Wiesenthal Center Welcomes Apology of Duisberg Police President

WIESENTHAL CENTER WELCOMES APOLOGY OF DUISBERG POLICE PRESIDENT BUT WARNS OF DANGEROUS NEW TENDENCY OF GERMAN POLICE TO “APPEASE” ANTI-ISRAEL DEMONSTRATERS BYCONFISCATING 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 thepolice 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 severalcities 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-Israeldemonstrators.

In a statement issued in Jerusalem by its Israel director, Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center emphasized that such a policy would notonly 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 politicaldebate 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 ormistreating 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 statehave 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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