At a rally for queer visibility in front of the Berlin-Steglitz Town Hall, Monday brought a clash involving Daniel Eliasson, a Green Party politician in Berlin. The demonstration, organized by the Left Youth, revolved around the stance of Malgorzata Sijbrandij (CDU), the Steglitz city education councilor, who had banned drag readings at the district Ingeborg-Drewitz Library and has publicly opposed queer visibility (TheColu.mn reported). Yet the issue itself faded into the background during the event.
Eliasson, deputy parliamentary group chair for the Greens in Steglitz-Zehlendorf and a direct candidate for the state legislative election, began his remarks by championsing diversity and queer representation. He then turned to a recent incident that had occurred just hours earlier at a campaign stand outside a Berlin supermarket in Berlin-Südende: the Jewish politician, according to police, was subjected to antisemitic insults and physically attacked by a 68-year-old man; the police are investigating suspected battery, insult, and incitement to hatred. Eliasson also shared the incident on Instagram.
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Greens: “A Bitter Reality in Dealing with Antisemitism”
The Greens’ district association sharply criticized the incident and called for an apology from the organizers. “The events of this day, however, also reveal a bitter reality in how antisemitism is handled,” the association stated. “When you deny a victim of antisemitic violence a word as soon as he raises antisemitism in your own surroundings, you render yourself unreliable in the fight against hatred and intolerance.” They also urged the Left to clearly state where it stands in the fight against antisemitism.
Dennis Egginger-Gonzalez, the Left’s direct candidate for Steglitz, rejected the critique: he argued the interruption stemmed from on-site arrangements; Eliasson had allegedly exceeded the allotted speaking time and used the rally to pursue party-political confrontation rather than staying on the topic of drag readings and diversity. Eliasson, for his part, claimed he did not exceed a four-minute time limit.
The Left accuses Eliasson of being “overbearing”
Egginger-Gonzalez also accused the Jewish politician on Instagram of fanning antisemitism. In his words under Eliasson’s Instagram post: “And you don’t do the important fight against antisemitism any favors. Yesterday you were very overbearing toward young people who wanted to be heard.” The accusation of overbearing is a label often used against queer or Jewish politicians who are accused of not being loyal to their country, but instead to supranational networks or foreign interests. (dk)
