Angela Merkel speaks in Berlin against anti-Semitism

BBC News online -- 14 September 2014

Chancellor Merkel says Germany has "a lot of work ahead of us" to tackle the rise in anti-Semitism

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has begun speaking at a mass rally against anti-Semitism, amid a sharp rise in attacks on Germany's Jews.

The event in Berlin is taking place 75 years after the outbreak of the World War Two, in which six million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany.

Mrs Merkel has vowed to do everything she can "to ensure anti-Semitism doesn't have a chance".
The surge in anti-Semitism follows the summer's conflict in Gaza.

The rally at the Brandenburg Gate - under the banner "Stand Up: Jew Hatred - Never Again!" - coincides with a World Jewish Congress (WJC) meeting in the capital.

Pro-Palestinian protesters were reported to have shouted anti-Semitic slogans during rallies in July

Pro-Israel demonstrators took to the streets in July as well, facing up to pro-Palestinians in Berlin

Speaking in her weekly podcast, Chancellor Merkel said Germany had "a lot of work ahead of us" to tackle the rise in anti-Semitism.

She said there was "not a single Jewish institution" in the country that does not require police protection in the current climate.
"That's something that very much concerns me," she added.

During the height of Israel's bombardment of Gaza in July, Germany's Jewish community condemned an "explosion of evil and violent hatred of Jews" at pro-Palestinian rallies.

Some demonstrators were reported to have shouted slogans saying "Zionists are fascists, killing children and civilians" and yelled that Jews should be "gassed".

Last week, a swastika and the words "Jews" and the Nazi slogan "Sieg Heil" were spray-painted on to a local newspaper building in the eastern city of Cottbus.

Organisers of Sunday's rally hope more than 10,000 people will attend.