Germany's surging far-right party is trying to attract an unlikely group of voters: Jews

[steve2470]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/09/25/germanys-surging-far-right-party-is-launching-an-association-attract-an-unlikely-group-voters-jews/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7556a46c0a80

COLOGNE, Germany — Judging from some of the headlines the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has prompted, one wouldn’t assume that it’s also seeking to be an alternative for Germany’s Jewish voters.

For instance, party leader Alexander Gauland stated quite recently that “Hitler and the Nazis are just a speck of birds--- in over 1,000 years of successful German history.” Last year, leading AfD figure Björn Höcke called Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial a “memorial of disgrace” and urged Germans to stop feeling guilty for Nazi crimes. Then there’s AfD politician Martin Hohmann, who just celebrated his return to Parliament after more than a decade’s absence following his expulsion from the mainstream conservative Christian Democratic Union party over anti-Semitic remarks.

Yet, on Oct. 7, the AfD is expected to launch its first Jewish association, in a move that has triggered a fierce backlash among other Jewish organizations. The announcement comes as the AfD’s popularity across the country is growing, with polls showing it ahead of the center-left Social Democrats as the country’s second-most-popular party.

The controversial launch of the AfD’s Jewish association also comes after months of anti-Semitic incidents that have rattled German Jewish communities. Even though top AfD officials have publicly condemned the incidents, Jewish organizations have accused the far-right party of playing into the hands of anti-Semites.