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German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas slammed 'rocket terror' from Hamas as responsible for the current situation in the Middle East, as parliamentarians were united in condemning anti-Semitism at recent pro-Palestinian protests in Germany, on Wednesday.

"The Middle East is currently experiencing the worst violence in years and Hamas's rocket terror is responsible for this. More than 3,500 rockets have been fired at Israel in recent days," Maas stated, during a session on the current hostilities at the Bundestag in Berlin.

"Too many have already lost their lives, including children on both sides. This must end and as soon as possible," he stressed.

The foreign minister emphasised that Hamas needed to stop its attacks "so that this bloodshed ends and the weapons finally get silenced."

"That remains our top priority, not only here in Germany but also in the entire European Union, and that is how humanitarian aid for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip can really be achieved," he stated.

"One may criticise Israeli politics and government but never persecute people because of their religion or nationality," Gregor Gysi, of the Left Party, said, referring to the anti-Semitic slogans and the burning of Israeli flags in protests in support of the Palestinian people in the last few days.

The hostilities and unrest in Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank entered their tenth day on Wednesday, with over 215 dead in Gaza, including at least 61 children, while 12 people have been killed in Israel, among them two children.

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SOT, Heiko Maas, German Foreign Minister (German): "The Middle East is currently experiencing the worst violence in years and the rocket terror of Hamas is responsible for this. More than 3,500 rockets have been fired at Israel in recent days."

SOT, Heiko Maas, German Foreign Minister (German): "And therefore Israel has the right and the duty to protect its people against this. Hamas has deliberately brought about this escalation with dire consequences for Israelis and Palestinians, especially the people of Gaza, and too many have already lost their lives, including children on both sides. This must end and as soon as possible."

SOT, Heiko Maas, German Foreign Minister (German): "First and foremost, the rocket terror of Hamas must stop, so that this bloodshed ends and the weapons finally get silenced. That remains our top priority, not only here in Germany but also in the entire European Union, and that is how humanitarian aid for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip can really be achieved, and that is also part of the truth, which is that the humanitarian situation of the people who live there must be improved in order to educate Hamas to mobilise people."

SOT, Heiko Maas, German Foreign Minister (German): "To confront anti-Semitic hatred here in our own cities with the full force of German law, regardless of whether they have always lived here or have only come here in the last few years, because in the end, everyone who is in Germany, permanently or even just passing by, should know that there must not be a centimetre of space on our streets for anti-Semitism, never ever again."

SOT, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, Free Democratic Party Member of Parliament (German): "Whoever throws stones at synagogues, whoever writes anti-Semitic insults on open streets, whoever burns Israeli flags, whoever tries to spread hate and hatred against Jews under false pretences, this is an attack on our liberal values, which we must confront unitedly, and there is not a single event in the Middle East that would justify such a thing."

SOT, Gregor Gysi, Member of Parliament for The Left Party (German): "Anti-Semitic slogans or burning the Israeli flag are criminal offences that should be strictly prosecuted. One may criticise Israeli politics and government but never persecute people because of their religion or nationality. People are to be judged by their character, by what they do and don't do, by nothing else."

SO, Dirk Wiese, Social Democratic Party Member of Parliament (German): "What we have had to see in Germany in the past few days, however, has been more than worrying for me. Attacks on synagogues, the chanting of anti-Semitic slogans at demonstrations, the burning of Israeli flags, the threats against Jews. We, in the SPD parliamentary group, condemn all of this in the strongest possible terms, and I would like to make it quite clear that anyone who openly and unabashedly spreads hate and hatred under the guise of freedom of expression is leaving the ground of our basic law and should be punished, and it makes no difference to me whether someone was born here or immigrated here."

#Germany #Berlin #Maas #MPs #AntiSemitism

Video ID: 20210519-063

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