German Jews and politicians urged Berlin authorities to cancel the scheduled May Al Quds Day protest against the existence of Israel, in which Hezbollah and neo-Nazi members routinely take part.
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
FEBRUARY 25, 2020 04:15
The German federal government is slated to again allow an Iranian regime-sponsored demonstration calling for the obliteration of Israel’s nearly 7 million Jews to take place in the heart of Berlin.
German Jews and politicians urged the Berlin authorities to pull the plug on the scheduled May Al Quds Day protest against the existence of Israel.
“A deeply divisive and inhuman demonstration. We must not let this mindset take public space away from us,” the Free Democratic Party politician Sebastian Czaja told the B.Z. paper.
The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday that the “Classic Days” auto show in Berlin’s main shopping district was cancelled because,according to the B.Z., “the anti-Jewish Al-Quds day demonstration was permitted by the authorities at the same time.”
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini–the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran–launched Quds Day in 1979,calling for the destruction of Israel. Al-Quds is the Arabic word for Jerusalem. The Berlin Quds Day demonstration has been held each year since 1996.
The Al Quds Day rally attracts members of the terrorist organizations Hezbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Neo-Nazis have also participated in the demonstration, where salutes to Hitler have been documented, according to the B.Z.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told the Post that “Berlin leaders should spare us crocodile tears when spate of anti-Jewish attacks continue. They accurately tally anti-Semitic incidents while abetting Jew hatred and Holocaust deniers. Despicable. Mocks the dead and endangers living Jews.”
Kai Wegner (47), the state chairman of the Christian Democratic Union party in Berlin, told the B.Z., that”I have no understanding that the ‘Classic Days, a favorite of the public, is being replaced by a hate demonstration.”
He added that “the Quds Demonstration should be prohibited. A march of fanatical enemies of Israel who openly express their antisemitism does not fit into the heart of our cosmopolitan and tolerant city. ”
Berlin’s mayor Michael Müller has claimed that legal action to stop the Al Quds Day would not meet the courts criteria for a ban. There are doubts as to whether Müller’s contention is true because the law has not been tested.
Dr. Elio Adler, the chairman of the German-Jewish organization, Values Initiative, told the Berlin paper: “If the antisemites use the loopholes of the rule of law without being disturbed, then we have to clarify in the same detail how they can be stopped in the future.”
US officials, including the acting Director of National Intelligence, Richard Grenell, who is also the American ambassador to Germany, have urged Merkel’s administration to ban the entire terrorist entity Hezbollah—a main force behind the Al Qud Day in the federal republic.
Merkel and her Christian Union Party interior miniser Horst Seehofer have opted to not crackdown on Hezbollah to the frustration of Geman Jews and counter-terrorism experts.
German intelligence agencies have stated there are 1,050 Hezbollah operative in Germany. The Hezbollah members and supporters raise funds for Hezbollah in Lebanon, and recruit new members.
The Al Quds Day is also a stronghold of supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign targeting Israel. In May, Germany’s Bundestag defined BDS as antisemitic.
The Post sent press queries to Dr. Felix Klein, the federal commissioner for combating antisemitism, and Berlin’s commissioner Lorenz Korgel. Klein has refused to call for a full ban of Hezbollah, an organization that has murdered Jews and Iranian dissidents in Europe.
Rabbi Cooper told the Post that “Of course there should be a chorus of German officials at all level of governments led by Dr Klein calling for the permanent banning of Al Quds this year and forever.”
Cooper added that Klein and Berlin’s commissioner, and the next Berlin Mayor, as well the state secretary of Berlin’s intelligence “should demand action” for a ban of Hezbollah.
Content retrieved from: https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Merkel-again-permits-Iranian-protest-calling-for-Israels-destruction-618676?fbclid=IwAR2vboZ7GMYrVcRpHpK0YFtFFq20llFB_bMguUBCAP1_qfRg5lR5Mr4tF9A.