The German Left’s Jewish Dilemma
Many German leftists, mindful of the country’s past, still support Israel. But they risk being outnumbered by antisemitic Muslim immigrants and by decolonialist radicals.
As anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment surges around the world, the German Left’s commitment to combating antisemitism appears to be fading—a troubling trend driven, in large part, by a myopic focus on “Islamophobia” and by the growing influence of postcolonialism. While this reflects a broader pattern among Western progressives, it has especially troubling implications in Germany, given our history.
As a young, anarchist-leaning leftist touring Europe with my punk band in the 2000s, I shared the anti-Zionist bias prevalent among my peers. Our outlook was heavily influenced by political cues from American radicals. I was surprised to find that many far-left music venues in Germany had a different perspective. They often supported Israel under the banner of antifascism, as encapsulated in slogans like “Antifa means solidarity with Israel!”
I vividly recall arriving at a venue in eastern Germany and seeing the words “Lieber keine Soli als Pali-Soli” (“Better no solidarity at all than solidarity with Palestine”) spray-painted on the façade. Inside, flyers informed us that “cool kids don’t wear the keffiyeh.” Such sentiments were common in Germany’s radical Left underground at the time, where anti-Zionism was viewed with suspicion. A Swedish punk band had several German concerts cancelled because their drummer had sported a T-shirt with the slogan “Burn, Israel, burn.”
