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Germany’s Chancellor: ‘Anyone Who Incites Antisemitism Must Expect to Be Prosecuted’
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addresses the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in a government statement about current security issues in Berlin, Germany, June 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Annegret Hilse
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday condemned the ongoing discrimination faced by the Jewish community, calling it “outrageous and shameful.”
Scholz emphasized that combating antisemitism is a task for all citizens, highlighting its growing importance amid “increasingly shameless attempts to normalize far-right positions.”
The German leader was speaking at an event organized by the International Auschwitz Committee, which was formed by survivors of the infamous Nazi death camp to promote Holocaust education and fight discrimination, during a ceremony in Berlin ahead of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Monday.
The Holocaust is “a responsibility that each and every one of us bears in our country,” regardless of religion or family history, Scholz said.
Approximately 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust, with about 1 million of them murdered at Auschwitz before its liberation by Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 1945.
“They were gassed, shot, they died of hunger, forced labor, and medical experiments,” Scholz said. These were “more than a million unique people, individuals, wives and husbands, boys and girls, grandmothers and grandfathers.”
He also honored other Holocaust victims, including Sinti and Roma, political opponents of the Nazi regime, homosexuals, the sick, and people with disabilities.
“Anyone who supports terrorism, anyone who incites antisemitism must expect to be prosecuted,” Scholz said at the event.
Germany has experienced a sharp spike in antisemitism since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, amid the ensuing war in Gaza. In just the first six months of 2024 alone, the number of antisemitic incidents in Berlin surpassed the total for all of the prior year and reached the highest annual count on record, according to Germany’s Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS).
The figures compiled by RIAS were the highest count for a single year since the federally-funded body began monitoring antisemitic incidents in 2015, showing the German capital averaged nearly eight anti-Jewish outrages a day from January to June last year.
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), police registered 5,154 antisemitic incidents in Germany in 2023, a 95 percent increase compared to the previous year.
However, experts believe that the true number of incidents is much higher but not recorded because of reluctance on the part of the victims.
“Only 20 percent of the antisemitic crimes are reported, so the real number should be five times what we have,” Felix Klein, the German federal government’s chief official dealing with antisemitism, told The Algemeiner in an interview in 2023.
On Thursday, Scholz denounced recent attacks on individuals due to their beliefs, gender, or skin color.
“This fight for the inviolability of the dignity of each and every individual continues,” he said. “Our responsibility, 80 years on, is to resist this hatred.”
On Monday, a service will be held at Auschwitz to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which Germany has observed since 1996.
The event will be attended by Britain’s King Charles, French President Emmanuel Macron, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Scholz, and German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck.
At the 75th anniversary of the Nazi death camp’s liberation, more than 100 Auschwitz survivors participated in the celebrations in person. Steinmeier has now invited several survivors to travel to the camp for the upcoming event, with fewer than 50 expected to attend.
“There are fewer and fewer,” Steinmeier’s office said. “It is a special feature of the meeting that it will be one of the last with survivors.”
The post Germany’s Chancellor: ‘Anyone Who Incites Antisemitism Must Expect to Be Prosecuted’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Germany to Hold Off on Recognizing Palestinian State but Will Back UN Resolution for Two-State Solution
German national flag flutters on top of the Reichstag building, that seats the Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Germany will support a United Nations resolution for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but does not believe the time has come to recognize a Palestinian state, a government spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.
“Germany will support such a resolution which simply describes the status quo in international law,” the spokesman said, adding that Berlin “has always advocated a two-state solution and is asking for that all the time.”
“The chancellor just mentioned two days ago again that Germany does not see that the time has come for the recognition of the Palestinian state,” the spokesman added.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The United States strongly opposes any move by its European allies to recognize Palestinian independence.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US has told other countries that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia, and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
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UN Security Council, With US Support, Condemns Strikes on Qatar
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar’s capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel‘s ally the United States.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack on Tuesday, escalating its military action in what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance US and Israeli interests.
The United States traditionally shields its ally Israel at the United Nations. US backing for the Security Council statement, which could only be approved by consensus, reflects President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with the attack ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” read the statement, drafted by Britain and France.
The Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority,” the Security Council statement read.
The Security Council will meet later on Thursday to discuss the Israeli attack at a meeting due to be attended by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.
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Tucker Carlson Launches Docuseries Exposing the ‘Truth’ About 9/11 After Previously Saying He ‘Hates’ 9/11 Truthers
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
Media personality Tucker Carlson announced late last month a new five-part documentary series supposedly exposing the “truth” about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, after previously saying he “hates” the 9/11 truther conspiracy theories about al Qaeda’s suicide attacks on US soil.
“For nearly 25 years, the true story on 9/11 has been withheld from the American people. Why? We decided to find out for ourselves,” Carlson, a popular right-wing podcaster, posted on X, announcing the documentary series.
The first episode of the series was released on Thursday, the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in which nearly 3,000 people were killed on US soil.
The announcement video claims that “the official story on 9/11 is a complete lie” and that “the 9/11 commission is a cover-up.” Carlson adds that “the 9/11 report is a joke.”
For nearly 25 years, the true story on 9/11 has been withheld from the American people. Why? We decided to find out for ourselves.
Get all 5 episodes of our documentary series at https://t.co/sLkXnGLauL on September 11. pic.twitter.com/ozRykv6vY8
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 28, 2025
Carlson, a controversial commentator and online provocateur, claims that the documentary will expose what truly happened, including what the US and foreign governments knew in advance.
The line about foreign governments is said in the video while a picture of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flashes across the screen, seemingly suggesting Israel was part of an alleged cover-up related to 9/11.
Carlson’s documentary was released just days after he said he would like to share “condolences” with the family of Osama bin Laden, the late al Qaeda leader who organized the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks
Video has also surfaced showing that Carlson previously suggested that those who spread conspiracy theories about 9/11 are “parasites.” He lambasted those who have claimed 9/11 was an inside job and said “there isn’t any” evidence to support the claim. Carlson also previously said he “hates” when people try to say 9/11 was some sort of cover-up, and that while he is open to theories about most events, those about 9/11 go too far.
Tucker Carlson Calls 9/11 Truthers “Parasites” pic.twitter.com/Cc4lOePGCG
— 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕞𝕤 (@drandelson) March 11, 2023
Carlson has made a series of controversial comments in recent months, drawing criticism even from conservatives and Republicans.
For example, Carlson drew outrage for platforming Holocaust revisionist and self-described historian Darryl Cooper last year. During their discussion on his podcast, Cooper appeared to downplay the Holocaust, argued that the US was on the “wrong side” of World War II, and suggested that the slaughter of six million Jews in concentration camps was “humane” because the Nazis did not have food to feed the “prisoners of war.”
In December, Carlson invited economist Jeffrey Sachs onto his podcast for a lengthy interview in which both men gave credence to the idea that Israel “controls” US foreign policy. Another, more recent guest floated the idea the US should have allied with Nazi Germany during World War II, saying, “It turns out I think the story we got about World War II is all wrong … one can make the argument that we should have sided with Hitler and fought Stalin.”
Carlson has criticized Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, repeatedly accusing the Jewish state of “blowing up churches and killing Christians.” He lambasted American Christian political leaders for “not being more critical of the destruction in Gaza.”