In view of allegations of anti-Semitism against the Berlin Left, Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer (independent) is setting new conditions for the federal government's already promised cultural funding in the capital. “The federal government has just agreed to significantly strengthen culture in Berlin in the new capital financing agreement and to invest 2.9 billion euros for the next decade,” said Weimer. "This can only happen if it is ensured that the federal government is not made into the financier of a cultural policy that threatens to systematically exclude Jewish artists."
Many cultural workers are alarmed about a possible government led by the Left after last Sunday's House of Representatives election, said Weimer. He accused the left of “openly displaying anti-Semitism.” Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz's (CDU) confidante further said: "If left-wing and Islamist movements form an Islamo-Gauchisme and maintain close contacts with the Arab clan milieu, this must not have a formative effect on political culture."
Markus Söder also wants to rethink cultural funding for Berlin
The party in the capital is currently under pressure due to allegations of anti-Semitism, particularly in the area of the Neukölln Left district association. Before Weimer, Markus Söder (CSU) had already questioned the federal government's funding of culture in Berlin. However, he did not refer to the allegations of anti-Semitism, but to the Left's plan to socialize large housing companies. If the Left sticks to the expropriation plans, he would like to “open the contract again,” said Söder on Tuesday.
The capital financing agreement regulates federal subsidies for Berlin, which are intended to support the city in its representative function as the federal capital. A new contract for the years 2027 to 2038 was agreed in mid-September. During this period, Berlin is to receive 2.9 billion euros from the federal government for culture and 2.1 billion euros for security tasks, such as protecting the government district and state visits. In the cultural sector, the sum corresponds to an increase of more than 350 million euros compared to the previous ten years, and in terms of security, an increase of around one billion euros.
Weimer drew a connection between Berlin's cultural policy and the withdrawal of the capital's candidacy for the Olympic Games. The latter is "a reminder of the narrow-mindedness and exclusion that would threaten the cultural sector if the Left Party came to power," said the Minister of State for Culture. "If this left-wing party takes over government, Berlin would gamble away its greatest asset - its ability to shine as a city of freedom, tolerance and cosmopolitanism."
Berlin had withdrawn its candidacy, which had been initiated by the black-red Senate, which had now been voted out. During the election campaign, the Left Party spoke out against applying for the Olympics, citing the high costs. However, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) had given the Berlin application significantly worse chances than the competing candidacies from Munich and the Cologne/Rhine-Ruhr area. In both areas, unlike in Berlin, there were referendums that were in favor of an Olympic bid.
Controversial debate about anti-Semitism among the Berlin left
The anti-Semitism allegations against the Left are based, among other things, on incidents at events organized by the Neukölln district association, where, among other things, the statehood of Israel is said to have been questioned. The participation of the anti-Israel activist Ibrahim Ibrahim in the Left's election party, who belongs to an organization classified as extremist, also caused severe criticism - as did contacts between Bundestag member Ferat Koçak (Left) and the son of the head of the Remmo family, which is assigned to so-called clan crime.
