Bartsch reacts to strong criticism of the anti-Semitism agreement within his own ranks

Left-wing politician Dietmar Bartsch has rejected the massive criticism from parts of his party about the agreement presented by the Berlin Left, the Greens and the SPD on how to deal with anti-Semitism: “It is no coincidence that above all these are people who have never led coalition negotiations, are not represented in any state parliament and almost all come from the West,” said the former head of the left-wing faction in the Bundestag to the “Tagesspiegel”.

A letter was published on Friday in which around 120 leftists expressed sharp criticism of the agreement. “Above all, this will cause unrest,” said Bartsch, referring to the letter. Such concerns have to be raised at party conferences, where one has to fight for majorities. “If you can’t manage it and obviously have no self-confidence, then you have to do it that way,” said Bartsch in the direction of the signatories.

According to WELT research, a heated argument about the agreement also broke out in an internal chat group of the Berlin Left Party. Parliamentarians from the Berlin House of Representatives and the Bundestag clearly rejected the outcome of the negotiations. “I find the paper completely inadequate and am shocked that we have submitted to this - unfortunately this start will not be the last time, I'm afraid,” wrote the newly elected Berlin MP and deputy head of the state party, Martha Kleedörfer.

Bartsch also defended himself against one-sided criticism of his party: "It is undisputed that there are problems with anti-Semitism. But to reduce this to the left is, in my opinion, completely unacceptable," he said. “I see that this issue has been exploited by some in connection with our election results in Berlin.”

In Berlin he campaigned for his party to take on government responsibility: "There was an election result. Brilliant for the Left. I ask that everyone take this seriously."