Rabbiner Andreas Nachama, Catholic Archbishop Heiner Koch, and Evangelical Bishop Christian Stäblein are urgently calling for the fight against antisemitism to be formally enshrined in the Berlin state constitution. In a joint op-ed published in the “Handelsblatt” on the third anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, the three religious leaders appealed to all political parties to immediately incorporate measures combating antisemitism into the constitutional framework of Berlin.
They expressed deep concern over the surge in antisemitic incidents observed both globally and within Germany since the attack. They stressed that in Berlin-a city where the perpetrators planned and directed “unparalleled industrial, state-institutional, and historical annihilation of Jews”-open displays of antisemitism are unacceptable. The authors asserted that merely acknowledging the problem is insufficient; there must be “an unconditional commitment to the protection of Jewish life.” They argue that an amendment to the constitution would obligate all constitutional bodies and political parties to actively pursue this goal, affecting everything from educational curricula to funding guidelines.
In connection with the anniversary, Nachama, Koch, and Stäblein held a memorial service at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche in Berlin. They reflected on the victims killed on October 7, 2023, the hostages, and the casualties within the Gaza tunnels. The text stated that the attack represented “the greatest murder of Jews since the Shoah.” Simultaneously, the authors emphasized that their suffering and grief are not in competition with other forms of memory or sorrow, advocating that the tribute be extended to all people who have experienced hardship resulting from the events of October 7th and the subsequent wars in the Near East.
