Debate about Berlinale continues – warning against “symbolic politics”
Published: Tuesday, Feb 27th 2024, 16:20
Updated At: Wednesday, Feb 28th 2024, 00:59
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Politicians and the cultural sector in Germany continue to debate the right way to deal with the issue following anti-Israel statements made during the closing gala of the Berlinale.
In the view of Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP), the film festival has suffered "serious damage because anti-Semitism has gone far too unchallenged there", as he told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers. Bavaria's State Chancellor Florian Herrmann (CSU) called on Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens) to resign because she had reacted too late. However, some anti-Semitism experts also warned against false expectations in the debate.
"There are no constructive ideas at all on how to deal with the situation, it's all about pursuing a kind of symbolic politics," the director of the Anne Frank Educational Center, Meron Mendel, told the radio station Bayern 2 on Tuesday. "Whether we like it or not, we have to learn to endure such debates," Mendel had already told dpa.
The Middle East conflict was addressed several times during the gala on Saturday evening. Numerous jury members and award winners called for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, either verbally or with badges. At the end of his acceptance speech for an award, US director Ben Russell spoke of a genocide.
Mendel does not see any case of anti-Semitism. "I would speak of anti-Israeli and one-sided statements, but not of anti-Semitic rhetoric," the Israeli-German publicist confirmed on Bayerischer Rundfunk radio. In response to criticism from politicians, he said that it was only a matter of "making a political gain out of the issue and a kind of symbolic politics". Such speeches would not help in the fight against anti-Semitism.
Mirjam Wenzel, Director of the Jewish Museum Frankfurt, argued in the magazine "Politik & Kultur" that the issue of suitable measures to prevent and curb anti-Semitism in the cultural sector should be "considered in the context of society as a whole". Among other things, she advised cultural policy-makers to better coordinate resources and responsibilities for educational work critical of anti-Semitism.
Wenzel also argued that "the rise in anti-Semitism in the cultural sector should not be curbed with additional administrative measures, but rather with the provision of additional funds for the further training of senior staff at cultural institutions to strengthen their anti-Semitism-critical judgment".
Justice Minister Buschmann believes that criminal law is well positioned to punish anti-Semitic statements. The criminal assessment of the incidents is a matter for the responsible prosecution authorities and courts. However, the political verdict is clear to him: "Anti-Semitism is intolerable," he told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers.
Bavaria's State Chancellor Herrmann called on Minister of State for Culture Roth to resign. "This open anti-Semitism in the cultural scene is appalling," he said in Munich. "Ms. Roth is obviously completely overwhelmed by this task, which is why she has also become unacceptable as Federal Minister of State for Culture and must resign."
©Keystone/SDA
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