Two weeks before the next two state elections in the East, the Central Council of Jews warns against a government with the help of the AfD. It is much more closely interwoven with right-wing extremism than it portrays to the outside world, says Council President Schuster.
"I urgently warn all parties against forming a coalition with the AfD," Council President Josef Schuster told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. Even a minority government tolerating the party would mean "always looking to the right" for political survival. On 1. In September, citizens in Brandenburg and Saxony will elect a new state parliament. Polls predict results above 20 percent for the AfD.
Climate of exclusion of minorities
If tolerated, Schuster would not call on Jews in Germany to emigrate. "One would have to weigh what would be worse: toleration or non-governance with the prospect that new elections might bring an even more problematic result," said the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.
Schuster stressed that the AfD is "much more closely intertwined with right-wing extremism" than it portrays to the outside world: "It stirs up fears and promotes a climate of exclusion of minorities." AfD links attacks by Islamist-motivated perpetrators with populist propaganda "to incite against minorities in general". In this way, she is fomenting a climate that is ultimately also directed against Jews.
Tougher approach to Islamists
Meanwhile, Schuster calls for tougher approach to Islamists. Anyone who does not accept the value system in this country and thus commits a crime "has no place in this country and must leave," said Josef Schuster. He added: "In my perception, with such a crime, he has forfeited the right to reside in this country."
The point is "that all people who come to Germany live here according to our values". According to the president of the Council, this means respecting the equality of men and women, opposing anti-Semitism and racism, recognizing the rule of law and accepting the diversity of sexual orientations.
"Conveying this value system is the be-all and end-all of all integration measures," Schuster said. Despite recent cases of Islamist-motivated attacks, "the greatest danger for this country and for Jews still lies in right-wing extremist, right-wing populist anti-Semitism".