Questions added to citizenship test on antisemitism, Israel and Germany's responsibility towards Jewish people

Applicants for German citizenship will be required to explicitly affirm Israel’s right to exist under a new citizenship law which came into effect on Tuesday.

The new law shortened the number of years that a person must have lived in Germany in order to obtain a passport, from eight to five years. It will also allow first-generation migrants to be dual citizens.

As part of the shake-up, new questions were added to the country’s citizenship test, including about Judaism and Israel’s right to exist.

  • poVoq@slrpnk.netMEnglish
    297·
    5 months ago

    These statistic say little as the German police does not properly distinguish between antisemitism and anti-zionism.

    But regardless, if you are so extreme in your views that you can’t accept the existence of the state of Israel in some shape or form, you are probably not a good fit for German society.

    • gigachadEnglish
      59·
      5 months ago

      I’m not sure what you want to imply here. I do not see the benefit in asking the offender why they beat up the Jewish person.

      I cited numbers from a study by RIAS (Wiki, German), this is not from a police statistic.

      The study distinguishes Isreal-related antisemitism, meaning the incidents were directed against the Jewish state of Israel and denied its legitimacy. This kind of antisemitism was 52%.

      • poVoq@slrpnk.netMEnglish
        233·
        5 months ago

        Incidence does not mean “beating up” someone. Spray painting “stop the genocide in Gaza” is sometimes counted as an “antisemitic incidence” in Germany.

            • Zagorath@aussie.zoneEnglish
              9·
              5 months ago

              by any definition

              The IHRA’s definition does, so you can’t say “any”.

              That said, the IHRA definition was pretty specifically created to be zionist and a shield for Israel, and should be rejected on those grounds.

            • Successful_Try543@feddit.orgEnglish
              2·
              5 months ago

              The definition used by German authorities subsumes antizionism, i.e. denying Israel’s right to exist as a special form of antisemitism.

              • poVoq@slrpnk.netMEnglish
                10·
                5 months ago

                It is quite reductive to say anti-zionism is just denying the right of Israel to exist. Yes, the state of Israel is a deeply zionist project but you can accept the reality of this state existing and still be opposed to the idea of zionism in general.

                I am opposed to the idea of colonialism in general but still accept the existence of states with a colonial history.

                • Successful_Try543@feddit.orgEnglish
                  3·
                  5 months ago

                  That’s a good point. I’ve always thought antizionism and denying Israel’s right to exist where somehow identical.