Germany’s Jewish community responded with outrage on Thursday after media reports that the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center was considering the inclusion of Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller on its annual top 10 list of global anti-Semitic incidents.
Such a move would be “grotesque” as it would involve putting Mueller on the same list that has previously included such anti-Semites as "former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the worst anti-Semites in the world,” Dr. Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said in a statement.
Speaking with the Jerusalem Post, Simon Wiesenthal Center associate dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper said that Mueller was "mainstreaming the BDS movement,” which is "widely recognized as anti-Semitic.”
“There are two reasons why he [Mueller] could theoretically make the list,” Cooper told the Post. “He is the mayor of, arguably, the most important European city. And his colleagues get it that BDS is not just mean-spirited but downright dangerous.”
Last week Frankfurt became the first German city to ban the use of municipal funds and facilities by the BDS movement. Munich is expected to pass a similar measure in the near future.
Mueller, on the other hand, has declined to condemn or take action against either the recent anti-Israel Quds day march through Berlin or a publicly funded event held by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist group, which operates freely in the city.
While the Central Council objected to the possible inclusion of Mueller on the Wiesenthal Center’s list, Schuster also had harsh words for the mayor, stating that it was "embarrassing for the city of Berlin that the Governing Mayor has so far considered it not necessary to stand clearly and unambiguously against BDS activities. The Jewish community also hoped for a more decisive action against the Berlin Al-Quds march.”
Referencing actions taken against BDS in Frankfurt and Munich, Schuster said that he would like to see Mueller to do the same.
