German Chancellor suggests immigrants have 'imported antisemitism'
first meeting as German Chancellor with US President Donald Trump
in Washington on Thursday, Friedrich Merz gave a televised interview with US right-wing outlet
Fox News
in which his use of a controversial phrase raised eyebrows in Germany.
Citing a report by Germany's Federal Association of Research and Information Centres on Antisemitism (RIAS) – which found an increase in antisemitic incidents in Germany in 2024 – the interviewer asked the chancellor what he was doing to address the issue.
'We are doing everything we can to bring these numbers down," Merz told Fox News. "We are prosecuting those who break the law, and frankly, we have a sort of imported antisemitism with this big number of migrants that we have within the last ten years.'
Merz's reply appeared to put blame for increasing antisemitism on migrants who have arrived in the country during the last ten years.
In particular, the phrase "imported antisemitism" has been highlighted as problematic by an independent German organisation that keeps track of words and phrases linked with xenophobia.
'Ugliest word of the year'
Controversial in Germany, the phrase 'imported antisemitism' (
importierter Antisemitismus)
received press coverage earlier this year when it was nominated as Germany's
Unwort des Jahres --
in other words the ugliest word of the year for 2024.
Every year,
Unwort des Jahres
– an independent, voluntary organisation – attempts to draw attention to the most discriminatory and malicious phrases which have sprung up or gained popularity in Germany.
A jury of experts including journalists, linguists and rotating guests assesses thousands of public submissions -- this year there were 3,172 submissions nominating 655 different phrases, of which 80 were accepted by the jury.
Germany's official
Unwort des Jahres 2024
was
Biodeutsch
.
READ ALSO:
Biodeutsch - Why this is Germany's ugliest word of the year
However, publicist and political scientist, Saba-Nur Cheema, and Director of the Anne Frank Educational Centre, Meron Mendel, chose 'imported antisemitism' as their personal
Unwort des Jahres
for 2024.
According to the jury, the expression is used to suggest that hatred of Jews has become a problem in Germany due to the influx of migrants. The term is used primarily in right-wing circles to discriminate against Muslims and people with a migration background 'and to distract from their own antisemitism'.
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Of 8,627 cases of antisemitism recorded in the RIAS report for 2024, 5,857 cases were classified as 'Israel-related antisemitism,' more than twice as many as in the previous year. RIAS defines 'Israel-related antisemitism,' as Jews in Germany being held responsible for actions of the Israeli government, the state of Israel being demonized, and its right to exist being denied (among other criteria).
The report also recorded 544 individual incidents with a right-wing extremist background, the highest number since the nationwide comparison began in 2020.
President Trump repeatedly criticised former chancellor Angela Merkel for her decision to welcome a large number of Syrian refugees in 2015 during his televised meeting with Merz on Thursday, a policy which Merz has also previously criticised.
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