Alleged outbreak of antisemitism in Angela Merkel’s chancellery
Jewish man of Lebanese origin called "Jewish pig"
By BENJAMIN WEINTHALGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel lights a candle at the memorial of the divided city and the victims of communist tyranny during a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall at the Wall memorial on Bernauer Strasse in Berlin, Germany, November 9, 2019(photo credit: REUTERS/FABRIZIO BENSCH)
A Jewish employee in the German Federal Chancellery filed a complaint with the federal commissioner responsible for combating antisemitism after he claimed he was subjected to Jew-hatred by his coworkers.The German paper Bild recently reported on its website about this alleged outbreak of antisemitism within Chancellor Angela Merkel’s headquarters. Starting in 2019, employees in the chancellery called the Jewish man, who is originally from Lebanon, a “Jewish pig” and “Kanake” – a derogatory German term targeting people from Turkey and Arab countries. Chancellery employees also harassed their Jewish coworker, according to Bild.The unnamed Jewish man worked in the motor pool division, the drivers department for vehicles for the chancellery. Merkel’s government has not announced any employment penalties in connection with the case.The federal commissioner assigned for combating antisemitism, Felix Klein, confirmed to Bild that the employee had complained to him. Klein declined to discuss the case due to privacy reasons.In November, Klein was asked by The Jerusalem Post if he felt Hezbollah should be banned, but declined to comment on that, too. The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s top Nazi-hunter, Efraim Zuroff, urged Klein to call for a ban of Hezbollah within Germany, where 1,050 Hezbollah members operate.Merkel’s administration has faced criticism for her failure to crack down on rising antisemitism in Germany.The German government refuses to ban Hezbollah – a terrorist organization that spreads antisemitic ideology in the federal republic.In addition, Merkel’s ambassador to the UN, Christoph Heusgen, was included on the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s top 10 list of worst outbreaks of antisemitism and anti-Israel activities for 2019. Heusgen compared Israel with Hamas and engaged in a spree of anti-Israel votes at the UN that some say served to damage Israel’s legitimacy and amounted to bias against the Jewish state.Merkel’s administration has also refused to take action against Kuwait Airways for its discriminatory conduct against Israeli passengers.Kuwait Airways is headquartered in Frankfurt, where Germany’s main international airport is located. It refuses to sell tickets to Israelis. Merkel has declined to implement a Bundestag resolution banning support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.
