Franziska Giffey, Governing Mayor of Berlin
© dpa
Berlin joins a worldwide cities initiative against anti-Semitism.
The Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) will sign a declaration to this effect next Wednesday (October 12), the Senate Chancellery announced on Friday.
The initiative "Mayors United Against Anti-Semitism" was launched in 2015 in the USA and across Europe. The goal is to unite and strengthen municipal leaders in their commitment against anti-Semitism. "Supporting the initiative is a matter of course for me," Giffey explained. "We actively counter anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia and xenophobia in our city. That is part of the lessons of our past, especially here in Berlin." The declaration is also an important signal to a society that clearly and powerfully opposes anti-Semitism, he said. According to the Senate Chancellery, the occasion for the signing of the declaration is the inaugural visit of the director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Berlin, Remko Leemhuis, to Giffey.