Left: Eralp obviously fears for the safety of her family

Berlin. According to a “Spiegel” report, the Berlin left-wing election winner Elif Eralp sees the safety of her family in danger if she explicitly comments on a well-known Palestine activist.

As “Spiegel” reports, this emerges from internal comments on an interview that the magazine conducted with her. The document was accidentally sent from Eralp's office to “Spiegel” along with the comments. Eralp, who would like to become the governing mayor of Berlin, and the left-wing state leader Kerstin Wolter initially did not want to comment.

According to the report, “Spiegel” conducted an interview on Monday with Eralp, who is trying to form a state government with the Greens and the SPD. The next day, the written version of the interview was sent to Eralp's spokesman for authorization. A day later the interview was returned with comments and comments. The release of verbatim interviews is often part of journalistic practice in Germany.

In the conversation, Eralp's line on anti-Semitism in the ranks of the left was, according to the report, that she was not aware of the full extent of the problem. The “Spiegel” writes: “Of course, according to Eralp, she knew that many of her party friends, especially in the Neukölln district association, were very committed to the issue of Palestine - but she did not think that border crossings could also occur at individual events during the election campaign.”

According to its own information, the “Spiegel” asked: “By that you mean the terrorist sympathizer Ibrahim Ibrahim, who described the chief planner of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 as a “martyr hero” and was at the election party in Neukölln.” According to the report, Eralp answers: Yes. According to “Spiegel”, this question and the answer are deleted from the authorized version.

In addition, according to the report, there are several internal comments from Eralp, including with reference to organized crime (OK): "The LKA said at the time that they recommend never naming specific names. Back then it was about OK. Now it's about people with contacts to Hamas. I can't put myself and my family in danger for SPIEGEL. What do we do now? Cancel the whole interview?", the magazine quotes from the comments. And: “Up until now, when they mentioned several incidents, including Ibrahin (incorrect spelling in the original quote), I generally condemned it, but now it is present individually.”

According to the democ association, which deals with anti-democratic movements, Ibrahim Ibrahim is a long-time activist of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is classified as a terrorist organization in the EU and the USA. After the House of Representatives election in September, he was at an election party for the Left Party in Neukölln.

Eralp's spokesman told "Spiegel" in a later email that the politician, as a candidate for mayor, had been exposed to insults, threats and hostility on a daily basis for months, according to the magazine. Then the “Spiegel” quotes verbatim: “In view of this general threat situation, security authorities advise not to pin political problems on individual people in public statements, especially if their alleged connections to organized crime or terrorist organizations have been reported in the media.”