Germany’s Jews say their country must show understanding for "Israel’s struggle for existence."
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
BERLIN – The World Jewish Congress on Friday called on the international community, citing specifically Germany, to boycott the UN-sponsored Durban III anti-racism conference slated for next month in New York City.“The World Jewish Congress urges all countries to follow the example set by Canada, the United States, Israel, Australia and the Czech Republic, Italy and the Netherlands, and to not participate in the UN commemoration of the Durban process, the World Jewish Congress told The Jerusalem Post in a statement on Friday.RELATED:Top Bundestag lawmaker to Germany: Boycott Durban IIIAustralian PM: We won't attend Durban III conference“We believe that Germany and all freedom-loving countries should urge the UN to concentrate on combating racism and discrimination in all its forms, and should not allow this battle to be politicized in any way, nor unjustly single out Israel for blame,” the WJC continued.“The Israel-Palestinian conflict is only one of the many territorial disputes taking place around the globe and should not be singled out in a document on racism where it has no place.”Israel and the six other democracies cited above walked away from Durban III because they deem the process to be not reformable.The German Foreign Ministry told the Post last week that Germany is working to “prevent the Durban process from being used to pillory Israel.”Meanwhile, in a sign of rising frustration with Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle’s decision to participate in Durban III, Dr. Dieter Graumann, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, renewed his call on Saturday for his country to skip the conference.
“Germany should finally show its true colors jointly with the other countries” and stay away from Durban III, he told the Weser-Kurier newspaper.Germany “should have a bit more understanding that Israel continues to be in a struggle for existence,” because of Iran’s support for its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, which are armed to the teeth and prepared to attack Israel on its borders, Graumann said. He termed international politics “hypocritical” because states that trample human rights indict Israel.
On “the edges of society” in Germany among “classic fascists, and many leftists and part of the Muslim population” there is an “aggressive hostility toward Israel that turns into Jew-hatred,” he said in the Weser-Kurier interview.Graumann had appealed to Westerwelle on Monday to abandon Durban III because the conference is a “festival of hostility toward Jews.”