Photo Credit: Sven Teschke / Wikimedia
Neo-Nazi German politician Stefan Jagsch, 33, of the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD), 2017

German neo-Nazis in the western city of Dortmund on Monday called on the Palestinian Authority to annihilate the State of Israel.

“Palestine help us, Israel still exists,” marchers chanted as they tramped through the streets. “Israel no more,” they shouted.

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At least 70 neo-Nazi activists were involved in the demonstration, holding flags bearing large swastikas and praising the Third Reich, according to a report published by Ynet.

Israel’s Ambassador to Germany, Jeremy Issacharoff, called the demonstration a “disgrace,” particularly just as Jews were celebrating the start of the Jewish New Year. Issacharoff added that his wife’s great grandparents were from the city and were murdered by the Nazis.

It’s not clear why police allowed the march to go forward; Germany strictly prohibits public display of Nazi symbols, such as the Hakenkreuz swastika and the SS logo, as do a number of other European nations.

However, it is also important to note that a neo-Nazi politician was unanimously elected as a local representative in central Germany just three weeks ago.

Stefan Jagsch, 33, a senior figure of the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD), was elected unanimously on September 9 by all conservative, liberal and social democrat councilors in the central state of Hesse as local representative of the small Altenstadt-Waldsiedlung district.

“No one else had adequate knowledge of computers or the internet,” according to one of the councilors who explained the election to local media, according to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency news website.

The Social Democrat Party (SPD) secretary-general, Lars Klingbeil, heavily criticized the vote, joining calls for a new vote to remove the NPD politician from office. “We do not cooperate with Nazis! Never!” he stressed.

The German DPA news agency subsequently reported that the CDU, SPD and FDP political parties – all of whom had backed the politician and voted him into office – had agreed to file a joint motion for a new vote in response to the growing outrage around the country. A two-thirds majority on the board of councilors is required to remove the local representative. Thus far, Jagsch is still in office.


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Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.