The below opinion piece was published in the Jewish Russian-language internet news source 9, located in Jerusalem, which concentrates on news relating primarily to Israel. The article originally appeared in the Jewish Russian-language internet-based monthly newspaper European Panorama, located in Berlin, Germany, which sees as its mission to inform “those who are interested in the Jewish people, its history and culture, religion and traditions, problems and achievements, worries and aspirations as well as its completely subjective point of view on what is happening in the contemporary world. Since the newspaper is Jewish, a significant place is given in it to telling about Jews and Israel.” The article was written by Boris Reitschuster on December 12 and published on 9‘s site on December 18, 2023.

Reitschuster’s opinion piece follows [as translated by LOC]:

Even Chancellor Olaf Scholtz needs to recognize that the state is no longer in a situation to manage the stream of antisemitism. 

From Jewish acquaintances, I know that they no longer feel safe in Berlin.

And after the recent events – even more so. In the capital, it has come to homes, where Jews live, their enemies again marking with the Jewish star. When you see something like this, goosebumps run up and down the spine.

It would seem that Jewish organizations, such as the Central Council of Jews in Germany (Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland – ZdJ), should be at the forefront of the battle against similar abominations and make them widely known. But what is the ZdJ and its president, Josef Schuster, doing? He loudly declares: “Germany is a safe country for Jews. I continue to adhere to this opinion.” Further, in an interview with the Editorial Network Germany (this media agency belongs to the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and supplies articles to dozens of newspapers, the readers of which often do not suspect their ties with the SPD), Schuster, as [the German newspaper] Die Zeit writes, declared: “In the case of antisemitic incidents, the law enforcement agencies are taking more severe measures. Germany remains safe, despite the recent attacks.”

Speaking honestly, this announcement left me speechless. ZdJ has long been known to be ardent adherents of the ruling “red-green” line and, as they are able, support the “traffic light” coalition [Translator note: referring to the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP), and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties’ traditional colors, respectively red, yellow, and green, matching the color sequence of a traffic light (Ampel). (Wikipedia)], (which, for this, allocates to it 22 million euros per year. – ed.) Right up to self-denial [i.e., denying the rise in discrimination against Jews] and self-sacrifice [i.e., Jews are sacrificing themselves as victims of the discrimination they are denying]. For example, for years [the ZdJ] was supporting the “red-green-yellow” coalition, before which, the no less “red-green” Merkel brought in and is bringing into the country millions of immigrants from traditionally antisemitic countries. Or the fact that exactly this aspect of animosity toward Jews on the part of many Muslim immigrants is completely taboo in societal discourse. And those who address this topic, forbidden until recently, as, for example, Karl Lagerfeld in 2017, are maligned in the most despicable way.

There is something tragicomical in what Schuster says. By all appearances, he is not able to admit the reality of the situation, since then he would have to also admit that his inability or unwillingness to see what has been happening in recent years was a catastrophic mistake. And he would have to admit to himself that his almost unconditional support of the “red-green” immigration policy and ascription of antisemitism in the first instance to the “right” was a fatal blunder.

It’s hard to surpass Schuster’s praises for the law enforcement agencies given the degree of helplessness and denial of reality. Schuster says they’re ready for anything so that Germany remains safe for Jews. Has he ever taken the time to sit down and chat with Jewish restauranteur Yoray Feinberg in Berlin? He complained to me as far back as 2019, “The state encourages criminals.”

Feinberg appealed to the government for protection from antisemitic attacks, but the requests from the son of a person who survived the Holocaust for help basically remain without attention. For his commitment to fighting antisemitism, Feinberg has also repeatedly been subjected to attacks from the left, which even calls him a “Nazi.” Already in 2019, a week didn’t go by that Feinberg came up against antisemitic attacks – verbal, digital, and sometimes even physical. “Many Germans indicated to me their solidarity, but in counterbalance to this, unfortunately, much hatred has been directed at me from Muslims,” said the restaurant owner at that time, when similar statements were still considered blasphemy.

Today even Schuster, head of the ZdJ, needed to admit that “the threat at present comes more from the Arabs than from the right extremist party in Germany.” Where exactly was this awareness all those previous years? When anyone, who did not close their eyes intentionally, must have seen this? But instead of opening his eyes, Schuster even now continues to keep them tightly closed. “According to Schuster, he is no longer afraid that refugees from predominantly Muslim countries will lead to the fundamental growth of antisemitism in Germany,” it was said in the publication.

Commentaries are superfluous. We have an issue with a complete departure from reality. The head of the ZdJ, not so, and in his interview continues to kick (right-wing populist political party) Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has demonstrated a pro-Israel position more than once in the Bundestag (German Parliament), something that the leading mass media outlets have carefully hidden. Without noting the problems in Islamic immigration, Schuster accuses the AfD of the political climate in Germany having totally changed in recent years. The AfD, he said, “has drawn xenophobia and racism on its banners.”

The failure of the Central Council of Jews in Germany is a tragedy. Rather than being an important moral compass, so necessary in our time of troubles, it is emerging as a megaphone of the “red-greens.”