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| Angela Merkel: Fighting anti-Semitism is German duty | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Fighting anti-Semitism is every German's duty, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told a rally in Berlin. | |
| The protest against anti-Semitism comes 75 years since the start of World War Two, in which six million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany. | |
| With attacks on Jews increasing, the message to Germany and the world is "tolerance" , Mrs Merkel said. | |
| The surge in anti-Semitism follows the summer's conflict in Gaza. | The surge in anti-Semitism follows the summer's conflict in Gaza. |
| The rally at the Brandenburg Gate - under the banner "Stand Up: Jew Hatred - Never Again!" - coincided with a World Jewish Congress (WJC) meeting in the capital. | |
| On stage, Chancellor Merkel began her speech saying the 100,000 Jews living in Germany were a "national treasure". | |
| "Jewish friends, neighbours and colleagues, consider yourselves at home here," she told the crowd, put at up to 5,000 people. | |
| However, because of the sharp rise in anti-Semitic attacks, she said there was "not a single Jewish institution" in the country that does not require police protection in the current climate, and it was "every German's duty" to take a stand. | |
| "The legitimate criticism of the political actions of a government - be it ours or of the state of Israel - is fine. But if it is only used as a cloak for one's hatred against other people, hatred for Jewish people, then it is a misuse of our basic rights of freedom of opinion and assembly." | |
| At the scene: Jenny Hill, BBC correspondent in Berlin | |
| Blue and white blue banners balloons and flags fluttered under grey skies at the Brandenburg gate. | |
| Among the thousands of people in the crowd we met a little boy called Orfeo. He's nine. Already another child at his school has told him he'd kill him because he's a Jew. | |
| No wonder, perhaps, there are such strong feelings here. | |
| Police kept a close eye on a handful of pro-Palestinian protesters. | |
| It's difficult to gauge the effect of recent events in Gaza. Community leaders here say they have partially contributed to a rise in attacks on Jews in Germany. But what concerns them most, they say, is their sense that anti-semitism has become socially acceptable. | |
| During the height of Israel's bombardment of Gaza in July, Germany's Jewish community condemned an "explosion of evil and violent hatred of Jews" at pro-Palestinian rallies. | During the height of Israel's bombardment of Gaza in July, Germany's Jewish community condemned an "explosion of evil and violent hatred of Jews" at pro-Palestinian rallies. |
| Some demonstrators were reported to have shouted slogans saying "Zionists are fascists, killing children and civilians" and yelled that Jews should be "gassed". | Some demonstrators were reported to have shouted slogans saying "Zionists are fascists, killing children and civilians" and yelled that Jews should be "gassed". |
| Last week, a swastika and the words "Jews" and the Nazi slogan "Sieg Heil" were spray-painted on to a local newspaper building in the eastern city of Cottbus. | Last week, a swastika and the words "Jews" and the Nazi slogan "Sieg Heil" were spray-painted on to a local newspaper building in the eastern city of Cottbus. |