Left Party leadership backs Berlin course as 120 officials protest
The Left's federal executive supports exploratory talks in Berlin. Around 120 members, including 17 Bundestag lawmakers, criticise an agreement on antisemitism.
Archive image · Photo: Jörg Zägel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
The Left Party's federal executive has welcomed the start of exploratory talks with the Greens and SPD in Berlin. "Berlin can become a beacon for a change of policy," its statement said, according to Tagesspiegel. The executive rejected accusations of antisemitism: "The Left is not an antisemitic party." It said the negotiating papers did not reflect the party's positions and that the democratic decision-making of the Berlin branch must be respected.
The leadership was responding indirectly to an open letter from around 120 officials, including 17 members of the Bundestag and three newly elected Berlin state lawmakers. They call the negotiators' concessions "a serious political mistake" that must be corrected quickly and accuse the SPD and Greens of trying to split the party into "good" and "bad" leftists. The critics fear the antisemitism definitions could be used against criticism of Israel's occupation policy.
The eight-point agreement commits to protecting Jewish life and Israel's right to exist and rejects blanket boycott calls against Israel. Antisemitic incidents can lead to expulsion from the parliamentary group. Berlin Left leader Maximilian Schirmer called the internal debate expected and useful. Gideon Joffe, head of Berlin's Jewish Community, voiced doubts: "Paper is patient."