After the “Spiegel” report about her fear of Hamas sympathizers, top Berlin left-wing politician Elif Eralp made a “promise of protection” for the people of Berlin.
“I want to make a policy for all people, because everyone deserves a good life in security and dignity,” said Eralp on Saturday at a Left state party conference in Berlin. This is intended to decide on the coalition negotiations between the Left and the Greens and the SPD.
In her speech, which was often interrupted by applause, Eralp reacted combatively to doubts about her ability to govern. “I won’t give up.” The attacks on her and the Berlin Left had “lost all measure,” criticized Eralp, who was intended by the Left as the new Governing Mayor of Berlin.
According to a report by “Spiegel”, according to which Eralp and her husband are afraid of sympathizers of the terrorist organization Hamas from the Berlin Left, doubts were raised about Eralp’s ability to govern. The Berlin CDU, for example, called her compromised for the office of mayor.
Eralp said that after the “Spiegel” report, some would now claim that she could not protect Berlin as mayor. The opposite is the case. “It is precisely because I know and understand various concerns that I will do this.” She will not allow herself to be intimidated and will “naturally” stand up against any form of misanthropy, glorification of violence or anti-Semitism.
Eralp led the Left to victory in the House of Representatives election on September 20th. She appealed to her party to now stand together in solidarity. “These will not be the last attacks.” The excessive criticism of the left is due to the fact that it wants to put people at the center of Berlin politics and not profit. “We will not allow ourselves to be defeated,” said Eralp. “The people in our city elected us for change and we will implement it together.”
Eralp particularly emphasized that the socialization of housing groups was decided in the exploratory discussions. This is historic. This is also why the success of the planned red-green-red coalition is important.
The Left will be the last party in the possible three-party alliance to decide on coalition negotiations; the Greens and the SPD have already agreed. If the Left also agrees, coalition negotiations will begin next week. Eralp was confident that the Left Party Congress would also clearly agree - although there are a large number of applications for the exploratory paper.
Meanwhile, Berlin Left Party state chairwoman Kerstin Wolter rejected allegations of anti-Semitism and excessive criticism of Israel against her party. "Because we as the left condemn the genocide in Gaza, we are accused of being anti-Semitic. But standing up against crimes under international law is not a crime," she said at the party conference. “It would be a crime not to.”
However, German history should not be forgotten. “For a left in Berlin, this means that we have a special responsibility for protecting Jewish life,” said Wolter. “We are the left in the city where the Shoah was planned and from which it was carried out.”
Israel's right to exist derives from this horror, because Israel is a safe space for Jews. “There is no contradiction in standing up for this right to exist and at the same time fighting for the Palestinians’ right to their own state,” said Wolter.
Anyone who legitimizes violence and terror against civilians as a “free rider in the Palestine solidarity movement” should be excluded from the movement for peace and equal rights. “Where this does not happen on our part, we will work through mistakes, because our commitment is based on human rights and international law, and anyone who tramples on this right has no place in a peace movement.”
