Germany: Jews in Frankfurt reject religious panel for hatred of Israel

Via Jerusalem Post:

The Jewish community of Frankfurt rejected a re-affiliation with the Council of Religions in the city because of anti-Israel comments from the group’s Muslim members.

“The conflict has been smoldering since last summer,” when the Frankfurt Jewish community pulled the plug on its council membership, the Frankfurter Rundschau daily reported on Wednesday.

Leo Latasch, head of social affairs for the Jewish community, told the newspaper he sees no foundation for continued work in the council.

The Rundschau wrote that “after anti-Semitic statements at a pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Frankfurt,” the Islamic Religious Community of Hesse state, of which Frankfurt is the largest city, said the debate over Jew-hatred should not be used to distract attention from the “war crimes of the Israeli government.”

Ünal Kaymakci from the Islamic Religious Community accused Israel on Facebook of “state terrorism.”

Sacha Stawski, a member of the Frankfurt Jewish community, told The Jerusalem Post the community “acted exactly right and it is sad that the members of other religious communities have not clearly positioned themselves in favor of the Jewish community.

“Politics has in fact no role in this council and the polarization definitively did not come from the Jewish community, which has since then intensively sought dialogue,” said Stawski, who heads the media watchdog organization Honestly Concerned, which monitors anti-Semitism in the German media.   more