Spiegel demands more action by German society against anti-Semitism

Paul Spiegel, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, has criticized what he perceives as a "lack of commitment" by German society to combat anti-Semitism. In an interview with the newspaper "Mannheimer Morgen", Spiegel said that the "uprising of the decent" in society, announced by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder four years ago, had not really happened and that people return to their day-to-day business too quickly after initial outcries over desecrations of Jewish cemeteries or attacks on Jews or immigrants. Spiegel also said that an attack on minorities ought to be regarded as an attack on the democratic system as a whole. He also expressed fears that people took recent electoral successes by far-right parties too lightly. "I fear for the outcome of forthcoming elections", Spiegel said.