German Foreign Ministry hires Islamist who defends Israel’s destruction
"So she can promote more antisemitic al-Quds marches and justify hatred of the Jewish state.”
By BENJAMIN WEINTHALGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel talks to Nurhan Soykan, Secretary General of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, during a meeting with representatives of refugee reception associations at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, September 29, 2015.(photo credit: AXEL SCHMIDT/REUTERS)German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Foreign Ministry has been plunged into a devastating new antisemitism scandal for the hiring of a radical Islamist who defends the annual Iranian regime-sponsored rally al-Quds Day calling for the obliteration of Israel.Andreas Görgen,the director of the Foreign Ministry’s department for culture and communication, welcomed the Islamist Nurhan Soykan on Monday on his Twitter feed, writing that Soykan will be on “our team Religion and Foreign Policy” at the Foreign Ministry.Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told The Jerusalem Post that the "German government bemoans antisemitism then appoints secretary-general of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, Nurhan Soykan, as a consultant for the Foreign Ministry’s Religion and Foreign Policy team. So she can promote more antisemitic al-Quds marches and justify hatred of Jewish state.”In her defense of the antisemitic al-Quds rally, Soykan told German radio station Deutschlandfunk in 2014 that opponents of Israeli politics "who want to show their anger sometimes" must be given the opportunity "to clear the air in the way of a demonstration.”German politicians and Jewish organizations have called for the al-Quds rally to be banned.The Post first revealed in April that Görgen sent out at least seven tweets in support of an alleged antisemitic academic, Achille Mbembe, who has trivialized the Holocaust and supported Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) activity against Israel.When asked about the criticism of Soykan, the Germany Foreign Ministry told the Post that “The Federal Foreign Office has been supplementing its classic foreign policy between states for many years with a foreign policy of societies, since 2016 specifically also in the field of religion and foreign policy. Over 80% of the world's population profess a religion.”The ministry added that it “wants to address the responsibility of religions for peace with religious communities worldwide” and “better understand their possible influence on society and politics, and strengthen their constructive potential. Ms. Soykan, like her Christian and Jewish colleague, will advise the Federal Foreign Office on questions of the responsibility of religious communities for peace. Ms. Soykan has represented associations and committees for many years that are dedicated to the topics of religion, understanding and integration.”Soykan represents the German Council of Muslims that serves as an umbrella organization for a spectrum of Sunni and Shi’ite associations and mosques, including radical antisemitic entities. Soykan is a zealous supporter of head coverings for women. She was born in Turkey and moved to Germany as a young child.Neo-Nazis, Iranian regime supporters, BDS activists, Hezbollah members, radical leftists and members of the Palestinian terrorist entity Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) participated in the al-Quds rally in Berlin that Soykan defended.
A spokesperson for Merkel's office defended German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas's decision to hire Soykan. "We have nothing to add to the answer that you received from the Federal Foreign Office on this subject," a spokesperson told the Post.
