In Germany, far right threatens Jews and Muslims alike

Many in Germany watched the regional elections in the eastern states of Saxony and Thuringia with bated breath last weekend as the far-right, anti-immigration and Eurosceptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) party made pivotal electoral gains. The AfD won the vote with a 32.8 percent margin in Thuringia — where it is designated as right-wing extremist and its regional leader considered a fascist — becoming the first far-right party to succeed in a state election in the country since the Nazis were in power. In the neighboring Saxony, it came a close second with 30.6 percent of the vote, behind the Christian Democrats or the CDU, in an alarming development ahead of a key federal vote scheduled for September 2025. 

Protests followed from Berlin to Erfurt after the AfD win, with demonstrators denouncing Nazism and growing right-wing extremism in Germany that is particularly hostile towards immigrants. With its antisemitic history, the AfD has taken advantage of events in Israel and Gaza to demonize dissenting communities while stoking the flames of racism. Björn Höcke, its leader, has been convicted of using the Nazi slogan “Everything for Germany” at political events in the past and has sparked fury by criticizing Germany’s Holocaust remembrance and atonement culture.

Post the developments last Sunday, the Central Council of Jews in Germany expressed deep concern over the results of the state elections amid AfD’s significant gains. A leading Munich-based rabbi, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, said the first victory for the far right in a German state parliament election since World War II should come as a “wake-up call”, warning that extremism could grow stronger if voters’ concerns over immigration and other issues were not addressed.

The AfD party is also seen as the Kremlin’s best friend in Germany, which is vocal in its opposition to military assistance to Ukraine. The party’s leader from Thuringia, Höcke, said earlier this year that if he ever became German chancellor, his first trip abroad would be to Moscow instead of Washington. Buendnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), a new leftist group that did well in state elections, also wants sanctions to end against Russia.

The state elections pointed to the fragility of the governing coalition, comprising the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and Free Democrats (FDP), and a general lack of contentment in Germany, at present, under Chancellor Olaf Scholz. 

Scholz reacted to the setback of Sunday’s polls amid the far-right surge and urged lawmakers in the states that held elections to form a coalition without the AfD. “The AfD is damaging Germany. It is weakening the economy, dividing society and ruining our country’s reputation,” he said. 

An election is scheduled in the eastern state of Brandenburg on September 22, where the AfD is also leading the polls. 

As mainstream parties refuse to cooperate with the AfD, the chances of the far right governing are meager. The worrying precedent of the tilt towards the right in Germany, however, cannot be taken lightly. 

According to the Interior Ministry’s figures, far-right crimes in Germany increased substantially in the first six months of 2024. At least 9,802 crimes were committed by right-wing extremists, up from 6,992 crimes reported in the first six months of 2023. Nearly 318 violent attacks targeting migrants, refugees, or political opponents were also recorded in the first half of the year, in which at least 166 people were injured. 

Far-right gatherings have also seen a spike. There were three times as many right-wing demonstrations in the first half of 2023 in Germany compared to the first half of 2022, in which many anti-migrant themes were featured. 

Meanwhile, the Federal Association of Research and Information Centres on Anti-Semitism (RIAS) recorded at least 4,782 antisemitic incidents in 2023, compared with 2,616 the year before, indicating a spike of over 80 percent.

The far right successes have emboldened many in Germany in openly expressing their xenophobic views, of which Muslims also remain a vulnerable target. A day after the state elections and the victory of the AfD, the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior stirred up racist sentiment by posting an Islamophobic animated video clip reminiscent of the 1930s Nazi propaganda against Jews. It showed a Muslim woman falling into the mouth of a hysterically laughing Muslim man, seen wearing an Islamic skullcap. The video was later deleted after social media outrage.

The state elections took place in the aftermath of a deadly attack in the town of Solingen. The attack was carried out by a Syrian man who randomly stabbed festival-goers with a knife, killing three people and injuring eight others. The incident sparked heated debates over irregular migration from Islamic countries like Syria and Afghanistan, prompting the German authorities to carry out the first deportation flight since 2021 of convicted Afghan nationals. Even a swift response and strong condemnation in the wake of the attack, however, did not quite help the ruling coalition parties to perform well in the state polls or salvage the loss of electoral trust. 

The AfD exploited the Solingen incident with its leader Alice Weidel demanding an “immediate ban on immigration, admission and naturalization for at least five years” and Hoecke blaming “tolerance and open mindedness” from certain politicians for creating a “breeding ground” for these kinds of attacks. 

The AfD’s rise could inflame existing prejudices and create further divisions in Germany. The far-right leaders, as they downplay German antisemitism, continue to capitalize on terror incidents and the Israel-Hamas war by sowing discord in communities, through perpetuating stereotypes and fears that Jews, Muslims and immigrants cannot co-exist. The win of the AfD affects all minority groups and comes as an awakening for many who see Germany as a tolerant country for all. Little is done to assuage their concerns.