The German branch of the climate movement Fridays for Future (FFF) promises to deal with anti-Semitism in its own ranks. “We are currently talking about how we can counteract Israel-related anti-Semitism,” said climate activist Anael Back in an interview with the newspaper “Jüdische Allgemeine” published on Thursday. Work is underway to “offer a series of workshops with which we give the local groups the opportunity to educate themselves about antisemitism so that we can minimize or even eliminate occurrences of antisemitism in the future,” says Back.
Luisa Neubauer, interviewed alongside Back in the double interview, qualified that it is not the task of a youth movement to organize this type of educational work itself. Neubauer emphasized: “We live in a structurally anti-Semitic society in which everyone is asked to participate in reducing this form of discrimination.”
Neubauer and Back recently attended the youth congress of the Central Jewish Welfare Office (ZWST). “It was very important for us to be at the youth congress, and of course we also committed ourselves to the fight against anti-Semitism,” said Neubauer.
In the past, parts of Fridays for Future had triggered criticism with anti-Semitic incidents. The movement’s international Twitter account spread anti-Israel and anti-Semitic narratives during Hamas’ rocket attacks on Israel in May 2021 – the German offshoot distanced itself. “At first, we can’t do more than distance ourselves from a statement. We practically never do that,” explained Neubauer. “It was a big and clear step.” Back, who is Jewish herself, called the distancing the “best possible step”. He made sure that more Fridays for Future supporters became aware of anti-Semitism. “As a result, more attention was paid to involving Jewish people more and networking them with each other.”
In September, the group “Palestine Speaks” was invited to a demonstration by local FFF groups in Bremen. Palestine Speaks is affiliated with anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign. The Central Council of Jews then called on Fridays for Future to act. The movement positioned itself against anti-Semitism on November 9th. “This must also be followed by action,” said Central Council President Josef Schuster WELT. For example, he called for Fridays for Future to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism.
In an interview with the “Jüdische Allgemeine”, Back emphasized that the IHRA definition forms the working basis for dealing with anti-Semitism at Fridays for Future. “This is an important step for the movement.” Regarding the speech of a “Palestine Speaks” representative at an FFF demonstration in Bremen, Back said that all local groups had the freedom to decide “what they do and don’t do”. Nevertheless, “such a situation must be processed”.
When asked if she had been overwhelmed by the complex issues surrounding the Middle East conflict and anti-Semitism, Neubauer replied: “Which major international progressive movement has so far found a way of dealing with it that is satisfactory for everyone involved?” The issue is “totally a lot” for a youth movement “that deals with the climate crisis every day and is actually busy with it”.
