The scandal-plagued German commissioner assigned to fight antisemitism in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg is facing new allegations that he stoked a wild anti-Israel and antisemitic conspiracy theory on Twitter.
The German official, Michael Blume, tweeted last week that “An international team researched fake news providers in Israel. As someone affected by trolling, whose family and himself have been defamed by anti-German right-wing extremists, I have questions. And [ I am] on this.#TeamJorge.”
Blume suggested he was the victim of an Israeli disinformation campaign. He linked his tweet to a German public television ZDF report about the allegation that a group of Israelis known as “Team Jorge” operate outside of Tel Avi and specialize in hacking and the spread of false information.
Blume provided no evidence for his suggested claim that he has been targeted by “Team Jorge.” Blume has a reported history of spreading conspiracy theories on social media.
The German Jewish anti-BDS activist, Malca Goldstein-Wolf, tweeted about Blume’s alleged antisemitic and anti-Israel Tweet:”Whenever #Jews or #Israel are suspected of doing something wrong, there is one thing you can count on. The antisemitism commissioner @beauftragtgg [Michael Blume] from the land @thelaend [Baden-Württemberg] is on the scene immediately!.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center cited Blume as the seventh worst outbreak of antisemitism in 2021 for his alleged antisemitic and anti-Israel social media activities. A Hamburg court published a decision in January that Blume can be termed antisemitic due to his tirades against German Jews and a founder of the IDF, Orde Wingate. In 2022, Blume called German Jews “right-wing extremists” and labelled Wingate as a “war criminal.”
The Jewish Press asked the European Commission Coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, Katharina von Schnurbein, about Blume’s alleged antisemitism. Von Schnurbein told the Jewish Press that “The European Commission regards all forms of antisemitism as equally pernicious, no matter where they come from. To this end, the EC has been using the non-legally binding Working Definition on Antisemitism since 2017. You will find that the examples of the IHRA definition cover all contemporary forms of antisemitism. “
Christian Wigand, a spokesman for the European Commission, responded on Schnurbein’s behalf, told the Jewish Press “As Ms. von Schnurbein has already told you, the European Commission regards all forms of antisemitism as equally pernicious, no matter where they come from. We will, however, not engage in commenting on possible individual cases/persons. This is not the role of the European Commission. We also do not comment on comments.”
One critic of Mahallati’s on Twitter named @Matityahu165 wrote about Blume’s Tweet: “Crazy!. The @beauftragtgg
Blume spreads a new antisemitic conspiracy. Blume speculates publicly about whether he is a victim of ‘Team Jorge’ from Israel.”
Blume refused to answer a Jewish Press media query. Blume’s diatribes over the years against Jews, Israel, and Zionists have sparked calls for his resignation and dismissal. The Wiesenthal Center’s top Nazi-hunter, Dr. Efraim Zuroff,and Israel’s former ambassador to the U.S., Dr. Michael Oren, have urged Blume to resign. The Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. demanded that Blume be removed from his position. Blume is Protestant and a member of the Christian Democratic Union party. The U.S.-based organization Christians United for Israel called for Blume to be fired in 2022.
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