The Central Council has justified its decision to hold the rally as follows: “In recent weeks, we have witnessed how blatant hatred of Jews has openly broken out. The inconceivable and shocking hate slogans on German streets, the attacks on Jewish citizens and synagogues have caused great concern in the Jewish community. There have also been terrible anti-Semitic riots in our neighboring countries. Nevertheless, the Jewish community is not allowing itself to be intimidated, but continues to focus on shaping a self-confident Jewish life in Germany. This is another reason why we want to show on September 14: We are here! And we are here to stay! And we will resolutely counter all hostility, together with all our friends in German society.” The Central Council is hoping for broad support from politicians, churches and civil society: “Attacks on Jewish people are an attack on all of us, on our basic democratic values of tolerance and freedom. We must not accept anything like this in Germany under any circumstances, which is why we cordially invite everyone to join us in sending a resolute signal against hatred and hate speech. It is high time we stood up together. Therefore: “Stand up! Never again hatred of Jews!” Frieder Otto Wolf, President of the Humanist Association of Germany, said on Thursday evening in Berlin: “Despite our different ideological and religious perspectives and cultural backgrounds, we know from our humanist convictions that we all belong to the one human family on planet Earth. Opinions, attitudes or ideologies that do not want to accept this knowledge and advocate the radical exclusion of individuals or groups from our society on the basis of their religious or cultural backgrounds are misanthropic and should have no place in this world. They are an attack on humanity itself. And in a country whose history has seen such radical exclusion come true in such a terrible way, our responsibility to preserve mutual tolerance and respect is particularly important. We are therefore also called upon to unambiguously endorse this demand: Never again hatred of Jews.”
Rally
Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Sunday, September 14, 2014, at 3 pm.
