German Foreign Minister Calls AJC Bridge of Understanding Between U.S. Jews and Germany

American Jewish Committee
Friday, 4 May 2001

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer last night praised the American Jewish Committee for "investing in the transatlantic partnership for decades," and, specifically, for the role played by AJC's Berlin Office, which has "become a bridge of understanding for American Jews with the Germany of today."

In his address to AJC's Annual Dinner, Minister Fischer spoke about Germany's close relationship with Israel and Germany's commitment to its own growing Jewish community.

"The moral obligation of the Holocaust also guides Germany's foreign policy," he said. "Support for Israel's right of existence and the right of its citizens to live within secure borders and at peace with its neighbors is and shall remain a cornerstone of German foreign policy."

This consistent and firm German position that "is non-negotiable and will continue to determine the unique character of our relations with Israel," said Minister Fischer. "We stand by this position in all multilateral and international institutions. We also put it forward very frankly vis-à-vis countries that are hostile towards Israel."

The foreign minister said Germans are especially concerned about current developments in the Middle East.

"It is with dismay that we watch daily broadcasts of terror and violence. Because, in spite of all casualties, the agenda of all issues to be resolved remains the same," he said.

"I fear that years will be lost and tragedies will occur and at the end of the day everyone will return to the same old table to solve the same old questions," he said. "Responsibility and reason demand that terror and violence be brought to an end as soon as possible and that the parties return to the negotiations."

Discussing issues surrounding the Jewish community in Germany, the minister noted that ten years after German unification the Jewish community in Berlin is the fastest growing in all of Europe. In Berlin, 11,000 Jews, many of them immigrants from the former Soviet Union are striving to rebuild Jewish life in the German capital, he said.

"How we succeed in promoting and supporting the growth of Jewish communities in Germany is a yardstick for our ability to create an open, tolerant society," said Fischer. "Only when our Jewish fellow-citizens can live in freedom and security in Germany will Hitler's terrible anti-Semitism finally be defeated," he said. "Only then will we really have made use of our 'second chance.' "

While German democracy has come a long way, "anti-Semitic and racist attacks still occur and in the past year their number has, to our great concern, increased considerably," he said.

"The response by the German government, the judiciary and the vast majority of the population is clear and strong: never again will we accept the exclusion and persecution of people because of their religion, color or origin," said Fischer. "These are attacks not just against the weak, but against German democracy and the fundamental principle of the inviolability of human dignity on which it is built."

Mr. Fischer spoke of the continuing influence of Holocaust on German domestic and foreign policies, on the Jewish community in Germany, and on German-Israeli relations.

"The origins and identity of the Federal Republic of Germany can to this very day only be understood against the backdrop of Germany's responsibility for the Holocaust," said Mr. Fischer. "The memory of this crime against humanity and the obligation stemming from it will continue to guide German politics and policies."

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