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Chancellor Merkel's Speech at 100th Anniversary Celebration of American Jewish Committee
Mr. President, I am delighted and honored to be able to celebrate with you the one hundredth anniversary of the American Jewish Committee. I know that it is anything but a matter of course for a Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany to be invited to address you here tonight. In only a few days from today, next Monday, on May 8, 61 years ago the Second World War ended and the world was liberated from the reign of terror imposed by National Socialism. We shall never forget that also and in particular soldiers of the United States of America gave their lives for this great cause. Their dedication, as indeed the dedication of the Allies, commits us, for the present and for the future, to work for peace in freedom, human rights and democracy. These are the values that guide us and that we shall do our utmost to stand up for. Allow me, if I may, to continue in my mother tongue. Ladies and gentlemen, for the past 100 years the American Jewish Committee has had special links with Germany. It was after all German Jewish emigrants to the US who in 1906 founded the AJC. It was the first Jewish organization to seek contact with Germany following the Shoah. This hope, this special trust in a democratic Germany, also expressed in your invitation to me as Germany's Chancellor to speak to you this evening, makes us and – I must say – me personally full of gratitude. Ladies and gentlemen, the National Socialists sought to eradicate Jewish life in the cruelest possible manner. The expulsion and murder of the Jews tore apart or destroyed millions of families. The Shoah's cruel effects continue to this day. Almost no Jewish person anywhere in the world was unaffected by it. Through the crimes of the National Socialist regime, Germany was robbed of a major part of its cultural and intellectual identity. Jewish culture and traditions, rituals and customs, knowledge and art were lost along with the victims. Much of this loss is irretrievable. Therefore it is all the more important that we maintain and preserve what is left and that we promote new Jewish life where it takes root. The Jewish Museum in Berlin recalls the history of Jews in Germany. The Holocaust Memorial at the heart of our capital city, Berlin, right near the Brandenburg Gate, reminds us of the breakdown in morality that blights our history. We Germans have and will continue to have a duty to resolutely combat any form of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia. This duty must be upheld in daily life – through state action and through the civic courage of each individual. Paul Spiegel, the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, who died way before his time last Sunday, also dedicated his life's work to this task. Paul Spiegel spoke out in warning where too many remained silent. This was his service to Germany. Today we see with great satisfaction that Jewish schools and kindergartens are again being set up in Germany, synagogues are being constructed and, next September in Dresden, the first rabbis will be ordained since 1945. The Jewish community in Germany is now the third largest in Europe. The integration of what are now over 200,000 immigrants is posing the small Jewish congregations in Germany major problems. The Federal Government and the Länder are playing their part in helping them meet these challenges. However, the most important effort towards integration, the perseverant work with the new members, is being done by the Jewish congregations themselves, with the active support of the American Jewish Committee among others. Ladies and gentlemen, the opening of the AJC's Berlin office eight years ago, made possible by the generous support of Lawrence and Lee Ramer, who are with us here this evening, was a clear and wonderful expression of the American Jewish Committee's long-term commitment to Germany. Let me just choose two of the many examples: First, the intensive exchange programs, through which thousands of Americans have got to know Germany and a large number of Germans have experienced Jewish life in the US. I also want to mention the outstanding contribution made by the AJC towards the 2004 OSCE Anti-Semitism Conference in Berlin, and to warmly thank you for these efforts! Ladies and gentlemen, for over 50 years now the American Jewish Committee has been a major partner for us Germans in our dialogue with American Jews and in our transatlantic relations. We agree with our partners in the US – and this was confirmed again during my talks today and yesterday with the President and with US business leaders – that we must further strengthen our cooperation. The transatlantic partnership is based on common values, very similar interests and shared historical experiences. We will continue to work actively alongside our partners in Europe and the US for peace in freedom, for democracy and for human rights around the world. This particularly also applies to the Middle East. The American Jewish Committee is intensively committed to Israel, and, ladies and gentlemen, for that reason let me emphasize here tonight that the resolute commitment to Israel's right to exist and to the right of its citizens to live within secure borders and in peace with its neighbors is an unalterable feature of the foreign policy of all German governments. I know this was and still is also the personal concern of former Federal Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and former Federal Interior Minister Otto Schily, who I am pleased to see here this evening. Ladies and gentlemen, Israel's right to exist must never be called into question. It is therefore shocking and totally unacceptable for every German government when the Iranian President does just that. During my first trip to Israel as Chancellor, in January, I visited the Yad Vashem Memorial. Anyone who opens himself to the impressions of this place cannot help but bow in shame before the victims of the Shoah and realize what a responsibility we have for the future. It is therefore all the more impressive how openly and amicably people in Israel regard Germany, but also what great expectations they have of us. This makes me very pleased, but at the same time I am aware of the enormous responsibility. Let me assure you that my country, Germany, will do everything in its power to meet that responsibility. For that reason our primary policy objective in the Middle East is a just and lasting peace. With their election decision in March the Israelis showed that they want reconciliation and peace. But the justified desire of the Palestinian people to live in an independent state can only be realized in peace with Israel. I therefore greatly regret the fact that the new Hamas-led Palestinian government continues to refuse to embark on this course together with Israel and the international community. The sine qua non for lasting peace is the unequivocal recognition of Israel's right to exist, the rejection of violence and compliance with all existing obligations. The decision lies with Hamas, which in the final analysis will have to justify the consequences of its policies vis-à-vis the Palestinian people. Ladies and gentlemen, there is no doubt that the Iranian nuclear program gives us cause for the greatest possible concern and for concerted international action. Fortunately many agree that Iran must be prevented from possessing nuclear weapons. In the current situation it is vital that any international action be resolute, as only through international solidarity can it be effective. Germany will do what it can to achieve this aim. Ladies and gentlemen, terrorism is the greatest threat facing the free democracies in the 21st century. I personally regard this situation as being more difficult than the Cold War, since we are facing opponents who do not respect the dignity of human life, not even that of their own lives. This is why international terrorism threatens us all – Americans and Germans, people of different religions and beliefs, rich and poor. No country can counter the threat of international terrorism alone. For that reason, too, Europe and America must stand together. This applies to governments, but we must also have the support of citizens for whom peace in freedom, democracy, humanity and tolerance are the guidelines of their commitment. The American Jewish Committee is one such example. "You have to light the future" is your motto after 100 years of successful activity – a motto which already describes the task ahead. I am sure that the American Jewish Committee will continue to build bridges, provide impetus and, through the determination of its members and of all those who share its objectives, have an effect on the world. For this task I wish the American Jewish Committee, the people who guide it, its members, friends and supporters, every success, and I warmly congratulate the AJC on its 100th birthday!
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