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‘Imported antisemitism': German chancellor sidesteps homegrown problems to blame migrants
In response to a report on the virulence of antisemitism in Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently cast the blame on attitudes held by immigrants. Merz stated in a Fox News interview that Germany has 'imported antisemitism with the big numbers of migrants we have within the last 10 years.' Merz is pointing to a real and pressing issue. Yet his emphasis on so-called 'imported antisemitism' serves as a convenient diversion from Germany's persistent failure to confront home-grown antisemitism. His remarks also risk emboldening those who weaponise antisemitism as a rhetorical tool to fuel anti-immigrant sentiments. Antisemitism in Germany Antisemitic incidents in Germany have been on the rise since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas and the subsequent war in Gaza. According to a survey by the Research and Information Centre on Antisemitism (RIAS), antisemitic occurrences rose by more than 80% in 2023. That year, 4,782 occurrences were documented, the highest number since the organization began tracking such cases in 2017. However, RIAS's most recent report found that the primary motive behind antisemitic crimes remained right-wing extremist ideology (48% per). It also noted that, since 2023, there has been a marked increase in incidents attributed to 'foreign ideology.' These are understood as originating outside Germany and often linked to Islamist or anti-Israel sentiments, which accounted for 31% of cases in 2024. It should be noted that RIAS's approach to classifying antisemitism has been subject to controversy, especially with regard to its treatment of criticism of or protest against the Israeli government's actions. 'Imported antisemitism' narrative A recent survey of antisemitic attitudes among immigrants in Germany found that such attitudes are more prevalent among Muslim respondents compared to their Christian or religiously unaffiliated counterparts. The study revealed particularly high levels of antisemitism among individuals from the Middle East and North Africa. Approximately 35% of Muslim respondents – especially those with strong religious convictions and lower levels of formal education – 'strongly agreed with classical antisemitic statements'. These statements reflect classical antisemitic tropes, such as attributing too much influence over politics or finance to Jews, accusing Jews of driving the world into disaster or relativising the Holocaust. At the same time, there is evidence that immigrants successfully integrating into German society is associated with lower levels of antisemitism. Yet blaming a rise in antisemitism on 'imported' attitudes or 'foreign ideologies' signals a crude simplification. Antisemitism has remained prevalent in German society even after the Second World War, and political movements or leaders can easily mobilise it. Although Holocaust education is mandatory in German schools, knowledge about the Shoah and the legacy of antisemitism remains limited among younger generations. A recent study by the Jewish Claims Conference found that among Germans aged 18 to 29, around 40 per cent were not aware that approximately six million Jews were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators. According to a 2023 MEMO survey, more than 50% of 14- to 16-year-old students in Germany did not know what Auschwitz was. Blaming immigrants for challenges in Germany's memory culture oversimplifies a deeper issue: the growing difficulty of making the country's dominant remembrance — centred on the horrors of the Nazi dictatorship and the Holocaust — politically meaningful and emotionally resonant for younger generations. For many young Germans, the memory of the Holocaust feels increasingly remote, lacking the emotional immediacy that vanishing eyewitnesses once provided. This problem is further exacerbated by the absence of innovative, impactful teaching capable of conveying the continued relevance of Holocaust memory and its political message. In a 2023 article, American journalist Masha Gessen highlighted how Holocaust remembrance in Germany was becoming an elite-driven ritual, one that risks preventing a meaningful connection between its moral imperatives and today's political realities. Threat from Alternative for Germany At the same time, the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party poses a direct threat to Germany's culture of remembrance. The AfD has made it a central objective to challenge the primacy of Holocaust memory, calling for a U-turn in Germany's remembrance culture. Leading party members have labelled Holocaust memorials ' monuments of shame ', reflecting the party's broader effort to promote nationalist reinterpretations of history. Furthermore, the AfD's staunchly anti-immigrant stance exposes a fundamental flaw in the imported antisemitism narrative. Across Europe, populist right-wing movements have increasingly mobilised anti-Muslim rhetoric under the banner of defending so-called ' Judeo-Christian values,' even as they simultaneously draw on classic antisemitic tropes targeting 'globalist elites' and conspiratorial power structures. This use of Jewish identity as a rhetorical weapon against Islam, while perpetuating antisemitism in other forms, reveals the deep contradictions and opportunism underlying imported antisemitism claims. Blaming Muslim immigrants for the rise of antisemitism offers German political leaders a convenient excuse for their own failure to confront entrenched antisemitic beliefs within German society. In addition, Holocaust remembrance can sometimes exclude immigrants. For example, Germany recently added questions about the Holocaust and Nazi crimes to its citizenship test, committing newcomers to its memory culture. Research shows this kind of policy can have unintended effects. It can make immigrants feel excluded if they are seen as not fully sharing in 'our' nation and 'our' history. Given the universalist values it is meant to embody, the commemoration of the Holocaust can also serve to alienate immigrants from full cultural citizenship. Framing antisemitism primarily as an imported problem risks strengthening those forces that actively seek to undermine and ignore Germany's confrontation with its Nazi past. Instead, what is needed is a more nuanced approach, one that bridges the divide between antiracist and anti-antisemitism efforts, and aligns more faithfully with the moral and political commitments that this collective memory is meant to uphold.
Local Germany
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Local Germany
German Chancellor suggests immigrants have 'imported antisemitism'
Following his first meeting as German Chancellor with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday, Friedrich Merz gave a televised interview with US right-wing outlet Fox News in which his use of a controversial phrase raised eyebrows in Germany. Citing a report by Germany's Federal Association of Research and Information Centres on Antisemitism (RIAS) – which found an increase in antisemitic incidents in Germany in 2024 – the interviewer asked the chancellor what he was doing to address the issue. 'We are doing everything we can to bring these numbers down," Merz told Fox News. "We are prosecuting those who break the law, and frankly, we have a sort of imported antisemitism with this big number of migrants that we have within the last ten years.' Merz's reply appeared to put blame for increasing antisemitism on migrants who have arrived in the country during the last ten years. In particular, the phrase "imported antisemitism" has been highlighted as problematic by an independent German organisation that keeps track of words and phrases linked with xenophobia. 'Ugliest word of the year' Controversial in Germany, the phrase 'imported antisemitism' ( importierter Antisemitismus) received press coverage earlier this year when it was nominated as Germany's Unwort des Jahres -- in other words the ugliest word of the year for 2024. Every year, Unwort des Jahres – an independent, voluntary organisation – attempts to draw attention to the most discriminatory and malicious phrases which have sprung up or gained popularity in Germany. A jury of experts including journalists, linguists and rotating guests assesses thousands of public submissions -- this year there were 3,172 submissions nominating 655 different phrases, of which 80 were accepted by the jury. Germany's official Unwort des Jahres 2024 was Biodeutsch . READ ALSO: Biodeutsch - Why this is Germany's ugliest word of the year However, publicist and political scientist, Saba-Nur Cheema, and Director of the Anne Frank Educational Centre, Meron Mendel, chose 'imported antisemitism' as their personal Unwort des Jahres for 2024. According to the jury, the expression is used to suggest that hatred of Jews has become a problem in Germany due to the influx of migrants. The term is used primarily in right-wing circles to discriminate against Muslims and people with a migration background 'and to distract from their own antisemitism'. Advertisement Of 8,627 cases of antisemitism recorded in the RIAS report for 2024, 5,857 cases were classified as 'Israel-related antisemitism,' more than twice as many as in the previous year. RIAS defines 'Israel-related antisemitism,' as Jews in Germany being held responsible for actions of the Israeli government, the state of Israel being demonized, and its right to exist being denied (among other criteria). The report also recorded 544 individual incidents with a right-wing extremist background, the highest number since the nationwide comparison began in 2020. President Trump repeatedly criticised former chancellor Angela Merkel for her decision to welcome a large number of Syrian refugees in 2015 during his televised meeting with Merz on Thursday, a policy which Merz has also previously criticised.
DW
06-06-2025
- Politics
- DW
Migrants responsible for increase in antisemitism, says Merz – DW – 06/06/2025
Skip next section Merz: 'We have imported antisemitism with big numbers of migrants' 06/06/2025 June 6, 2025 Merz: 'We have imported antisemitism with big numbers of migrants' Chancellor Friedrich Merz has told US media that migration is a factor behind the rise in antisemitism in Germany. In an interview with Fox News, Merz was asked what he was doing to combat antisemitism in Germany and he said: "This is, especially for Germany, a terrible challenge that we are faced with such an amount of cases of antisemitism in Germany." "We are doing everything we can to bring these numbers down," Merz continued. "We are prosecuting those who are against the law. And frankly, we have a sort of imported antisemitism with the big numbers of migrants we have within the last 10 years, and we have to tackle this and we have to resolve this problem." "I would like to make it very clear, that the German government, and the vast majority of the German parliament, is strictly against antisemitism and against these people and we are doing everything we can to bring these numbers down." Merz's comments come on the back of data which earlier this week showed the rising numbers in antisemitic incidents in Germany. In 2024, 8,627 antisemitic incidents occurred — 77% more than in 2023. The data published by the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS) showed that of the cases documented, 5,857 were classified as "antisemitism related to Israel." A total of 544 cases were attributed to right-wing extremist views.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany's Merz blames migration for 'imported' rising anti-Semitism
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said migration is a significant factor behind the rise of anti-Semitism in Germany, calling it a "terrible challenge" for the country. "We have a sort of imported anti-Semitism with the big numbers of migrants we have within the last 10 years," Merz said late on Thursday in an interview with US broadcaster Fox News. The phrase "imported anti-Semitism" has stirred controversy in Germany. It suggests that anti-Semitism is mainly a result of immigration, a view often echoed in right-wing circles. Critics say the term unfairly targets Muslims and migrants, while downplaying anti-Semitism within broader German society. Anti-Semitic incidents in Germany surged sharply in 2024, according to figures published by a monitoring organization on Wednesday. The report from the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS) documented 8,627 anti-Semitic incidents — a 77% increase compared to the previous year. Of these, 5,857 cases were classified as "anti-Semitism related to Israel" - meaning incidents in which Jews living in Germany are held responsible for the actions of the Israeli government, or where Israel's right to exist is disputed. The figure was more than twice as many as recorded in 2023. A total of 544 cases were attributed to right-wing extremist views, a record since RIAS began documenting cases nationwide in 2020. "We are doing everything we can to bring these numbers down," Merz said, adding that Germany was prosecuting those who break the law.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
German, Israeli ministers commemorate Holocaust ahead of Berlin talks
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar was in Berlin on Thursday for talks with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul, amid high international pressure on Israel over the humanitarian situation in the embattled Gaza Strip. On the first stop of his visit, Saar joined Wadephul at the Holocaust memorial in the centre of the German capital, which commemorates the six million Jews killed by the Nazi regime across Europe. "The fight against anti-Semitism, standing up for Jewish life in Germany and the commitment to the security and peaceful future of the state of Israel is and will remain our obligation," Wadephul said as he laid a wreath at the memorial in central Berlin with Saar. The memorial "reminds us Germans to remember the victims, to honour the survivors and to learn the lessons from the crimes against humanity of the Shoah," said the German minister. For his part, Saar said that 80 years after the end of the Holocaust, "the lessons seem to have been forgotten." "In Germany, there's an anti-Semitic incident once every hour," said Saar, referring to a report published by a monitor on Wednesday. Wadephul said he was "deeply" ashamed that the number of anti-Semitic offences in Germany has reached a new high, that Jewish residents no longer feel safe in the country and that they are advising their children not to speak Hebrew on the street. "And that is why the federal government will oppose all forms of anti-Semitism with clarity, rigour and consistency," he added. Second meeting in a month Wadephul met Saar in Israel on May 11 during his first official visit after taking office. The ministers are expected to discuss Israel's military campaign in Gaza and the catastrophic situation facing the civilian population in talks later on Thursday. The meeting comes after Wadephul on Wednesday pledged further German arms deliveries to Israel during an address to parliament. Wadephul had caused concern within the German government for earlier comments to a newspaper in which he said arms deliveries to Israel were dependent on a legal review of Israel's military conduct in the Gaza Strip. 'Jewish people are afraid' During the visit to the Holocaust memorial, the Israeli minister stressed the importance of paying attention to the recent rise in anti-Semitic crimes in Germany and across Europe. "Anti-Semitism is raging today unchecked in the world and especially on European soil," he claimed, adding that one anti-Semitic incident was recorded in Germany every hour, with 8,600 recorded in 2024. The minister was apparently citing figures released by Germany's Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS), which documented 8,637 anti-Semitic incidents in the country in 2024, a rise of 77% year-over-year. However, the independent organization has been criticized by the German-Israeli journalist Itay Mashiach on behalf of the Diaspora Alliance, an organization that fights anti-Semitism, of "opaque methods," accusing it of overemphasizing "Israel-related anti-Semitism." "Today in Europe, today in Germany, Jewish people are afraid," Saar continued. "They don't feel safe in public." "Ancient hatred has been transformed into a modern plan of action to deprive (...) the Jewish people's right to its own nation state," Saar said. "To remove the right of Israel, the most attacked and threatened country in the world, to defend itself. And to put the Jewish people once again under the threat of elimination by enemies who are openly calling and acting to eliminate." Calls have been growing including among Israel's European allies to slap an embargo on weapons exports to the country over the devastating humanitarian situation in Gaza.
