Frankfurt Jews Drop Out of Interfaith Council

Cite Anti-Semitic Statements Made by Muslims

By JTA

Frankfurt’s Jewish community has dropped out of the
city’s interfaith “Council of Religions” due to anti-Semitic and
anti-Israel statements by local Islamic leaders.
At issue is the failure of the interfaith group to
condemn statements by members of the Islamic Religious Association of
Hessen, according to Leo Latasch, head of social affairs for the Jewish
community.
“These are not people with whom we can continue to
work,” he told Germany’s Jewish weekly, the Juedische Allgemeine.
For example, in a press statement, the Islamic association had accused
the Central Council of Jews in Germany of using the issue of
anti-Semitism in Europe “to divert attention from the war crimes of the
Israeli government.”
Ünal Kaymakci, deputy director of the Islamic
association and a member of the Council of Religions, also posted on
Facebook a link to an article in which Israel was charged with state
terrorism and crimes
against humanity, the Jewish weekly reported.
Selçuk Dogruer, who represents Muslims in the
interfaith council, said Frankfurt’s police chief should not have
apologized to the Central Council for losing control of an anti-Israel
demonstration there. The police handed a megaphone to leaders of the
demonstration in hopes they would calm the crowds. Instead, the leaders
chanted anti-Israel slogans in both German and Arabic.
Latasch told the German Jewish weekly it was not
enough for the Council of Religions to say that Facebook comments and
other public statements were not official statements.
Dieter Graumann, head of the Central Council of Jews,
accused the interfaith group of failing to hold up its end of the
bargain. The Jewish organization “has always stood up for Muslims in
Germany,” he said. “But solidarity from Muslims towards Jews remains
missing.”