A new campaign, launched by Germany's Christian Democratic Union party, aims to tackle the recent uptick in anti-Semitic sentiments in Germany by encouraging the German public to visit Jewish institutions and meet with members of the local Jewish community.
The initiative, dubbed "From Shabbat to Shabbat," began last Friday and will continue through the end of this week.
In a video posted to the party's official site ahead of the action week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who heads the CDU, invited Germans to visit synagogues and Jewish community centers across Germany and learn about Jewish culture and religion.
In the video, Merkel explained that the objective of the initiative was "to show our Jewish friends that the Christian Democrats will always oppose anti-Semitism absolutely."
She said anti-Semitism must be met with a clear response from authorities, the government and society in general.
Merkel clarified that the CDU's "commitment to Jewish life in Germany and our actions against anti-Semitism" extended far beyond the weeklong initiative. "It is a constant mission for the Christian Democratic party and for all of Germany," she said.
According to the party, the action week aims to "make Jewish life in Germany visible. We want to express solidarity with our fellow Jewish citizens. We want to set the tone and show our Jewish friends and the entire country: anti-Semitism will always meet the determined resistance of the CDU."
The action week is one of the first initiatives led by CDU General Secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is widely believed to be a potential successor to Merkel.
Kramp-Karrenbauer said she plans to continue in the vein of the April protest, in which Germans of different faiths donned kippot – traditional Jewish skullcaps – and took to the streets in several cities to protest an anti-Semitic attack in Berlin and to express concerns about increasing anti-Semitic violence in the country.
"From Shabbat to Shabbat – Together Against Anti-Semitism" started on Friday, May 25, 2018, and ends on Saturday, June 2, 2018.
