Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews, has criticized the agreement against antisemitism presented by the Berlin Left, the Greens, and the SPD as inadequate. Although the paper attempts to look forward and includes sanction mechanisms for antisemitic incidents within the party groups, Schuster told the “Handelsblatt” (Friday edition) that the true issue is that severe cases have occurred in the Left Party over many months. He asserts that consequences extending beyond merely speaking out have been absent and remain so to this day.
Schuster further argued that this joint document cannot replace decisive action, noting that protective formulas for Jewish life cannot mask the antisemitism that continues to be tolerated within the Left Party. He is also skeptical of a proposed expert committee serving as a potential sanction body, stating that “there are more than enough people in our country who call themselves antisemitism experts without actually contributing to the fight against antisemitism.” He pointed out that the debate since the elections has clearly demonstrated this problem.
Schuster added that the very need to agree upon sanction mechanisms highlights the scale of the problem and acknowledges that the SPD and the Greens are also aware of this. Therefore, he insists that both parties must demand concrete, personal consequences and base their participation in government on these demands.
The Berlin Left, Greens, and SPD had submitted a joint agreement on Thursday to initiate exploratory discussions. The three-way paper details eight focal points covering diversity, the protection and strengthening of Jewish life, remembrance of the Holocaust, Israel’s right to existence, and tackling antisemitism.
In their statement, the parties wrote that they want a city where all people can live safely and openly express their faith and identity. They underscored a specific responsibility to protect Jewish life in Germany due to their history. They commit to protecting Jewish life, strengthening community ties, and promoting peace and understanding.
The agreement calls for a political system in Berlin that can bring the city together. The political representatives state they stand “for a city where violence and terror are neither glorified nor relativized, where the right of existence of Israel is not questioned, and where any form of antisemitism has no place.” They guarantee this support both in the Bundestag and the Senate.
The parties further commit to ensuring that Jewish people can live their religion, language, and identity securely, visibly, and autonomously in Berlin. They pledge to strengthen institutions, promote Jewish communities, initiatives, culture, science, and religious practice, and ensure reliable support for Jewish spaces, schools, kindergartens, community centers, and gathering spots. They plan to make Jewish places and festivals visible in daily life and public urban spaces, taking into account Jewish holidays and events in public institutions.
They also committed to guaranteeing that Jewish people can move in any public space with the same ease as everyone else. They stated they oppose a climate where people are excluded based on their political affiliation or origin. They specified that entries bans, evictions, or slogans like ‘No Zionists welcome’ are unacceptable because they stigmatize people, generate fear, and contribute to division.
The parties vehemently oppose violence, hate speech, conspiracy theories, and the denial or relativization of the Shoah. They clearly name “Israel-related antisemitism” and reject indiscriminate and general boycott and sanction calls against Israel, Israeli institutions, or individuals solely due to their nationality, origin, or affiliation, such as the BDS campaign.
As parties and political groups, they support these shared principles. The regulation of the three parties stipulates that if these principles are violated, the respective groups will implement their own procedures, which can include the exclusion of members. In such instances, the affected party branch will notify its coalition partners. They confirm that the party branch decides on the consequences autonomously and communicates its decision transparently, and that antisemitic incidents within coalition branches will be managed collaboratively through a mechanism that was established.
