This 7 October will be burned deeply into all of our memories – forever. The day since which nothing has been as it was before for the people of Israel, for all Jewish people. The day on which Hamas terrorists attacked Israel with unbounded brutality, murdered innocent civilians, horrifically massacred defenceless victims, executed elderly people and children alike, abducted more than two hundred people. The day on which horror erupted into the lives of the people of Israel. The screams of fear, the despair, the anger – what unbearable pain for those who survived the barbarity, pain at the thought of the dead, pain at the thought of the injured, pain at the thought of those who were abducted and must fear for their lives.
What is happening in Israel, the news and images that are reaching us, are also causing us here in Germany profound pain. That is why we are coming together here today, to show solidarity, and I am very grateful to all of you for doing so. To our friends in Israel and to all Jewish people, we say: You are not alone! At this terrible time, we stand shoulder to shoulder with you. Your pain is our pain.
I hear this pain during my frequent telephone calls in recent days with my friend Israeli President Herzog. And I felt it very keenly when I met with relatives of the abducted hostages on Friday.
Some of them are here today, Gilli, Roni, Yoni and many others. To these people who have lived in agonising uncertainty for two weeks now, who do not know where their abducted friends and relatives have been taken, whether they are alive and in what conditions, who are suffering unimaginable anguish, I say: We Germans are suffering, we are praying, we are pleading along with you. And we want to do everything in our power to see your loved ones released as quickly as possible.
To the terrorists who are using the hostages as human shields, I call out from here, from the Brandenburg Gate: The whole world is watching this crime! Stop the barbarity! Let the innocent people go!
Yes, since 7 October nothing has been as it was before. Never since the end of the Shoah have so many Jewish people been murdered at once. Israel has the right to defend itself against this terror. And Germany stands firmly by Israel’s side as it does so. Hamas’s terror targets Jewish people in Israel. But its terror also affects people in the Gaza Strip, whose interests Hamas merely claims to represent. It is the terrorists who have led Gaza into a destructive military war. A war that we all fear could spread across the region. Every effort must be made to prevent that from happening.
And we must also not forget the innocent people in Gaza who do not support terrorism and are now suffering nonetheless. We must and will endeavour to ensure that civilians are protected; they need humanitarian assistance and humanitarian corridors. That is a question of humanity.
Dear compatriots, we can all feel it in recent days: our country, too, is called upon as it has not been in a long time! It is intolerable that Jewish people are today once again living in fear – in our country, of all places. That Jewish parents are no longer sending their children to school – in our country, of all places. That the Holocaust Memorial next to us must be protected by the police – in our country, of all places. Each and every attack on Jewish people, on Jewish institutions, disgraces Germany! Each and every attack fills me with shame and anger.
All of us in our country are called upon to act. Antisemitism is the red line. We must not tolerate any kind of antisemitism – right-wing, left-wing, old or new. And we must not tolerate any hatred of Israel expressed on our streets. Not from anyone!
Our democracy does not differentiate on the basis of origin, experience or religion. Everyone who lives here must know about Auschwitz and understand the responsibility that results therefrom for our country. The fact that Jewish life took root again in our country, after the crime against humanity that was the Shoah, is a miracle. And we must and will preserve this miracle. How I wished that this would not be necessary – but we are bolstering the protection of Jewish institutions. Protecting Jewish life, too, is our special responsibility and the duty imposed on us by history. It is inscribed in the foundation on which our democracy is built. Protecting Jewish life is a responsibility of the state – but it is also a civic duty!
I call on all people in our country to embrace this civic duty. We live in a democracy, yes, in which freedom of assembly and freedom of opinion are highly valued principles, yes. But violence sets a limit on our freedoms. Antisemitic incitement to hatred, attacks on Jewish synagogues, attacks on the police, are not examples of people embracing their freedoms. They are criminal offences. I expect everyone, wherever they stand, to respect these rules for peaceful coexistence.
We are a diverse and globally minded country – and we want to remain so. Let us be united in rejecting terrorism and barbarity! Let us together condemn all forms of antisemitism and racism! Let us show that people with Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Arab roots can live peacefully together in Germany, and want to do so! That and nothing less is what is required of us. Particularly now in these times! Thank you for coming here.