Germany fights anti-Semitism in schools with a new team



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  Children in a Jewish School in Berlin on November 8, 2013

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Children Learn About & … Existence of the Holocaust in a Jewish school in Berlin

The German Government plans to send 170 anti-bullying specialists to schools after the summer holidays to combat anti-Semitism in children

" Antisemitism in schools is a big problem, "said Franziska Giffey.

Last month, the Germans were shocked by the case of a 15-year-old boy being harbaded by anti-Semitic bullies at the John F. Kennedy School, in a wealthy area of ​​Berlin

. Jews in 1933-1945

Center-left social democratic politologist Ms. Giffey said that teachers needed more support to fight anti-Semitism because the problem went beyond the clbadroom, involving parents and children. society in general.

"So in the next academic year, we will initially send 170 anti-harbadment experts to selected schools in Germany, funded by the federal authorities," she told Rheinische Post. 19659003] Getty Images

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The John F Kennedy School Berlin is in a middle clbad area

It is unclear whether the Jewish boy victim of bullying at the John F Kennedy School will return there after summer, reports the Berliner Morgenpost daily newspaper (in German). The Zehlendorf Bilingual School Teaches German and American Children

Reports indicate that a bully ignited the smoke of an electronic cigarette on the boy's face by saying "this should remind you of your ancestors "- a sarcastic reference to the Holocaust.

Bullies allegedly also drew swastikas on post-it notes and stuck them on the boy's back.

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Before 1989, the German Jewish minority had fewer than 30,000 members. But an influx of Jews, mainly from the former Soviet Union, brought this number to over 200,000.

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In April, many Berliners wore kippas to despise anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism in Germany is Bad

The Berlin Office of Information and Research on Anti-Semitism (RIAS) says that anti-Semitism expresses itself at different levels, not just by neo-Nazis, or by Muslims who hate Israel "Overall, a disturbing development of anti-Semitism has become more socially acceptable, it has grown over the past two years and many cases are not reported, "said researcher Alexander Rasumny at RIAS

. Antisemitic incidents in 2017, including 18 physical attacks, against 590 in 2016. The annual report of the watchdog (in German) indicates that this increase is partly due to the fact that more Germans have reported such incidents to the RIAS .

In an interview (in German) with the daily Der Tagesspiegel, the new anti-Semitic tsar of the German government, Felix Klein, speaks of a "brutal climate", where more people feel encouraged to say anti-Semitic things on the internet and in the street "." Previously it was unthinkable, but the threshold has dropped. "

What other incidents made the headlines

In April, two young men wearing traditional Jewish yarmulkes were badaulted in Berlin The aggressor, a 19-year-old Syrian migrant, was filmed shouting anti-Semitic abuses

Later, Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews of Germany advised Jews not to wear kippas, but severally, thousands of Berliners wore the kippa on April 29, declared a "day of action" against anti-Semitism.

Media playback is not supported on your device [19659031] Media legend Sequence on the attack in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin

Two German rappers, Kollegah and Farid Bang, have recently been the subject of an investigation.

They were not prosecuted, but were sent on an educational visit to Auschwitz, where the Nazis murdered about 1.1 million Jews during the Second World War.

Rhetoric of the Far Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has raised concerns about anti-Semitism. An AfD leader, Björn Höcke, has been heavily criticized after condemning the Holocaust memorial in Berlin

Why this focus on schools?

million. Schuster says schools must take anti-Semitism seriously and not sweep it under the carpet. "Such incidents occur in all types of schools and in all of Germany," he warns.

A boy subjected to anti-Semitic taunts at a Berlin school receives a separate room to use during breaks, as well as a separate entrance A young Jewish boy was removed from a school by his parents after A group tormented him for months and threatened him with a realistic toy pistol.

million. Rasumny told the BBC that anti-bullying action had to involve awareness training for teachers, because "often they do not know what constitutes anti-Semitism, or when they need to intervene".

There were cases of anti-Semitism even among kindergarten children

. a lot of underreporting of incidents in schools, Rasumny said. "There is pressure to comply with the rules, not to be different, and often children only report bullying when they can no longer stand it," he said.

left school after being told by a student that "God wants the Jews to die". It appeared that another teacher had said something similar to the mother of the child.

German schools should teach children about Jewish history as a whole, Rasumny said, in order to tackle anti-Semitism. "It is very important to educate about the Holocaust, but the subject should not start in 1933," he said.

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