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Criticizing Israel Causes Troubles For German Party
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Möllemann
is under attack for criticizing Israel
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BERLIN,
June 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – The German Social
Democrats Party (SPD) is still facing serious trouble and
deteriorations following its deputy leader’s criticism of the
Israeli aggression in the Palestinian territories.
The
issue is getting bigger and is taking its toll on the German-Arab
Congress, chaired by Jürgen Möllemann, the deputy leader of
Germany’s liberal party, the daily German newspaper, Berliner
Zeitung, reported Friday, June 14.
Möllemann,
as well as the party itself, has been under attack and pressure ever
since he sharply criticized Israel in April 2002 for its incursions in
the Palestinian territories.
The
newspaper said several high-ranking members of the ruling Social
Democrats had resigned from the Congress recently over this issue,
including its vice-president Christoph Moosbauer, Agence France-Presse
(AFP) said.
Moosbauer
said that the party’s leadership had not established clear enough
distinctions between legitimate criticism of Israeli government policy
and anti-Semitic sentiment.
Moellemann
was widely criticized last May for saying that Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon and the “intolerant and hateful behavior” of a German
Jewish community leader were fostering anti-Semitism.
Möllemann
had also accused Michel Friedman, the deputy leader of Germany’s
Central Council of Jews, of provoking anti-Semitism through his
“intolerant and hateful manner,” AFP reported.
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.
Following
sharp pressure and criticism, he later apologized to the Jewish
community but not to the leader concerned.
Moellemann
is a driving force within the FDP, Germany’s third-ranked party in
opinion polls ahead of September elections, AFP said.
The
Berliner Zeitung said former German-Arab Congress vice-president and
SPD member Christoph Zoepel and Hans-Juergen Wischnewski, who helped
negotiate the release of hostages from a hijacked Lufthansa aircraft
in Mogadishu in 1977, had also resigned.
See
also: German
Party Under Attack For Criticizing Israel
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