Left Party Congress | Anti-Semitism dispute in the Left Party flares up again

One could wait for headlines like this in "Bild" like they did for the amen in church: "Worse Israel hatred at the Left Party conference, " the tabloid headlined on Saturday. "Israel" was "insulted," and delegates appeared wearing "palli scarves." Indeed, many comrades wore such scarves at the Chemnitz delegate meeting on May 9 and 10. They wanted to show solidarity with the Palestinians who, according to an announcement by the Israeli security cabinet , are to be expelled from the Gaza Strip, whose livelihoods have been destroyed there for 19 months, and who are currently being deliberately starved by a blockade of aid deliveries that has lasted more than six weeks.

Indeed, antisemitism was also discussed at the party conference—particularly how accusations of antisemitism are being instrumentalized by politicians and institutions to silence people who denounce Israeli war crimes. In a surprise move, the delegates passed a resolution on the topic shortly before the end of the conference. The majority in favor was narrow: 213 delegates voted in favor, 181 against, and 48 abstained.

Previously, Left Party co-chair Jan van Aken had clearly spoken out against adopting the declaration "Combating anti-Semitism, repression, and censorship – Implementing the Jerusalem Declaration, creating a sustainable foundation!" The reason: It calls for the Jerusalem Declaration on Anti-Semitism (JDA) of June 2020, signed by around 370 renowned anti-Semitism and Holocaust researchers, historians, and other academics, to be made the basis for the party's internal fight against Jew-hatred.

Like the JDA itself, the party conference majority is thus opposing the working definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which applies the term antisemitism to many statements critical of Israel. Or rather, not the IHRA definition itself, but its use in government decision-making.

"We are anti-fascists on the side of Jewish life, but we are also on the side of life in Palestine."

Özlem Alev Demirel Left MEP

In its party conference resolution, The Left Party opposes the practice of making the IHRA definition mandatory "in municipalities, authorities, and Bundestag resolutions" "in order to control access to premises and funding" and to legitimize "intelligence checks, identity checks, and coercive confessional statements." The definition has "developed into a repressive instrument to prevent unwelcome criticism and political protest." Many Jews are also affected by this.

With this resolution, The Left Party also opposes the resolutions passed in the Bundestag, "Never again is now – Protect, preserve, and strengthen Jewish life in Germany" and "Resolutely counter anti-Semitism and hostility to Israel in schools and universities and secure a free space for discourse," which are also based on the IHRA definition. The latter was adopted in January ; The Left Party abstained from the vote.

Jan van Aken recommended rejecting the motion because the party conference in Halle in October had explicitly not adopted a definition of antisemitism. "I am against ending an academic debate by means of a party conference resolution; we cannot do that," he said. MEP Özlem Alev Demiral, in contrast, emphasized that the IHRA definition was "not an academic question, but a concrete question for thousands of people" in Palestine solidarity. It was used to defame solidarity as antisemitic. "We are anti-fascists on the side of Jewish life, but we are also on the side of life in Palestine," the politician emphasized.

Finally, an urgent motion entitled "Stop the expulsion and famine in Gaza – implement international law!" was passed at the party conference. It was introduced by, among others, the Federal Working Group on Peace and International Politics and the student association DieLinke.SDS. The federal executive board adopted it, with slight modifications.

"The excitement we have about watermelon emojis, white-red-green hands, and drawn national borders, I would rather see in relation to the announced ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Defense Forces."

Daniel Eliasson Green Party politician

It refers to the plan to "take" Gaza, approved a few days earlier by the Israeli Security Cabinet, which envisages a renewed military occupation and the "relocation" of the entire population. In the resolution, the Left Party strongly condemns the "starvation of the civilian population as a method to accelerate the sustained destruction of all means of subsistence and the permanent forced displacement of the Palestinians." At the same time, it calls for "immediate, sufficient humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, the reconstruction of civilian facilities and infrastructure, especially residential buildings, hospitals, schools, universities, and religious sites."

The release of the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas since the attack by Palestinian terrorists on October 7, 2023, is also demanded. The war crimes committed by "all sides and international players" must be investigated. The prerequisite for this is "an immediate and lasting ceasefire throughout the territory of Palestine and Israel and a (complete) withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza." The German government's military support for Israel must end immediately.

There was no opposition to this paper from within the party. However, the resolution on the definitions of antisemitism drew fierce criticism. Thuringian state parliament member Katharina König-Preuss called it "fatal" on X. The majority had decided that The Left Party no longer "opposes all antisemitism." Experts at the Research and Information Center on Antisemitism (RIAS) deemed the Jerusalem Declaration "useless" because it considered "neither the denial of Israel's right to exist nor forms of Shoah relativization that equate Israel with National Socialism" to be antisemitic.

Former Vice President of the Bundestag Petra Pau agreed with König, and her successor, Bodo Ramelow, also criticized the decision on X. Former Bundestag member Marina Renner wrote on Bluesky that it was not about definitions, "but about being able to exonerate individuals and groups from the accusation of anti-Semitism in order to be able to continue to cooperate."

The controversy over anti-Semitism and alleged anti-Semitism by members of Palestine solidarity groups had flared up again a few days before the delegate meeting in Chemnitz. It was sparked by a post by Ulrike Eifler , a trade unionist and member of the party executive committee. Tagged "Free Palestine," she posted an image on X showing the outline of Israel and the Palestinian territories, completely covered with handprints in the colors of the Palestinian flag.

Many comrades, as well as the Israeli embassy, ​​criticized the depiction as nothing other than a desire for the "annihilation" of Israel and the expulsion of its inhabitants. Shortly thereafter, on May 8, the executive board passed a resolution distancing itself from "any call, any statement, or any visual representation that, under the guise of solidarity with the Palestinian population, denies the existence of Israel or advocates its annihilation" and called on party members "not to publish such depictions and to immediately withdraw those already published."

Recall the party conference resolution in Halle, in which The Left declared solidarity with the Palestinians, demanded the release of Israeli hostages, and condemned Hamas terrorism as well as "any act of war by the Israeli army that violates international law." Federal Executive Director Janis Ehling wrote on X that anyone who believes they do not have to adhere to the party's relevant resolutions "should ask themselves whether they are in the right party."

Meanwhile, Eifler also receives widespread solidarity, publicly expressed by, among others, Bundestag member Nicole Gohlke and former Bundestag member Susanne Ferschl. Several supporters also questioned the Left Party's commitment to Israel's right to exist. They argue that there is no right to exist for states, only for people, and that the Palestinians' right to exist no longer applies to Israel.

Eifler similarly defended her post in an interview . She finds it "irritating that some members of my party interpret this post as the annihilation of Israel instead of seeing the suffering in Gaza in it." She finds the party executive's distancing itself "scandalous." Instead of asking how one could support her in the face of defamation campaigns and threatened lawsuits, there was an "authoritarian ordering of deletions." Nevertheless, she finds it "right that the party executive distances itself from the position that Israel should be annihilated." She does not intend to comply with calls to resign.

However, there are also people outside the Left, such as Berlin Green Party local politician Daniel Eliasson, himself Jewish, who reject the kind of scandalization that Eifler experienced. "The excitement we have here about watermelon emojis, white-red-green hands, and drawn national borders, I would rather see in relation to the announced ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli armed forces," Eliasson wrote on X.