14. Mai 2012

Knobloch shocked and alarmed after attack at the “I Like Israel” event in Siegen

WJC Vice-President condemns attack and deplores lack of public interest for anti-Israel incidents. Munich – Dr. h.c. Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria and Vice-President of the World Jewish Congress has reacted with scare and anger after Right-wing radicals attacked a booth distributing pro-Israel materials at the “I Like Israel” event in the west German city of Siegen on Saturday, resulting in physical injuries to several persons.

Charlotte Knobloch said: “What happened in Siegen was not a spontaneous individual incident. It was a planned attack and a generic manifestation that is symptomatic for an alarming spirit of the age that we witness in Germany nowadays. We have observed and monitored a raising number of anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish incidents in the Federal Republic that have failed to result in legal consequences for the criminal offenders.”

“What bothers me even more is that nobody but the Jews in Germany really seems to be concerned about that development where the Grass poem is only one part of. In a time of real threat especially by Iran, Israel now needs real friends and partners. I expect from the politicians in Germany more solidarity with Israel. That includes the proclamation of more empathy for the people in Israel within the German public und media. The latent and more often uninhibited expressed anti-Zionistic attitudes are unacceptable and unbearable especially for the Jews in Germany.

Dr. h.c. Charlotte Knobloch
Präsidentin der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde München und Oberbayern
Vizepräsidentin des Jüdischen Weltkongresses
bis November 2010 Präsidentin des Zentralrats der Juden in Deutschland

About the World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) is the international organization representing Jewish communities in 100 countries to governments, parliaments and international organizations.