News Brief

A German federal employee accused of anti-Semitic writings defended himself against the charges.

Ludwig Watzal, an employee of the Federal Agency for Civic Education, in a 2004 article titled “An Israelization of the World?” wrote, “If the U.S.A. further Israelizes its domestic and foreign policy, conflicts a la Palestine will become globalized.”

In an e-mail to JTA, Watzal objected to the interpretation that “conflicts a la Palestine” could be a justified response to U.S. policies. He said the “content of this article does neither imply such an impertinent interpretation nor did I ever justify in my writings any use of force or terror in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for political ends or as a means for a solution of the conflict. I have ever condemned any violence and I do abhor the use of force in principal. My solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was and has been the implementation of international law.”

Germany’s Jewish leaders have asked the interior minister to intervene in the Watzal affair.

A letter to Germany’s Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble from the Jewish Community of Berlin and the Coordinating Council of German Non-Governmental Organizations Against Anti-Semitism said Watzal has “crossed the boundary” of anti-Semitism with his statements on Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israeli-American businessman Haim Saban. Schaeuble has promised to respond to the Jewish community this month The Anti-Defamation League in a letter to Watzal’s boss, Thomas Kruger, said Watzal’s comments are anti-Semitic according to the definition published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. According to that definition, anti-Semitism “could also target the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.” One member of parliament, Gert Weisskirchen, agreed with the critics, saying that some of Watzal’s comments “cross the line.”

The London-based European Council of Jewish Communities is opening an office in the German capital. The Berlin office of the non-governmental Jewish organization, its first office on the European continent, opens officially with a gala ceremony on April 10. The new office represents the wish of the more than 40 member countries to have more contact with the organization, said Sarah Singer, director of the new office.

Singer, a board member of the Central Welfare Council of Jews in Germany, told JTA that ECJC hopes to open offices in other cities, including Prague, Kiev and Istanbul. Seed funding for the new office was provided by the German Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The ECJC plans to create a network to facilitate youth exchange and cultural and religious programming. The council links such organizations as Keren Hayesod-United Israel Appeal and the Jewish National Fund, and sponsors the annual European Day of Jewish Culture . This year, the organization launched “Passport Europe: European Jews and Muslims Building a Brighter Future in Europe.” ECJC also launched a European Jewish environmental project through the JNF-Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel. There are currently about 1.4 million Jews living in Europe and the former Soviet Union. “We are not a lot of people, but we are well connected,” commented Singer. “Without the Diaspora, Israel can’t survive. So we have to be strong and open our mouths.”