Loathed by Jews, Germany’s far-right AfD loves the Jewish state – Candidates for nationalist Alternative for Germany, derided as anti-Semitic, overwhelmingly profess to hold pro-Israel positions, poll Shows | Times of Israel

Kommentar von Honestly Concerned

The Times of Israel published an article ("Loathed by Jews, Germany's far-right AfD loves the Jewish state" (https://goo.gl/4hFCsh), in which it refers to a polling of candidates and parties done by Honestly Concerned in cooperation with the Initiative 27. Januar, in advance of the elections (http://www.politikerbefragung.de). All the candidates and political parties - including the AfD - were asked 24 questions concerning Israel and anti-Semitism. In total, there were only 36 responses from a total of 356 candidates from the AfD, who were invited to participate in the poll, i.e. round about 10%. Additionally, it should be noted that no central party statement was received from the AfD, unlike from the CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP and Bündnis90/Die Grünen. Consequently, it has to be concluded that the 36 responses from AfD cannot necessarily be considered as representative for the party as a whole. This is reinforced by the fact, that Beatrix von Storch was the only person from anything close to the parties’ leadership to respond to the poll, unlike from the other parties, where some of the key representatives of the parties, including the heads of the parties, current ministers and other office holders responded. Resultantly, it must therefore be noted, that the conclusions drawn by the Times of Israel based on the polling done, cannot neither be considered to be accurate or representative of the AfD as a whole. Sacha Stawski, director of Honestly Concerned, additionally commented, that the questions of the poll were purposely structured in a way as to try and expose particular biases and divergent trends among the different parties, particularly also keeping in mind some of the statements made by members of the different parties in advance of the poll. “In terms of the AfD, we were particularly interested in the parties’ stand in regards to holocaust education, Germany’s responsibility for its past and remembrance. Unfortunately, given the small number of responses, even in regards to this point, we cannot come to a conclusive statement regarding the overall trend within the AfD. As such, we are left to assume that the statements made by the head of the AfD, Alexander Gauland, in regards to pride Germans should take in the Wehrmacht, and by Björn Höcke, head of the AfD faction in Thüringen, who has made revisionist statements in regards to German history, to name just two, are likely more representative for the party as a whole, that the limited responses received from the AfD as part of our poll”, so Stawski.