Timely Stand Against Old Evil : Despite disruptions, massive rally in Berlin condemns racist attacks

Forget for a moment the few hundred anarchists who disrupted the rally held in Berlin on Sunday to protest recent right-wing outrages. Focus instead on the 300,000 Germans who came together under the slogan “Human dignity is inviolable”--the first sentence of their country’s constitution--to affirm their abhorrence of racist violence.

Focus as well on the solemn warning from President Richard von Weizsaeker, the national conscience if anyone has a claim to that title, that “we should never forget why Germany’s first republic (in the 1920s) failed: Not because there were too many Nazis so early on but because there were too few democrats for so long.” Sunday’s large rally showed that most Germans of course remain committed democrats. Right-wing extremism is not about to triumph in Germany. But that the rally had to be held at all is a grim reminder that neo-Nazis and other ultranationalists have been attracting growing support and sympathy, active and tacit, and are becoming more aggressive. The official response to this threat has not been adequate.

This year has seen 1,800 violent attacks against foreigners in Germany--14 times the number two years ago--and a rising incidence of anti-Semitic vandalism. The increase in violence parallels the increase in the number of asylum seekers entering Germany; 500,000 are expected this year. Germany, Europe’s most generous nation in welcoming political refugees, has no immigration law as such. It badly needs one to regulate the flow of entrants. Devising a fair policy is a first order of political business.

But Germany also needs a bolder policy to protect those threatened by xenophobia, including a more aggressive response to right-wing thugs. In his prepared remarks for the Sunday rally Weizsaeker warned his fellow citizens--including, implicitly, government officials--not to look away from or minimize the violence that has been occurring. Germany, because of the historical burden that Weizsaeker has so often eloquently cited, must not be seen as doing too little to protect those within its borders who come under attack, nor can it be perceived as failing to act forcefully to thwart or punish their tormentors.