Germany vows 'zero tolerance' for synagogue attacks
May 13, 2021
Authorities have warned of further antisemitic incidents after another day of demonstrations in major German cities. Synagogues have been attacked in reaction to escalating violence in Israel.
Police have stepped up protection at Jewish temples and intervened at a number of anti-Israel rallies taking place across the country as violence escalates in the Middle East.
What did Maas say about antisemitic attacks in Germany?
Maas called on citizens to reject the idea of "blaming people of the Jewish faith in Germany for events in the Middle East — whether on the streets or on social media."
The foreign minister, who placed blame for the violence currently gripping Israel on Hamas, said there would be "zero tolerance for attacks on synagogues in our country."
In pictures: Israel-Gaza conflict intensifies with rockets, airstrikes
Rockets in Tel Aviv, destruction in the Gaza Strip — the situation between Israelis and Palestinians has been escalating for nearly a week. On both sides, people are suffering.
Image: Nir Alon/ZUMA Wire/picture alliance
Seeking new shelter
Residents sought shelter as airstrikes by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued. One airstrike Sunday killed 33 people. Israeli authorities say the attacks target Hamas officials and that the humanitarian tragedy is the result of party leaders' mixing with the civilian population. Gaza's Health Ministry reports 181 deaths, including 52 children; 10 people have been killed in Israel.
Image: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/imago images
Press building destroyed
The IDF warned media such as the AP and Al Jazeera before destroying the 12-story building that housed their offices and several apartments, saying Hamas operated there. "We have called on the Israeli government to put forward the evidence," AP CEO Gary Pruitt said. "AP’s bureau has been in this building for 15 years. We have had no indication Hamas was in the building or active in the building."
Image: Hatem Moussa/AP/picture alliance
Retaliatory strikes
On Thursday, Israeli fighter planes bombed the southern Gaza Strip. According to the IDF, the attacks targeted facilities that housed members of the Hamas organization.
Image: Uncredited/AFP
Destruction in Gaza City
This building, destroyed on Wednesday, was one of the first to fall when the IDF's strikes on the alleged offices of militant groups or their leaders began.
Image: Suhaib Salem/REUTERS
Locals flee for safety
Residents of Gaza evacuated their homes on Tuesday, early in the conflict, which has only spiraled since.
Image: Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Rockets over Tel Aviv
Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, began firing rockets into Israel earlier in the conflict. Israel's missile defense system has protected Tel Aviv and other areas — destroying projectiles in the air or diverting them so they cause as little damage as possible.
Image: AnAs Baba/AFP/Getty Images
Anxious waiting
But the Iron Dome missile defense system does not offer 100% protection. When the sirens go off, Israelis know that they have to find safety in shelters as quickly as possible. Even if it's 3 a.m.
Image: Gideon Marcowicz/AFP/Getty Images
Finding cover
People who fail to make it to shelters in time try to take cover as best they can, like these people in Ashkelon, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.
Image: Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
More danger
Even if rockets can be repelled, falling debris is also dangerous. Here, a house in Yehud, just north of Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, has been destroyed. The Israeli army has claimed that more than 1,000 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza since Monday.
Image: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images
Stones and tear gas
In recent days, there have been many clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli security forces in several cities, including here in Hebron, in the West Bank, which is occupied by Israel. Demonstrators threw stones and other projectiles.
Image: Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
Taking position
Security forces have used stun grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets against Arab Israelis protesting forced evictions in east Jerusalem.
Image: Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
Israel mobilizes reservists
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has been amassing combat troops and tanks on the border with the Gaza Strip, recalling the conflicts in 2008/2009 and 2014.
Image: Amir Cohen/REUTERS
How long will it last?
It doesn't look as if either side will de-escalate the tension any time soon. Some Palestinians in Gaza City have taken refuge at the UN compound for fear of further airstrikes.
Image: Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
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German president: 'Hatred of Jews will not be tolerated — no matter from whom'
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier underscored that commitment on Thursday: "Nothing can justify threats against Jews in Germany or attacks on synagogues in German cities.
"Whoever burns Star of David flags or shouts antisemitic slogans on our streets is not only abusing the right to demonstrate but committing a crime," he told Germany's Bild newspaper.
"We neither want to, nor will we, tolerate the hatred of Jews," Steinmeier added.
Anti-Israel demonstrations in a number of major German cities, more planned
Germany has seen a number of large demonstrations over the past couple of days, with the latest being staged in Hannover and Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday night and in Bremen and Munich on Thursday.
The protests drew several hundred participants each, and saw anti-Israeli as well as antisemitic chants, as well as the burning of Israeli flags.
"The burning of Israeli flags and attacks on Jewish institutions on German soil will not be tolerated," said Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.
Police have detained several individuals in connection to rocks being thrown through the windows of synagogues across the country on Wednesday and Thursday.
A statement from the Interior Ministry on Thursday said that "security agencies expect intensifying protest activities by Palestinians in Germany as well as parts of the leftist scene."
Police in Berlin said pro-Palestinian groups had called for three demonstrations in the city's Neukölln and Kreuzberg neighborhoods this weekend.
Attacks on synagogues in Germany
The attempted attack on a synagogue in Halle is not the first in recent years. Even after the horrors of the Nazi era, anti-Semitic incidents occur in Germany — on individuals, memorials and Jewish places of worship.
Image: Imago Images/S. Schellhorn
Cologne, 1959: Swastikas and hate speech
In December 1959, two members of the Deutsche Reichspartei (DRP) right-wing extremist party painted swastikas and the words "Germans demand: Jews out" on the synagogue in Cologne. Anti-Semitic graffiti emerged across the country. The perpetrators were convicted, and the Bundestag passed a law against "incitement of the people," which remains on the books to this day.
Image: picture-alliance/Arco Images/Joko
Lübeck, 1994: First arson attack on a temple in decades
People across the world were horrified at the March 1994 attack on the synagogue in the northern city of Lübeck. For the first time in decades, a synagogue in Germany burned. Four right-wing extremists were eventually convicted of arson. The day after the fire, 4,000 locals took to the streets under the slogan "Lübeck holds its breath." In 1995, the same synagogue was hit by another arson attack.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Büttner
Essen, 2000: Stones hurled into Old Synagogue
Armed with paving stones, more than 100 Palestinians from Lebanon attacked the Old Synagogue in Essen in October 2000. The incident occurred after a demonstration against "violence in the Middle East." A police officer was injured. Mahmud Alaeddin, deputy head of the general delegation of Palestine in Germany, distanced himself from the attack.
Image: picture-alliance/B. Boensch
Düsseldorf, 2000: Arson and stones
A 19-year-old Palestinian and a 20-year-old Moroccan damaged Düsseldorf's New Synagogue with incendiary devices and rocks in October 2000 as "revenge" against Jews and the state of Israel. "We need the respectable people to rebel" against anti-Semitism, then-German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder demanded. The federal and state governments and various NGOs launched campaigns to counter extremism.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Weihrauch
Mainz, 2010: Molotov cocktail attack shortly after inauguration
Shortly after being inaugurated in September 2010, an arson attack hit the New Synagogue in Mainz during the night of October 30. The spectacular Deconstructivist building by architect Manuel Herz was erected on the site of the former main synagogue that was set on fire during the Kristallnacht, the Nazis' national night of pogroms, in 1938.
Image: picture-alliance/akg/Bildarchiv Steffens
Wuppertal, 2014: Incendiary devices
In July 2014, three young Palestinians hurled incendiary devices at the front door of the synagogue in Wuppertal. In a highly controversial decision, the court ruled there was "no evidence whatsoever" of anti-Semitic motives. Jews in Germany and the foreign media were outraged. The chairman of the Jewish Community Wuppertal declared the ruling as "an invitation to further crimes."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Seidel
Berlin, 2019: Knife-wielding attacker
A man wielding a knife climbed over a barrier at Berlin's New Synagogue on the eve of Shabbat on October 4, 2019, during the holy period between the holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Security personnel overwhelmed the attacker, whose motive remained unclear. Police released him afterwards, a decision Jewish leaders called "a failure" of justice.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Avers
Halle, 2019: Shooter attempts mass murder on Yom Kippur
About 80 people were in the synagogue on Wednesday afternoon to observe Yom Kippur, the Jewish calendar's holiest day. The alleged attacker reportedly attempted to shoot his way into the synagogue but was prevented by a safety door. Two passersby were shot to death and two were injured. The suspect, who has a history of right-wing extremist, anti-Semitic, and misogynist rhetoric, was detained.
Image: Imago Images/S. Schellhorn
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Jewish group condemns 'pure antisemitism'
On Thursday, the Central Council of Jews in Germany condemned the ongoing demonstrations and vandalism. The group also released a disturbing video on Twitter that was recorded in the city of Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday evening.
In it, police can be seen standing in front of a group of individuals carrying Palestinian and Turkish flags and loudly chanting primitive antisemitic slogans.
The tweet read: "Hatred of Jews in front of the Gelsenkirchen synagogue. The days when Jews are openly insulted on the streets should be far behind us. This is nothing other than pure antisemitism."
Police reacted to criticism that they had not intervened by saying their main goal was to protect the synagogue. They added that there had not been enough officers at the scene to detain anyone,and that the crowd was dispersed once backup arrived.
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Gelsenkirchen demonstration stirs reaction in community
Aside from lawmakers and religious leaders, communities and individuals are also responding to the situation.
Abdel Karim, a popular German-Moroccan stand-up comedian, tweeted: "There are a lot of ways to express one's understandable human empathy for the Palestinians. Attacking synagogues is not one of them."
Initiative Against Antisemitism Gelsenkirchen, a community organization in the city, took to Twitter to announce that it had registered a public vigil to take place in front of the synagogue on Friday evening in response to Wednesday's events. Its motto: "No room for antisemitism — solidarity with the Jewish community of Gelsenkirchen."
Igor Levit, a Russian-German classical pianist of Jewish descent, was decidedly more stern in his assessment, saying that it is naive to assume antisemitism does not have a presence in Germany.
"It clearly does, always has, and always will — if we don't fight it. Not just with nice words, but with attitude and solidarity, and not just when violence is acute."