German leaders voice outrage and thousands rally in Berlin in reaction to rising antisemitism

BERLIN (AP):

Germany’s chancellor and president strongly denounced a rise in antisemitism in Germany in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war in separate appearances Sunday that stressed the same idea that it is unacceptable for such hatred to flourish in the nation that perpetrated the Holocaust.

In Berlin, thousands of people gathered at a demonstration called to show opposition to antisemitism and support for Israel. People carried Israeli flags or posters with photos of some of the people reported to be missing or held by Hamas as hostages.

The protest, organised by a broad alliance of various organisations, comes as antisemitic incidents have been rising in Germany following the violent escalation of the war in Gaza. The organisers estimated that over 20,000 people took part; police put the number at 10,000.

“It is unbearable that Jews are living in fear again today – in our country of all places,” President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told those gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. “Every single attack on Jews, on Jewish institutions is a disgrace for Germany. And every single attack fills me with shame and anger.”

Earlier, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was outraged by the antisemitic agitation spreading as the Gaza war rages, and warned at the inauguration of a new synagogue that the vow of “never again” must be unbreakable.

Assailants threw two Molotov cocktails at a synagogue in Berlin on Wednesday, and police protection has been increased for Jewish institutions. Scholz, who denounced the violence on Wednesday, expanded on his comments at the inauguration of the temple in Dessau, a city in eastern Germany whose synagogue was destroyed by the Nazis 85 years ago.

The synagogue is named after German-born composer Kurt Weill, who fled Nazi Germany in 1933, and his father Albert Weill, who was a cantor in Dessau.