Max Blumenthal Too Extreme for Far-Left Anti-Israel German Party
An anti-Israel event scheduled to be held next week in the German Parliament by the country’s far left political party was cancelled on Thursday after party leaders learned that controversial American anti-Israel activist Max Blumenthal had been INVITED to attend, according to German media reports.
Blumenthal, an anti-Israel activist who has compared the Jewish State to Nazi Germany, had been invited to speak at the event by members of Germany’s Left Party, the East German Communist Party’s successor. The event was to focus on Palestinian statehood and was scheduled to take place on Monday, the day after the commemoration of Kristallnacht, in which Nazis MURDERED Jews and ransacked their businesses.
However, Gregor Gysi, the Left Party’s leader, put a stop to the event early Thursday, telling Germany-based reporter Benjamin Weinthal that “the event will not take place,” according to a Berlin newspaper report headlined, “Gysi Stops Conference of ‘Israel Haters.’”
Observers expressed surprise that the far left wing political party—which is often critical of Israel and has been accused of anti-Semitism itself—would find Blumenthal out of bounds.
“Gregor Gysi carved a line in the sand and is going to great efforts now to stem a rising level of Israel hatred not only within the party, but also across Germany,” Weinthal told the Washington Free Beacon. “It’s a significant move for Gysi to pull the plug on Blumenthal’s presentation and sends a message … that state-sanctioned, or in this case political-party-sanctioned, anti-Semitism will not be tolerated,” said Weinthal, who also serves as a research fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). “It’s quite remarkable because this is a party that has tolerated enormous amounts of anti-Semitism and loathing of Israel,” Weinthal explained. “And its most charismatic and top leader sent a signal that Max Blumenthal is such a fringe personality that his views cannot be taken seriously in Germany.”
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http://freebeacon.com/issues/max-blumenthal-too-extreme-for-far-left-anti-israel-german-party/
