Debate about red-green-red: Left federal executive committee promotes explorations in Berlin

The federal executive board of the Left Party has welcomed the start of red-green-red exploratory talks in Berlin. In the current political and historical situation, “we as the left have a responsibility,” says a decision by the committee. “Berlin can become a beacon for a policy change that manages to prevent the rise of the right and organize hope.”

There had recently been criticism from the ranks of the Left Party about the agreement on action against anti-Semitism, which the SPD and the Greens had made a prerequisite for explorations. The federal executive board now pointed out that the overall result of the explorations would ultimately be presented to the Berlin state party conference. “We advocate discussing political differences on the specific content and respecting democratic decision-making in the Berlin regional association.”

The party executive committee once again rejected allegations of anti-Semitism against the party and at the same time emphasized that it took concerns of Jews seriously. “The Left is not an anti-Semitic party, and we will not allow ourselves or our branches to be assumed to have any structural proximity to organized crime,” it says. “Where there are real grievances, the party works on these in the relevant divisions of its own party.”

A letter became known on Friday in which around 120 leftists expressed sharp criticism of the agreement with the Greens and the SPD. “The formulations contained therein adopt the narrative of a media smear campaign,” the statement says.

The party leadership explained that there were different positions in the assessment of the content of the papers. "The papers do not reflect the party's positions; they are the result of the negotiation process. We firmly believe that we will not allow other parties to dictate how we deal with anti-Semitism."

From the perspective of the Left Executive Board, the agreement was preceded by a “politically motivated campaign,” “which was based largely on lies and insinuations, but also partially on the exploitation of real misconduct by members of our party.” The party executive welcomes the fact that “despite all adversities” steps are now being taken to tackle the socialization of housing companies and to implement the policy change desired by the voters.

The three parties presented the agreement on Thursday. They are committed to protecting Jewish life, to Israel's right to exist, and to a two-state solution that enables both Israel's security and the self-determination of the Palestinians. Party and faction members who violate the agreed principles must therefore expect to be excluded.