Berlin election winner Elif Eralp assessed the election results at the Federal Press Center with Ines Schwerdtner, co-leader of Die Linke. Eralp rejected allegations that she is antisemitic, saying criticism of the Israeli government is not equivalent to antisemitism.
Eralp said they opposed the use of criticism of the Israeli government as a tool and added that they rejected all forms of antisemitism. She stressed that the two issues must be clearly distinguished from each other.
Eralp stresses the views of different communities
Eralp said there was widespread suspicion and prejudice toward Muslims and Palestinians, describing this as unacceptable. She said the Berlin state government had not given sufficient consideration to the perspectives of Muslims and Palestinians, adding that the views of many Jewish people had also not been adequately taken into account.
Eralp said it was her responsibility to hear and bring together the views of different communities. She expressed her solidarity with Jews in Berlin and said she would fight resolutely to protect them.
Far right, rents and the cost of living on her agenda
Eralp said far-right forces were gaining ground in Berlin and that democratic parties needed to return to a form of politics that brought together different sections of society. She also said that rising rents and the higher cost of living were making it difficult for working people, those who earn their livelihoods and people raising children to make ends meet.
Schwerdtner: Criticism is not equivalent to antisemitism
Ines Schwerdtner, co-leader of Die Linke, also said that antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli government must be distinguished from each other. Schwerdtner said they did not want Jews in Germany to live in fear and added that they would fight antisemitism.
Schwerdtner argued that criticism of the Israeli government and army should not be considered antisemitic. She said media organizations also needed to make this distinction more carefully, adding that the overly frequent and broad use of antisemitism allegations could overshadow the significance of genuine antisemitic incidents.
She draws attention to arms deliveries and child poverty
Schwerdtner said they opposed the German government’s continued arms deliveries to Israel, adding that they did not want weapons sent to the Israeli army, which she alleged was committing war crimes. She also stressed that they would avoid any calls for violence.
Drawing attention to child poverty in Berlin, Schwerdtner said one in every five children in the city lived in poverty. She also argued that the Christian Democratic Union was using antisemitism allegations against Die Linke for political purposes and said the CDU needed to question the consequences of its policies.
