Football made in germany. Beat the germans new and surprising aspects of license culture in germany. U. S. American keep music takes a look at germany it is synchronicities at their traditions every day lives and language doesnt just come out of my lungs and so on. Good. D. W. Dot com the germans. Today ill be talking with events head of the German Division of the n g o Human Rights Watch about the increase in anti semitism in germany as own family has had a bitter experience welcome to the data. If you missed my housekeeper. Mr mccarthy you felt forced to take your son out of a well regarded school in berlin why. He was reviled as a jew. Friends found out he was jewish they said we cant play with you anymore. He was increasingly hit and kicked. His hat was knocked off his head. But never let up and it culminated in very hard beatings fest he still has the remains of a huge bruise on his back. But the climax that led us to take him out of the school was a mock execution with a very real looking replica. He was strangled in till he became unconscious. How did this bullying start ditto somewhere a keeper. You know. He never said he was jewish until one day in ethics class the teacher said were going to learn about the worlds major religions. Which houses of worship do you know about the pupil Church Mosque church. Church. And he said synagogue. And the teacher said oh how do you know about synagogues are you a jew and he said yes thats when the antisemitic attacks began. Thats when this bullying was going on long before the pistol incident you contacted the School Administration how did they react. For well on the very first day when this began when the children said we wont play with you anymore we went to the administration and the teachers and said we urgently need to do something. We have to speak with the children. But the administration wasnt interested at all. And right from the beginning the social worker employed at the school. Dont want to hear anything about it. On the contrary she accused my wife of being pushy and wanting to overpower her for the sake of it. She said just let it be that. The school is a member of the school against Racism Network where there are at least some courageous parents or other pupils who stood by you because. Its got up. There were individual parents and individual schoolmates especially from this class. But they were powerless in the face of this ever increasing antisemitic bullying. This school against racism turned out to be a hollow slogan but the school still boasts about it even though my son says the School Playgrounds are full of racism against kurds against africans and of course against jews. One might think that more than seventy years after the holocaust what happened to your son is an extreme but isolated case. What is your experience been with antisemitism in germany in your work for Human Rights Watch. Well i wouldnt have thought that this was possible. But when it happened and we finally went public with it to exert pressure to change it and to start this debate. We learned that there are many many such cases and not just in berlin but also in the frankfurt munich everywhere. And some people came to us and said that happened to us to the top they were afraid to go public with it for various reasons. We had Human Rights Watch had spent years researching hate crimes and right wing radicalism in germany and we published reports on it have. Gone to the police and the courts side. Weve received a lot of encouragement from the Police Academies about the whole complex of problems. But it appears to have had no effect. At this but. Not. Quite the opposite in fact with the growth of the party and of right wing populism it seems to have become socially acceptable to say things that people didnt used to say. Maybe one side of the growth of right wing populism in germany and there has been an increase in the number of associated crimes and misdemeanors the ministry of the interior recorded six hundred eighty one such crimes in the first half of twenty seventeen substantially more than in twenty sixteen the perpetrators so far have mostly been right wing extremists the large number of immigrants from muslim countries where the culture and education are hostile to jews influence this development. Of jesus i dont know whether it has an influence on this statistic. But it is obvious that it contributes to a general ongoing increase in anti semitism. When people come here from countries where they are taught right from kindergarten the jews are bad and where jew hatred is official policy find so then of course they bring their antisemitism with them. This is. The challenge to our society is to deal with that and to talk with and educate these are mostly young. And that requires action from the teachers. Afforded but there is none. Who tormented your son were muslims why werent they quickly suspended from school after these incidents. Suspended for. We were told that it is easy to suspend mr. Or to expel them from school. So that it would take a long time and there are so many didnt want to do it. The one pupil who threatened him with the pistol was indeed expelled but the others are still running around there and enjoying their happy school life so to speak. The School Director went on to admit in interviews that he should have acted sooner. He regretted this but that what. Is nothing but its still a mystery to me why he didnt intervene immediately get tough and set boundaries. Because as it was there was nothing preventing any kind of attack in the school tolerated or ignored it. Jews are increasing the number of desecrations who grapes is increasing in berlin some of the stumbling stones the bronze plaques in memory of murdered jews have been torn out of the pavement. What do you have to say about this change of climate would you advise jews to appear in public with a star of david or a keeper. No its not a good idea if you dont feel that your faith requires you to wear one id say dont do my son wanted to wear a star of david around his neck. I said dont its dangerous to provoke attacks. Right in front of the school my son went to a few years ago a rabbi was beaten up in front of his little daughter. Ford and he was wearing a kippah they had to make it look its hot. So its becoming more and more dangerous on the streets to wear visible signs that you were jewish. Didnt used to be a problem for our families. Were not religious and we dont walk around with a keeper or go around saying were jews switch. This meeting was so it was all the more surprising that this happened to my son tot stay in the mine zone down tough. Your son has transferred to another school his experience than. The us is a new school is very good its a small International School with highly dedicated international teachers. Things like that dont happen at all because as soon as the people goes too far the teachers talk openly with the parents and the children. And they do what the other school should have done. And you have so we considered sending him to a Jewish High School but we didnt want him to grow up in an exclusively jewish environment just to escape this terrible experience and i said. Thanks i was of. Does a negative. Or and the seeing how we decided on this other school and its been a good. But its regrettable that it was the victim who had to disappear from the earlier school. While the others continue to enjoy its advantages. It should have been the other way around and. If this is the development in germany as you illustrate with your own experience what do you as a representative of Human Rights Watch in germany expect from politics and the german government. And what should be done to counter these growing anti semitism. Teachers need to be trained. The teachers have to be persuaded to take their profession seriously enough to intervene against these antisemitic incidents. But they can also be anti kurdish or anti homosexuals. And we have found out the things are flaring up in german schools that. The atmosphere is very aggressive and it seems the teachers dont know how to deal with it. And so we call on politics to train the teachers to offer the assistance needed and also that people talk to each other and. Need to let the schools talk with the parents and stop ducking away with excuses like oh you know you cant talk with these people theyre muslims theyre stuck. With. Thats and thats what the School Authority said when we said you need to talk with the parents of the School Administrator said thats useless. I mean mr makovsky we always conclude our interview with three in complete sentences that we ask you to finish. First had to this. Despite the bitter antisemitic experiences in germany my positive experience is. The solidarity of my colleagues and of people i know. But also of many people i dont know who have sent me handwritten letters telling me how shocked they were. And that they support us its like. Its for me and my family leaving germany is. Only out of the question. We have to continue struggling and working to ensure that germany doesnt regress into a terrible anti semitism so it remains an open Democratic Society for my son oscar i wish that hes never attacked in this way again then so may cost thank you very much youre welcome to. High up in the snowy ill go. Forward to a lot the. Presenter looking to go works up a sweat. Under vacation close to nature. The oh a region in winter. Next door has. Entered the conflict zone confronting the powerful. This very cold big zone is in warsaw where the polish government is facing mounting criticism from the e. U. Over its record on democracy and human rights my guest is the deputy Prime Minister matteo. This is government ready to address the concerns voiced by brussels will continue rejecting them out of power. In sixteen bits d. W. Theres no. Monitors to not go today nothing would change you know the banks pay money and so watch the language of the bank. Speaking the truth global news that matters g. 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