The Jewish Museum in Berlin has been slammed for stoking an anti-Semitic boycott of the Jewish state, after the publicly funded institution endorsed an article in favor of reversing anti-boycott legislation passed by the German parliament last month.
Germany became the first European country to pass a landmark resolution that designates the boycott campaign against Israel as anti-Semitic and cuts off funding to any organizations that “actively support” the movement.
The museum tweeted to its 7,510 followers on Thursday: “must read. The decision of the parliamentarians does not continue to help in the fight against antisemitism: @tazgezwitscher on the accusation of 240 Jewish and Israeli academics to the Bundestag.”
The post linked to an article sympathetic to the anti-Semitic boycott movement that appeared in the left-wing daily newspaper TAZ.
Israel’s Ambassador to Germany, Jeremy Issacharoff, weighed in Saturday, tweeting: “Shameful – @jmberlin tells its followers they must read an article endorsing BDS. The Jewish Museum is supposed to be a cultural body but is highly political when supporting the boycotting of Israel and in effect criticizing the Bundestag for condemning antisemitism!”
Uwe Becker, commissioner of the Hessian federal state government for Jewish life and the fight against anti-semitism, blasted the museum’s leadership in a written statement to The Post Sunday.
“The Jewish Museum in Berlin obviously sees as its task to take a stand against Jewish life in our country and especially against Israel,” Becker said. “The recent support for BDS is a disgrace! After a total single-sided exhibition about Jerusalem now another scandal. This is not a Jewish but an anti-Jewish Museum.”
The Jewish Museum in Berlin has a long history of sponsoring events that promote discrimination against Israel. In 2012, the institution invited to a podium discussion U.S. academic Judith Butler, who renewed her calls to boycott Israel.
In March, the controversial director of the museum, Prof. Peter Schäfer, hosted a diplomat from the Islamic Republic of Iran, sparking widespread condemnation.
[Photo: Avi1111 / Wikimedia Commons]