Wiesenthal Center Welcomes Apology of Duisberg Police President

January 14, 2009

WIESENTHAL CENTER WELCOMES APOLOGY OF DUISBERG POLICE PRESIDENT BUT WARNS OF DANGEROUS NEW TENDENCY OF GERMAN POLICE TO “APPEASE” ANTI-ISRAEL DEMONSTRATERS BY CONFISCATING ISRAELI FLAGS AND TREATING THEM AS A PROVOCATION

Jerusalem-The Simon Wiesenthal Center today welcomed the apology of Duisberg Police President Rolf Cebin for the removal by the police of Israeli flags in a private dwelling during Saturday’s anti-Israel demonstration in his city, but expressed “deep concern” in the wake of increasing evidence that local police in several cities in Germany, such as Duesseldorf and Mainz, have begun treating Israeli flags as “provocations” which have led to the confiscation of flags and the harassment of pro-Israel demonstrators.

In a statement issued in Jerusalem by its Israel director, Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center emphasized that such a policy would not only encourage increasingly-aggressive and violent behavior by those opposing Israeli policies but also constituted a clear limitation of freedom of expression only on one side of the political debate and therefore was clearly unfair to those supporting Israel.

According to Zuroff:

“The worst way to deal with demonstrators who might threaten the safety of their opponents is to appease them by harassing or mistreating those with opposing views. By doing so, the German police are sending a dangerous message to Israel’s many supporters in Germany, whose legitimate efforts to defend the Jewish state have now been cast in a negative light. Such a policy reflects very poorly on German democracy and casts a shadow on the viability of Jewish life in Germany today.”

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