The Berlin magazine Tip has named the head of the city’s Jewish community, Gideon Joffe, as one of the 100 most embarrassing Berliners.
Joffe, 41, clocks in at number 60 on the list, which appeared in the magazine’s end-of-year issue. In the accompanying blurb, editors wrote that “the devastating impression of the deeply divided Jewish community of Berlin can be blamed on its president — at least that’s what Joffe’s opponents claim.”
The Berlin community’s troubles exploded into the limelight in May, when a fight broke out at a council meeting. Footage of the melee captured on a cell phone and uploaded to YouTube. The brawl occurred after a hasty decision was made to mortgage communal properties to pay the bills. That decision came in the wake of the Berlin Senate’s decision to withhold funding from the community because Joffe had failed to submit a legally required list of community employees and their salaries.
Referring to the incident, the magazine notes that “the opposition now wants to hold new elections for its board, charging it with ‘mismanagement, lack of transparency in decision-making, and lack of clear planning.”
Number one on the “most embarrassing” list was Bushido, the infamously vulgar German-Tunisian rapper. Known for racist, sexist and violent lyrics, Bushido also drew criticism one year ago for posting on his Twitter profile a map of the Middle East without Israel, alongside the words “Free Palestine.”
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