The oldest hatred in the world

The scandal didn't surprise me. Anti-Semitism is on the agenda in the European Union. Israel has no friends in this community of states. The fact that Germany cannot be relied on takes my breath away: German MPs from the Social Democratic SPD, the Left, the Greens and the right-wing AfD vote for anti-Semitic agitation to continue to be spread in Palestinian school books – and that with EU funding.

No coincidence, no derailment

What we are experiencing here is no accident, no derailment. Behind this vote in the European Parliament is a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic attitude. This is an irresponsible sign in a Europe in which Jews and other minorities fear for their lives again. Synagogues and Jewish kindergartens must be guarded like fortresses.

Which MEPs actually sit in the European Parliament who, despite these dramatic developments (and especially in Germany), cast a vote according to which Europe pays 20 million euros for anti-Semitic agitation? These people should be ashamed and resign from their highly paid mandate. At least Christian Democratic Union and Liberal FDP parliamentarians have unanimously voted against this act of irresponsibility.

Nothing learned from history

Those who vote like this have learned nothing from history. In gloomy colours, they touch the illusion of Israel – as ever. Israel, they say, is doing to the Palestinians what the Nazis would have done to the Jews. The anti-Zionists that you meet at every evening reception between Berlin and Hamburg formulate such prejudices and who do not perceive or do not want to admit that they have long since become anti-Semites.

The "oldest hatred in the world", as the Dutch writer Leon de Winter puts it, also sits in the European Parliament. The worst part: We don't care.

This article was published previously in the German magazine Die Tagespost on October 31st, 2021