Bauhaus Synagogue in Munich | Merz's statements serve racist narratives

On Monday, the Bauhaus Synagogue on Munich's Reichenbachstrasse was ceremoniously reopened after years of reconstruction. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) made headlines with his tearful speech. Much of it was successful, including his appreciation of the revival of Jewish life in post-war Germany. But then the speech took a turn for the worse. Merz announced that he would combat old and new antisemitism "in every legislative form" – including "the supposed freedom of art, culture, and science ." He made it clear that he meant migrants who allegedly grew up in countries where antisemitism was state doctrine and hatred of Israel was part of their upbringing.

These statements legitimize repression and serve racist narratives, while colonialism and the Nakba are ignored. The distinction between the old German antisemitism and the new, Arab-imported antisemitism is a projection of old guilt onto new shoulders. The equation of Jews in Germany with Israel is also problematic, as it fails to recognize Jewish life in Germany as an independent reality and reproduces the old antisemitic narrative that Jews are not primarily identified with their homeland, but with their Jewishness or Israel.

One thing is clear: It's not about Jews at all. It's about the German emotional world, and there, Jews, Arabs, and "we" Germans have very specific roles. Jews serve to make "us" feel good and purified. The Arabs take on the role of the "new Nazis," and thus "we" Germans also take on a new, positive role. No longer a "nation of perpetrators," but protectors of the Jews—a Germanic golem. Philosemites have one thing in common with antisemites—they treat Jews as a projection screen and not as normal people who must be judged by their thoughts and actions.