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German
Party Under Attack For Criticizing Israel
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Möllemann
was forced to apologize |
BERLIN,
June 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The German neo-liberal Free
Democrat party (FDP) has been under attack and pressure ever since the
party’s deputy leader, Jürgen Möllemann, sharply criticized
Israel April 2002.
Möllemann
had sharply criticized Israel and accused Michel Friedman, the deputy
leader of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, of provoking
anti-Semitism through his “intolerant and hateful manner,” Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Government
MPs and German Jews protested Wednesday, May 5, 2002, at the
headquarters of the party in Berlin in a dispute over Möllemann
remarks seen as anti-Semitic, British daily newspaper, the
Independent, reported.
Möllemann
apologized to the Jewish community Thursday, June 6.
The
Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, said the long dispute over the
remarks was “damaging Germany’s image abroad,” and the head of
the country’s biggest Jewish community accused the Free Democrats of
behaving like Adolf Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels,
the paper reported.
Germany’s
Jews have demanded an apology from Möllemann, but he refused. A
refusal that vanished days later, as he complied in a debate on the
affair before the parliament in his home state of North
Rhine-Westphalia.
“If
I offended the sensibilities of Jewish people with (my comments), I
would like to apologize to them,” Möellemann told state
deputies.
The
attack had became stronger following Möllemann’s decision to
support a new Free Democrat member, named Jamal Karsli, a Syrian-born
German who had accused the Israeli army of using “Nazi methods”
during their incursions in the Palestinian territories and complained
about the influence of the “Zionist lobby” in the media, the paper
reported.
Following
an ultimatum Wednesday by FDP leader Guido Westerwelle for Möellemann
to fire a politician who accused Israel of using “Nazi methods” on
the Palestinians, Möellemann said Thursday the official would
sever his ties with the FDP, AFP reported.
Westerwelle
had given Möellemann until Monday to sack the politician, Jamal
Karsli, or he would start looking for a new second-in-command, AFP
said.
Westerwelle
had previously said that he wanted Karsli out of the party after the
Syrian-born politician complained of a “Zionist plot to control the
media” and bitterly attacked Israel’s policies in the occupied
territories, where hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed,
homes destroyed, and total damage of the Palestinian infrastructure
took place.
The
liberal, pro-business FDP is Germany’s third strongest party in the
run up to September elections and could serve as kingmaker in the next
coalition government, AFP said.
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