Posted on 05/26/2002 9:26:17 AM PDT by knighthawk
When Guido Westerwelle arrives in Israel, he hopes he can shake off accusations of anti-Semitism and concentrate on foreign policy. But his chances are slim given the state of affairs in his party back home.
The head of Germany's Free Democrats (FDP), Guido Westerwelle, begins a four-day trip to the Middle East Sunday, where he'll meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Westerwelle's visit, however, comes in the midst of a dispute between his party's deputy leader, Jürgen Möllemann, and representatives of Germany's Jewish community over what many perceive as growing anti-Semitism in the FDP.
"When the question is still put to us why National Socialism fights with such fanaticism against the Jewish element in Germany, why it pressed and still presses for its removal then the answer can only be: Because National Socialism desires to establish a true community of the people…. Because we are National Socialists we can never suffer an alien race which has nothing to do with us to claim the leadership of our working people." (Hitler's Closing speech at the Nuremberg Party Conference, 1938,12 September)
Over the past few weeks, the FDP, and especially the flamboyant Möllemann, have come under attack by the Central Council of Jews in Germany and many prominent political figures for issuing anti-Semitic statements. The FDP rejects such criticism and insists the statements have only come from a few party figures and cannot be taken as a unified party position on Israel.
Westerwelle’s trip to the Middle East is an attempt to deflect attention from his party’s less than politically correct statements on Israel and focus on foreign policy, an area in which the FDP has traditionally excelled. Westerwelle has said he will primarily "listen" to what Arafat and Sharon have to say. But many wonder how the FDP leader will justify recent anti-Israel statements from inside his party when he meets with Sharon.
Party affiliation
The problems within the FDP started when Syrian-born politician Jamal Karsli quit the Green party in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia because he didn’t support its pro-Israel policies. Karsli then asked to join the FDP, explaining that the party of free-market Free Democrats was more suited to his pro-Palestinian position.
Karsli had been an outspoken opponent of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. In an interview published in a right-wing German newspaper, Karsli compared the Israeli government’s offensive in the West Bank to the Nazis. In another interview, he criticized the media-influence of the "Zionist lobby" in Germany for presenting a one-sided view of the violence in the Middle East.
When Karsli requested permission to join the FDP, many in the party rejected him for his strong anti-Israel statements; some even cautioned that Karsli was anti-Semitic. But Möllemann, who is also the head of the German-Arab Society, stood steadfastly behind Karsli and defended him and the freedom to criticize Israel in several public statements.
But during a highly publicized meeting between the FDP and Jewish leaders, Möllemann went a step beyond simply supporting Karsli and his right to criticize Israel and entered the anti-Semitic fray himself. He accused Michel Friedman, vice president of the Central Council of Jews and a prominent figure in German media, of fueling the spread of anti-Semitism in Germany with his "intolerant, hateful style".
Anti-Semitic comments
While the controversy surrounding Karsli has since died down – he has announced the withdrawal of his application to join the FDP – the criticism of Möllemann has picked up. The president of the Central Council of Jews, Paul Spiegel, has described Möllemann’s remarks to Friedman as the "greatest insult a German political party has made to Jews since the end of World War II."
Even Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has criticized Möllemann for his negative comments and said that "anyone who governs this country or seeks to have a say in government, has a duty to avoid racism and anti-Semitism once and for all." And the Social Democrat Party (SPD) General, Franz Müntefering, has said that it will be very difficult in the future for the SPD "to sit down at the same table with the FDP".
Westerwelle has rejected the Chancellor’s statements and those of his SPD party as empty threats and campaign tactics. "If the Chancellor wants to push the FDP to the right, if Gerhard Schröder believes the FDP or parts of it are anti-Semitic," he said, "then that’s an unbelievably shabby and arrogant electioneering stunt."
But the FDP is now facing criticism from the Christian Democrats (CDU) as well, the party's most likely coalition partners in the event of an election victory in September. Angela Merkel, Party Chairman for the CDU, says she is concerned about statements coming from the FDP and she expects Westerwelle "to put an end to the whole debate." Above all, she says the FDP leader has "to prevent the impression from forming that this is about ugly prejudice."
In an effort to make amends, Westerwelle has requested the opening of a dialogue with the German Jewish leaders. But the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany insists that there has to be an apology from Mölleman first before any talks take place. So far, there is no sign of compromise - not exactly the tone Westerwelle hoped to set for his visit to Israel.
Israel Critic Withdraws Application to Join German Party
DW-World May 26 2002
The Free Democratic Party says Syrian-born Jamal Karsli, an outspoken Israel critic, has withdrawn his application to join the party. But a key state party leader remains in the hot seat.
Officials with the free-market Free Democratic Party (FDP) on Wednesday announced a face-saving solution to the controversy over admitting a new member who has been a lightning-rod of criticism because of his outspoken statements against Israel.
FDP Chairman Guido Westerwelle announced Wednesday that Jamal Karsli had withdrawn his application to join the party. Mr. Karsli, a Syrian-born politician and naturalized German citizen, is a former Green and member of the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament. He recently bolted from his party because he didn't support its pro-Israel policies and sought to become a member of the FDP.
"A political witch hunt"
Jürgen Möllemann, the FDP's chairman in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, set out the compromise that may have settled the row. Mr. Karsli will now be allowed to sit with the FDP group in state parliament, but he will have no official party affiliation. At his own press conference Wednesday, Möllemann accused the German "political classes" of having conducted a "public witch hunt" against Karsli.
Karsli drew widespread criticism for a published article in which he compared the methods used by the Israeli government during its occupation of Palestinian-controlled areas to those of the Nazis. In another interview, he lambasted the media-influence of the "Zionist lobby" in Germany.
Mr. Möllemann, his chief supporter and the head of the German-Arab Society, has stood steadfastly behind Karsli from the beginning of the controversy. His own political future fell into question last week, after he accused Michel Friedman, vice president of the Central Council of Jews, of fueling the spread of anti-Semitism in Germany with his "intolerant, hateful style."
Trouble at the polls?
The comments sparked outrage over Möllemann within the Free Democrats and without, and led many to worry that the scandal would vaporize the party's chances of securing key ministerial posts - including the foreign ministry - if it becomes part of a coalition government after the September 22 national elections.
International attention to the row has been particularly embarrassing for party chief Westerwelle, who is planning a trip to Israel next week.
On Wednesday, Westerwelle, who has sought to distance himself from Möllemann's statements, took his own shots at Friedman, saying the Jewish leader had "no higher moral authority to accuse the FDP of anti-Semitism or to go after people who think differently with the 'Nazi card.'"
"Can the Israeli government be criticized?" Westerwelle asked. "Yes, of course it can be criticized. May the critic be labelled an anti-Semite? I think not."
FDP member arrested in Israel
In an apparently unrelated incident, the German Foreign Ministry revealed on Wednesday that police in Jerusalem had searched the home of the head of the local office of the FDP-aligned Friedrich Naumann Institute and briefly taken him into custody. The Israelis, the official said, believed he had acted "against the interests of Israel."
Police alleged that Burkhard Blanke possessed maps of army checkpoints that could be used in attacks against Israeli interests. However, following the intervention of Tuesday of German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said no further action would be taken against Blanke.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Michaelis told reporters the government did not see any link between the scandal over anti-Israeli statements made by FDP members in Germany and the incident. "That is just wild speculation," he said.
Anti-Israel Remarks Plague German Party
DW-World 21 May 2002
Jewish leaders in Germany are waging a war of words against the Free Democrats over anti-Israel remarks made by a Syrian-born party member. Now, FDP leaders are isolating the two politicians at the scandal's epicenter.
In Syrian-born, German passport-carrying politician Jamal Karsli, leaders of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) saw an opportunity to secure the sympathies and votes of some of Germany's three million residents of Arab descent. But instead of providing a desired political bridge and vote magnet, the Karsli strategy backfired.
The Karsli scandal peaked over the weekend as FDP Chairman Guido Westerwelle and other senior party leaders sought to isolate the politician from the party. But the greatest internal criticism has been leveled at Jürgen Möllemann, the FDP's state chairman in North Rhine-Westphalia, and an unequivocal supporter of Karsli.
Möllemann enraged the FDP's national leadership after he accused Michel Friedman, vice president of the Central Council of Jews, on public television station ZDF last Thursday of fueling the spread of anti-Semitism in Germany with his "intolerant, hateful style."
The interview prompted FDP leader Westerwelle to distance himself from Möllemann and to ask "every member of the party to be conscious of tradition and to carefully weigh his words."
Free Democrat leaders are also calling on Karsli and Möllemann to exit the party before the scandal takes a greater toll on its election-year prospects.
The criticism surrounding 45-year-old Karsli first erupted in April, when, in published comments, he accused the Israeli army of using "Nazi methods" during its occupation of areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
Karsli later apologized for his remarks, saying it was a "slip" he would not repeat.
Emergency meeting planned
Over the weekend, FDP Chairman Guido Westerwelle and the party's honorary chairman, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, called for Karsli's expulsion, saying the Free Democrats had "no room" for him after his anti-Israel outbursts. Westerwelle has also called for an emergency leadership meeting on June 3 to determine Karsli's fate.
Karsli's comments were published in April when he switched to the Free Democrats from the Green Party, which he believed had become too biased in favor of Israel.
The Third Reich analogy outraged Joschka Fischer, Germany's foreign minister and a Green. "I never thought the party of Ignaz Bubis would become a catch basin for anti-Israeli positions," he said in April, referring to the former FDP politician and president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.
Though Fischer's party is trailing the FDP in polls for the upcoming September 22 elections by as much as six percentage points, the foreign minister has been far from alone in his criticism.
An FDP boycott?
Writing in Germany’s leading Jewish newspaper, the "Jüdische Allgemeine", in April, historian Michael Wolfsohn raised the specter of turning voters away from the Free Democrats. "Jews in Germany should consider calling for an election boycott of the FDP," he wrote.
Meanwhile, Möllemann who in addition to his role as an FDP state leader is also head of the German-Arab Society, has pushed on with his vociferous defense of Karsli. "I know of no reason that would justify an expulsion," he said earlier this month.
"We won’t waste much time on the Jews. It’s great to get to grips with the Jewish race at last. The more they die the better… We want to put half to three-quarters of all Jews east of the Vistula. We will crush these Jews wherever we can. … Get the Jews out of the Reich… We have no use for Jews in the Reich. Probably the line of the Vistula, behind this line no more. We are the most important people here… (Heinrich Himmler, 25 November 1939)
He has also described Mr. Karsli’s comments as "fundamentally sensible," and said that his own criticisms were in line with UN resolutions against the Israeli government led by Ariel Sharon.
Meanwhile, anger about Kasli's status in the party continues to grow on the other side.
"It’s unacceptable that someone who expresses anti-Semitism in Stürmer jargon is a functionary in a democratic party," Friedman told the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" newspaper on Friday. (Der Stürmer was a Nazi-aligned newspaper whose editor, Julius Streicher, was hanged at Nuremberg for war crimes.)
Damage control mode
Seeking to avoid a political scarlet letter with international implications over the uproar, Guido Westerwelle, the party’s chancellor candidate who is also trying to secure a slot for the FDP in the next government, has been operating in full damage-control mode.
"The statements made by Mr. Karsli are unacceptable in both form and content," he said on Sunday.
And even Karsli has made an effort to extinguish the fire. In a recent letter to Möllemann, he wrote, "I am not an anti-Semite. Rather, I believe in the peaceful coexistence of Israelis and Arabs in the Middle East."
He also said he supported "every sentence" of the FDP’s election year manifesto. That document supports the "untouchable right of existence of Israel as well as the creation of an independent Palestinian state." However, he noted, he would remain a critic of the Israeli government because it was "blocking" the way to peace.
Meanwhile, the tit-for-tat continues. On Friday, Green Party co-leader Claudia Roth asked police to investigate Möllemann for possible slander charges over the Friedman quotes he gave ZDF. And on Monday, FDP parliamentary candidate Oliver Stirbock filed his own libel suit against Fischer for characterizing the party as a "catch basin" for anti-Israeli positions.
Jamal Karsli: "Only when this Jewish bacillus infecting the life of peoples has been removed can one hope to establish a co-operation amongst the nations which shall be built up on a lasting understanding." (Hitler's Speech in Wilhelmshaven, 1 April, 1939)
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