Henry Kissinger, a former US Secretary of State, criticized Germany for allowing too many foreigners into the country, stating that it was a grave mistake to let in people of different cultures, religions, and concepts. Kissinger, who was born in Germany and fled the Nazis in 1938, later became America’s top diplomat under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and oversaw US foreign policy during the Vietnam War.
Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing at least 1,300 people and taking scores of hostages. Images of some people celebrating the attack in Berlin emerged. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz later said that anyone who glorified Hamas’s crimes, used its symbols, condoned murder, called for criminal acts, or burned Israeli flags could be prosecuted. Kissinger warned about the potential for dangerous escalation in the Middle East conflict and pointed to the 1973 Yom Kippur War, where an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria attacked Israel.
The Israel-Palestine conflict between Germany and its immigrant communities has been a contentious issue, with Israeli flags being ripped down in German towns with large migrant populations and graffiti glorifying the Hamas terror attack appearing on Berlin streets. Police have been trying to suppress wildcat protests by Arab youths in the south of the capital after city authorities banned pro-Palestine marches over security fears.
A woman in a hijab celebrating the attack at home with her family has gone viral, raising questions about Germany’s ability to integrate communities willing to celebrate the murder of Jews. Susanne Schröter, an expert on modern Islam at Frankfurt’s Goethe University, said that Germany had a “huge problem” on its hands, as it had allowed hundreds of thousands of people with an anti-Semitic worldview into the country.
Jews have been warned against entering certain migrant neighborhoods while wearing kippahs due to safety concerns. Police presence around synagogues and other Jewish public buildings has been reinforced, and Jewish community leaders have warned of threats to target religious buildings. Samidoun, an organization with links to Hamas, took to the streets of Berlin to celebrate the attack, with Israel’s ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, warning that the group could turn Berlin into a second Gaza.
