Jewish students © Daniel Bockwoldt
For some time now, the Central Council of Jews in Germany has been warning of growing anti-Semitism. Now a survey of Berlin schools shows that anti-Semitism is widespread among students with Turkish and Arab immigrant backgrounds.
This is the conclusion of a survey of 27 teachers at 21 Berlin schools published by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in Berlin on Wednesday. Anti-Semitic tendencies are thus intensifying in schoolyards, while at the same time strictly religious aspects of Islam are taking on an ever greater role.
Those who suffer most are girls and young women, secular Muslims and homosexuals. Some students exerted prere on fellow students under the guidance of "religious authorities" from mosque associations, the publication says.
Still no comprehensive picture
The RBB had first reported about the teacher survey. According to the station, the authors emphasize that the survey is not a representative study of the overall situation at Berlin schools, but rather "an empirical approach to the topic".
Field reports from 2015 and 2016 were documented for the publication. The aim is to improve the "sparse information" from everyday school life in Berlin, according to the foreword of the 36-page publication.
No individual cases
For many years, there have been "warnings from individual teachers and experts about the increasing spread of various forms of Salafism in Berlin schools". So far, however, there has been no systematic study of this and only a few concrete examples.
AJC director Deidre Berger said, according to RBB, that the survey showed above all that these were "no longer isolated cases".
Thematicization necessary
At the same time, she warned against another, "new stigmatization" of young people and spoke out in favor of a dialogue in school classes about the Middle East conflict, about Israel and the Jews.
One result of the documentary, however, is that many teachers avoid these sometimes unpleasant dialogues, they say.
Further training for educators
The interviews with teachers initiated by the AJC were conducted in parallel with a joint project with the State Institute for Schools and Media Berlin-Brandenburg.
Within the framework of the project "Strengthening Democracy – Active against Anti-Semitism and Salafism", further training courses for teachers are offered.