Berlin Left distances itself from lawmaker Emde over Israel remarks
After new remarks on Israel by Neukoelln lawmaker Vanessa Emde, the Left Party's Berlin caucus says there is no common basis for work. She may no longer speak for it; SPD and Greens welcome the move.
Archive image · Photo: Gunnar Klack / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The leadership of the Left Party's caucus in Berlin's state parliament has distanced itself from Vanessa Emde, a directly elected lawmaker from the Neukoelln district. After talks between the caucus and state party leadership, caucus leader Tobias Schulze said there was no common basis for working together. "We have to recognize that we formed our caucus with a lawmaker who does not cooperate with the party," Schulze said. He added that Emde cannot speak publicly for the caucus under the circumstances.
The move follows an Instagram video posted on Thursday evening in which Emde reaffirmed her disputed statements on Israel's right to exist. She argues that states have no right to exist, while people do. "I stand by my statements, and I am not retracting a single one of them," she said. According to Schulze, she has thereby effectively withdrawn her signature from the caucus's founding declaration, which among other things affirms Israel's right to exist.
The Social Democrats' Berlin co-chairs Steffen Krach and Bettina Koenig welcomed the clarification, and Greens caucus leader Werner Graf also said it was good the Left acted quickly. Exploratory talks between the Left, the SPD and the Greens on forming a Berlin government are continuing and could conclude over the weekend. No decision has been made to expel Emde from the caucus; its board plans to discuss next steps with her on Tuesday.