leaked recording about poor language skills, lack of respect, and disloyalty of ethnic Turks and Arabs who study at the facility.

Is that xenophobia or is it a lack of respect, disloyalty, and poor language skills? Is it xenophobia to state the obvious? Is it necessary to hide the truth or outright lie in order to not be seen as xenophobic? Is it worth it?

Xenophobia, I believe, is fed by government and police ignoring or hiding the dangers and the realities of Islamization. Because they are not doing their jobs of protecting Germans, Germans are likely to rise up to protect themselves. It would be far better for the authorities to do their jobs rather than to pretend everything is great.

The first leak was then followed by a series of new accusations that came in a form of anonymous letters allegedly sent by other members of the German police community. One such letter published by the Tagesspiegel daily said: “The police ranks are open to criminal clans.” Recruits from these big clans are allowed to join the ranks of police despite previous criminal records, the document allegedly written by a long serving member of Berlin’s criminal investigation department, said.