Opinion
By Takis Theodoropoulos
Elif Eralp, a politician of Turkish descent, hopes to become Berlin’s next mayor. For many, the Left’s strong showing in Berlin, a city with a high proportion of immigrants relative to its overall population, disproves the argument that the rise of the far right is driven by fears of immigration gaining a foothold in German society. What this argument overlooks, however, is that many former immigrants are now German voters.
The case that emerged following Eralp’s interview with Der Spiegel reveals the influence immigrant organisations have gained in Germany’s political life through their infiltration of the political system. And that influence has a name: fear.
Der Spiegel received a message with an attached note in which Eralp told her colleagues she would refuse to answer questions about her party’s ties to antisemitic and criminal circles. Not because she considers the allegations defamatory or believes they are intended to misrepresent her political agenda. But because she is afraid. She fears for her own safety and for her family. Her husband is afraid, too.
Ibrahim Ibrahim, a member of an organisation the EU has designated as terrorist, also attended an event organised by her party. Yet Eralp did not shy away from answering a question about MP Vanessa Emde, who denies the existence of the State of Israel. Her answer was a textbook example of evasion. She said she knew that many of her colleagues were deeply committed to the Palestinian cause, but had not expected them to go that far. I do not know whether naivety is a hallmark of political genius, as I suspect her voters would like to believe.
Here is a question of judgement: Either Ms Eralp did not know that a prominent member of a terrorist organisation had attended her party’s event and, when she found out, reacted with: “Good heavens, what do we do now?” Or she knew and did not dare turn him away or have him removed. Either she has no idea what is happening inside her own party, or she knows perfectly well but lacks the courage to confront it.
I choose fear as the explanation. And I am not talking about the fear of political fallout, the accepted virtue of every politician. We are talking about fear for her life and the lives of her family members. Metaphorically speaking, it is the fear a member of a "gang" feels when they break its rules.
And what are those rules? Defending Palestinian terrorism and embracing antisemitism.
This unfortunate woman's case offers compelling evidence of the connection between Palestinian terrorism and antisemitism, and of how both have infiltrated European societies. We cannot, of course, ignore the role of the Left and the remnants of a fossilised progressivism.
