Values initiative. Jewish-German positions
The values initiative. Jewish-German Positions is a German association based in Berlin that claims to be committed to securing a Jewish future in Germany. The values initiative sees itself as a civil society, Jewish voice. It is not to be confused with the union of values .
structure
Board
The association's board consists of three people:
Members, supporters and honorary members
As a reaction to anti-Semitic riots in Germany and the subsequent minor reactions from civil society , the Values Initiative was created in 2014, initially as a loose association and was then founded in view of the 2017 federal election. A founding call was published in the Jüdische Rundschau in the May 5, 2017 edition. The signatories of the 8-point appeal are:
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are listed as supporters
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The values initiative has been a registered, non-profit association based in Berlin since 2018. Honorary members are Charlotte Knobloch and Stefan Kaller .
So-called “basic attitudes” on various topics can be found on the homepage of the Values Initiative.
activities
The association links the possibility of a future for Jewish life in Germany to a stable, free, democratic social structure. In the opinion of the Value Initiative, this requires a strong, defensive democracy. She also takes the "initiative against discrimination, racism, extremism and anti-Semitism".
As part of this activity, the association conducts background discussions with members of the parliaments and other political and socially relevant actors, makes public statements and recommendations, is active on the day-to-day politics in social media and organizes discussion rounds and political salons. For example, the values initiative designed a campaign for the celebrations of “70 Years of the Basic Law ”. The association is non-partisan. Meetings with politicians are documented on the homepage. There were talks with representatives from the CDU, SPD, Greens and FDP.
In 2019, the chairman of the Value Initiative, Elio Adler, was named an “Ambassador for Democracy and Tolerance” by the “ Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance - Against Extremism and Violence”.
In January 2020, the association announced that, in addition to its Jewish-German members, it had founded a Friends of the Value Initiative, in which non-Jewish citizens can join the association's concerns. The head of this circle of friends is the former federal chairman of the German trade union federation ( DGB ) and current deputy chairman of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung , Michael Sommer .
The values initiative cooperates with other initiatives from civil society. For example, together with the Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Anti-Semitism (JFDA), it published the “Declaration of Principles on Combating Anti-Semitism”, which was signed by initiatives, academics and public figures.
Spiegel article controversy
In mid-July 2019, “Der Spiegel” accused the Value Initiative, among other things, of “questionable methods”. This happened in connection with the Bundestag resolution "Resolute the BDS movement - fight anti-Semitism". For the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster , the Spiegel article served anti-Semitic clichés and thus fueled anti-Semitism. The anti-Semitism commissioner of the federal government, Felix Klein , rated the contribution as "highly problematic". He classified the Value Initiative as a perfectly legitimate interest group.
Thomas Fischer , presiding judge at the Federal Court of Justice a. D., attested that the accusation was "empty of content" and a "sound of racist stereotypes". Even Michael Wolffsohn said, "the allegations wear anti-Semitism".
Web links
- Website values initiative. Jewish-German positions
- Interview with BfDT- "Ambassador for Democracy and Tolerance" 2019: Dr. Elio Adler. In: buendnis-toleranz.de. January 20, 2020(including on the occasion of the foundation).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Our basic attitudes - the basis of our work. In : werteInitiative.de. January 20, 2019, accessed April 21, 2020 .
- ↑ https://werteinitiative.de/der-verein/der-vorstand/
- ↑ The values of Jewish citizens initiative for the parliamentary elections , Jewish Rundschau 5 May 2017
- ^ Middle East Peace Forum, Berlin
- ^ Honestly Concerned eV
- ^ I Like Israel eV
- ↑ Alpha Omega Germany eV
- ↑ Honorary Members. In : werteInitiative.de. Retrieved April 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Germany is changing. In : werteInitiative.de. Retrieved April 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Here is an overview of our activities. In : werteInitiative.de. Retrieved April 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Dr. Elio Adler - BfDT ambassadors for democracy and tolerance 2019. In: buendnis-toleranz.de. May 28, 2019, accessed April 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Circle of Friends. In : werteInitiative.de. Retrieved April 21, 2020 .
- ^ Declaration of principles on anti-Semitism. In : werteInitiative.de. August 25, 2018, accessed April 21, 2020 .
- ^ Matthias Gebauer, Ann-Katrin Müller, Sven Röbel, Raniah Salloum, Christoph Schult, Christoph Sydow: Lobbying in the Bundestag: How two associations want to influence German Middle East policy. In: Spiegel Online . July 12, 2019, accessed April 21, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Joachim Huber: "We stick to the facts": The "Spiegel" contradicts anti-Semitism allegations. In: Tagesspiegel.de . July 15, 2019, accessed April 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Thomas Fischer: Fact check on the SPIEGEL article from July 13, 2019. In : werteInitiative.de. July 13, 2019, accessed April 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Michael Wolffsohn: “Der Spiegel” and the dangerous game with friends of Israel. In: Welt.de . July 14, 2019, accessed April 21, 2020 .