The Left’s Elif Eralp urges Germans to consider ‘Palestinian perspectives’ on conflict with Israel

The Left party’s Elif Eralp, who is poised to become Berlin’s next mayor, said on Monday that Germans should pay greater attention to the “Palestinian perspective” in their conflict with Israel, Anadolu reports.

“This government has paid far too little attention to the perspectives of Muslim and Palestinian people — and, for that matter, to those of many Jewish people as well. I view it as my task to acknowledge and unite all these perspectives, and I believe that is achievable,” said Eralp at a news briefing in Berlin, where she was joined by Ines Schwerdtner, The Left co-chair.

“That is why we firmly oppose the instrumentalization of criticism directed at the Israeli government. We also oppose every form of antisemitism. And I believe it remains essential to clearly distinguish between the two. The CDU (Christian Democratic Union) failed to do that, and that is a major mistake,” she added.

Eralp reiterated that if she becomes mayor of Berlin, her main focus would be on “bringing people together.”

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“I want us to have a constructive discussion about how to achieve better policies for our city—policies that bring people together and take all sides and perspectives into account,” she said.

Eralp also warned of a presumption of guilt and prejudice directed at Muslim and Palestinian people in Germany.

“I have always stated quite clearly that this is unacceptable. The CDU needs to recognize this, too. And that is why, as I said, we need a policy that brings people together and embraces everyone in our city,” she added.

Schwerdtner stressed that “criticism of the Israeli government and the Israeli military should not be equated with antisemitism.”

“While we want to address the real problem of antisemitism, it must also be possible to criticize the Israeli government and military. These war crimes must be addressed just as much as the very real antisemitism and hatred of Jews in Germany,” she added.

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