FROM President Joachim Gauck and Chancellor Angela Merkel to Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim leaders, Germany’s political and religious elite gathered at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on September 14th to protest against anti-Semitism. And no wonder, when recent demonstrations against Israeli military action in Gaza have chanted: “Hamas, Hamas, Juden ab ins Gas” (Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas). It is “a shocking scandal” that Jews in Germany are molested, Mrs Merkel told the Berlin crowd. “Jewish life is part of us, of our identity and culture.”It has been a hard summer for Jews in Germany. Provoked by fighting in Gaza, many Germans have demonstrated against Israel and for the Palestinians. One synagogue was set on fire. Some Jews were beaten.Yet, at the same time Germany, especially Berlin, is a favorite place for young Israelis to emigrate to; this is made easier because the government gives Jews German passports if their grandparents had them. Adi Liraz, a Jewish Israeli artist who lives in Berlin, finds the German obsession with anti-Semitism excessive. So do the Muslim, Jewish and gentile Germans with whom she has formed a…
