Claudia Roth: The Green Party's anti-Semitism network criticizes the politician

Claudia Roth's (Greens) recent statements about Israel have met with criticism. And that also within her party. In a letter, the Green Party's anti-Semitism network calls on the federal executive board to "clearly publicly contradict" Roth's statements. The letter is available to SPIEGEL. "Claudia Roth's statements in conversation with Tilo Jung about 'liberation from this guilt of history' and supposed pressure from the Central Council of Jews deeply irritated us," the letter says. The “Tagesspiegel” first reported.

In a SPIEGEL interview, Claudia Roth did not want to talk about “genocide” and “apartheid” in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in 2024. Roth, then Minister of State for Culture in the traffic light government, was reacting to statements made by Israeli-Palestinian filmmakers at the award ceremony. Last week, the politician distanced herself from her previous assessments of the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In the podcast “Jung & Naiv” she described statements she made in the aftermath of the scandal surrounding the 2024 Berlinale as a mistake. She was under “unbelievable pressure from the Central Council”.

In the podcast, Roth went on to say that "some good friends abroad" had asked her about her attitude towards Israel: "When will you finally free yourself from this guilt of history or when will you deal with it differently?" This statement is also hotly debated, and Jewish students demand an apology from Roth.

Members demand opposition from the party leadership

In the letter, more than 70 Green Party members are now calling for “a clear public contradiction from the federal executive board.” The signatories include the former Minister of State in the Foreign Office, Kerstin Müller, and the former Federal Minister of Health, Andrea Fischer. The former deputy prime minister and current anti-Semitism commissioner for North Rhine-Westphalia, Sylvia Löhrmann, also signed the petition.

»We know and appreciate Claudia Roth's long-standing commitment to the confrontation with National Socialism. This is precisely why these statements must not go unchallenged,” the letter says. It is not a matter of “generally attributing an attitude to Roth, but rather of clearly identifying and correcting problematic statements and their impact.”