Since the leftwing party’s electoral victory in Berlin on 20th September, the outcry in the press has hardly stopped. The fact that the party came out on top with 25.7% of the vote, despite the media’s weeks-long smear campaign against them, has caused a meltdown in the political mainstream. It’s a good sign that Berliners weren’t fooled by the old familiar racism of the “antisemitism debate”, and instead chose to vote for the long-overdue nationalisation of housing. In light of increased police violence and a housing shortage, it’s also hardly a surprise.
In the wake of an unsuccessful smear campaign, the hysteria seems to have gotten even more extreme. Israeli ambassador Prosor, known for his constant interference, spoke of an “immediate threat to life” for Jewish people in Berlin. Former Berlin SPD leaders have called for their party not to form a coalition with Die Linke, claiming that it would cause the “destruction of Jewish life” in Berlin.
To top it all off, Jörg Thadeusz’s Tagesthemen segment. Not only did he label Die Linke as antisemitic, he also arrogantly demanded that they stay away from International Holocaust Remembrance Day memorials, since Jewish lives in Germany apparently mean nothing to them, ending with the fascist slogan “Am Israel chai”.
In a bizarre rhetorical escalation, the election of a leftwing mayor is practically being portrayed as the beginning of a second Holocaust. Why? Maybe because the rapper Dahabflex used the word “Intifada” at an election rally? Or because the party agreed on a lukewarm resolution which expressed equal sympathy for both the victims and the perpetrators of the genocide in Gaza?
The answer is simple, it’s about money. Capitalist interests, property, arms sales. Nothing makes the capitalist mainstream angrier than losing money and influence. The fundamental rules of capitalism which govern German politics are in many ways threatened by Die Linke. Because of the direct economic involvement of politicians in the real estate sector, for example, Die Linke’s plans to expropriate property are causing panic. Ever since the referendum on expropriating Deutsche Wohnen & Co., socialisation has, in fact, become a democratic obligation.
Why are those for whom the “protection of Jewish life” is supposedly so important – more outraged by Die Linke’s electoral victory than by the fascist AfD, who nearly achieved an absolute majority in Sachsen-Anhalt with 44% of the vote? They were also close to being the frontrunners in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with 38%. On a national level, the AfD has been the most popular party in the polls since June and can now count on about 30% of votes. Why hasn’t the growth of the fascist party caused as much of an uproar in the establishment? Why are people instead saying “that’s how democracy works” and “we just have to deal with it”, while the election results in Berlin are virtually considered a terrorist attack?
Because the AfD is a party of capital and raison d’état. Let’s move away from moral debate and the “right to exist”, “historical responsibility” and “Jewish life” propaganda. An AfD government, at national or state level, would be no problem for the capitalist status quo. In Sachsen-Anhalt, the election winner Ulrich Siegmund defended the upcoming construction of an Elbit Systems factory. That is the Israeli arms company which, as a leading drone manufacturer, has played a key role in the genocide against Palestinians.Siegmund said that ultimately military resources will be necessary for their planned “remigration project”. Very little outcry from the press and politicians about this, though — just like during Germany’s hearing at The Hague for their facilitation of the genocide. Business as usual in the trade in Palestinian blood.
The mind-boggling military build-up aided by Merz government cuts, the fact that the AfD are gaining more and more power and the rapidly rising wave of fascism in Germany – all pale in comparison to this antisemitism circus that the media and politicians are currently orchestrating. This circus is well attended,by property fanatics and racists as well as those who, with well-intentioned statistics on antisemitism in political parties, further fuel Die Linke’s defensive stance. And all of this while the arms industry works flat out to facilitate genocide worldwide and immigrants are losing their jobs and their right to remain, being deported, raided and beaten by police, all under the banner of the same racist “fight against antisemitism”.
At the same time, our annual rallies on 27th January – in which we show how Germany’s involvement in zionist genocide debunks the hegemonic “culture of rememberance” and name the many non-Jewish groups who were targeted by the Nazis – are vilified as Holocaust denial, and the “antisemitism commissioner” is calling for our association to be banned. “Jewish life” is only valuable to the German state when it aligns with its raison d’état and Nazi continuity.
So it makes sense that we, as a Jewish group in the shadows of the Berlin Wall (on Yom Kippur no less) were once again classified as “confirmed extremists” by Berlin’s Higher Administrative Court. We were left vulnerable to further persecution by intelligence services. Ultimately a Jewish organisation that expresses solidarity with the targets of this “fight against antisemitism”, in a state that bases its power on this fight, must be done away with urgently.
State actors and entities portray us as Hamas’ propaganda department, while Holocaust deniers sit in the Bundestag while the Chancellor refers to Jewish people as “foreigners” and to the Israeli flag as the “Jewish flag”.nd then at the synagogue, they cry crocodile tears about how the Nazis murdered our ancestors with the help of German capital.
In this disastrous political situation it is vital that Die Linke stands firm/remains steadfast. The downfall of the former Labour leader Corbyn has shown how anything that threats to restrict capitalist privileges leads to political warfare. In this accusations of antisemitism are cynically exploited, whether by parties and organisations which themselves are full of racists and antisemites, or by supposed representatives of Judaism, such as the Central Council, who only have influence because of their support for Western imperialism.
Elif Eralp’s distancing from the election campaign, which further vindicates the racist antisemitic discourse, already indicates a dangerously defensive stance from Die Linke. But now even the most steadfast party members are going into hiding in a pathetic attempt to appease the mob. There is now a proposal to suspend Hannah Bruns from the LAG Palästinasolidarität. Ferat Kocak, who has fought tirelessly for a good life in Neukölln and played a significant role in the constituency’s landmark victory, has temporarily stepped down from his position.
Yet it is people like Ferat Kocak, Ahmed Abed and Hannah Bruns who took a stand against war and genocide, and worked closely with the movement. It is people like them who made a significant contribution to the party’s increase in votes in Kreuzberg and Wedding, and who have maintained people’s trust in a party who calls itself leftwing despite not being able to take a clear stance on these matters for years. To throw them to the wolves, of all people, is not only dangerous and stupid, it’s also a capitulation to this fabricated racist discourse. That for years has facilitated the exploitation of immigrants and their homelands, social cutbacks, military buildup, and genocide. In discussions like these, the extent to which one should engage with fundamentally racist debates (like so-called “clan crime”, a term mostly based on illegal parking statistics of people with the same surname) leaves the party dangerously distracted from its very serious responsibilities. Those are steadfast antifascism and antimilitarism, as well as the socialisation of housing and the expansion of the welfare state.
Don’t let yourselves be distracted. Expose these attacks for what they are: attacks on human rights and on the possibility of a more socially-oriented politics. Don’t let your immigrant politicians be villainised by the grandchildren of Nazis, who pass the buck of antisemitic history onto the muslim population. Show solidarity with those who consistently take a stand against genocide and occupation, instead of feeding them to the tabloid vultures. Go on the offensive instead of letting yourself be backed into a corner. Only in this way will justice be possible, whether social justice in Germany or justice for Palestine.
This article first appeared in German on the Jüdische Stimme Substack page. Translated by Ciara Bowen. Reproduced with permission
