Jewish students demand an apology from former minister Roth — Der Spiegel
In Germany, Ron Dekel, head of the Jewish Student Union of Germany (JSUD), demanded a public apology from former culture minister Claudia Roth after her appearance on Thilo Jung’s podcast. As Der Spiegel reports, Dekel criticized her statements about Germany’s historical responsibility and Israel.
Demand for an apology
Dekel called Roth’s statements alarming and said he was shocked after watching the podcast video. In his view, Roth called for freeing oneself from German historical guilt at a time when antisemitism in German society has reached a record level. On Instagram, he also said that he had not expected such words from the politician and compared her rhetoric to that of Alternative for Germany.
In an interview with Jüdische Allgemeine, Dekel said that Roth, by mentioning her foreign friends, indirectly created the impression that one should free oneself from German guilt in order to openly criticize Israel. He also said that there is a gap in her position regarding Israel-related antisemitism.
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Claudia Roth’s position
Roth rejected claims that she was downplaying Germany’s historical responsibility. In a comment to Stern magazine, she said such assumptions were completely unacceptable. According to her, in the podcast she merely recounted the words of friends who asked when she would be able to free herself from historical guilt or deal with it differently, rather than sharing that position.
The politician stressed that reflecting on the crimes of German history and the enduring responsibility arising from them had been among the most important issues throughout her political life.
In the same podcast, Roth also called her previous statements about the war in Gaza after the Berlinale awards ceremony a mistake. She said that at the time she had faced incredible pressure from the Central Council. According to Stern, people close to the Central Council responded by saying that Roth, in her struggle against political insignificance, was apparently prepared to use any means. Dekel, for his part, said that her words about the alleged influence of the Central Council of Jews on German politics reproduce old antisemitic conspiracy narratives.
