After the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, on Oct 7th 2023, many European metropoles witnessed keffiyeh-clad anti-Israel protestors swarming the streets in large-scale rallies. A large number of participants regularly accuse Israel of “genocide”, demand a Palestine free of Jews, and deny the October 7 massacres, rapes, hostage taking and tortures.
Berlin, once the center of the organization of the industrial mass extermination of European Jewry, is no exception. One woman, however, has been silently defying the mass protests week after week in her hometown—if only by holding up a A4-leaflet saying “Rape is not Resistance” or photos of the hostages still being held in Gaza in one hand, and a bouquet of chrysanthemums in the other, and silently standing by the wayside: 53-year-old Karoline Preisler, a German anti-fascist activist. On her X account, Mrs Preisler, who is also a member of the Free Democrat (Liberal) Party, has been documenting the abuse she faced from the anti-Israel protesters for well over a year now, including threats to her and her family’s lives. We talked to Mrs Preisler about her experience at the protests, the rise of violent antisemitism on the streets of Europe, the end of Enlightenment, and the chances of a return to civilization.
Café Américain: Dear Ms. Preisler, thank you for the interview. Can you say something about the form of your protest at the anti-Israel demonstrations, a “silent” one-woman protest?
My protest can be silent, because the statement on my poster speaks for itself. The statement on my poster alone challenges the anti-Israel intent of the demonstrations. Nevertheless, there are urgently needed conversations on the fringes of the rallies. After all, many participants are lied to and deceived by their leaders.
CA: Anti-Semitism, whether of a Western or Islamist nature, has never gone away, even after the Second World War and the Shoah. Are we now experiencing a sudden rise, or do you think anti-Semitism can now emerge from the “shadows” thanks to the groundwork of the left-wing, anti-Zionist cultural and educational establishment?
Yes, anti-Semitism has never gone away. That is unfortunately true. But it is now being made socially acceptable again by extreme left-wing and Islamist representatives of every scene. These actors even accept support from right-wing extremists, with whom they then stand side by side at rallies. In addition, terrorist organizations are using this fad in the Western world to destabilize democracies. It is really bad.
CA: An X user following your actions mentioned that already children of Muslim immigrants are already being indoctrinated in Germany. They have also been sent to attack you. How exactly does the indoctrination show?
Let me give you an example: On November 11, 2024—more than a year after October 7, 2023—I was at an anti-Israel gathering in Berlin Neukölln that was targeted directly at children. They were not calling for the release of the children of the Israeli-German Bibas family, for example, who have been held hostage to this day. No! The preschool and school children present learned chants such as “Baby killer Israel!”. The organizers praised the children for particularly well shouted slogans. Incidentally, I can’t say whether these children are Muslim immigrants. Berlin also has a strong German Muslim community and Islam is not the same as Islamism. The fact is, the older Jew-haters are also raising their children to be Jew-haters. This must stop!
CA: How do you see the further development of imported antisemitism? Will there be a backlash in Western Europe or will Europe go down and take the ideas of the Enlightenment down with it?
In Germany, imported antisemitism unfortunately combines far too well with the anti-Semitism of left-wing extremist forces that has always existed. Just think of the Red Army Faction (RAF). We have now changed our immigration laws. We can deny immigrants German citizenship if they have engaged in antisemitic activities in the past. Now we must get the countries of origin of antisemites to take them back if they no longer have the right to stay in Germany. This will only be possible through diplomatic efforts and imposing economic consequences for the countries of origin. Every antisemite who wants to come to Germany should expect me to be waiting for them. And I am not alone: our German civil society is serious when it says: “Never again is NOW”.
