GERMANY: President Moshe Katsav of Israel has urged Germany to step up its fight against anti-Semitism and has expressed regret at the killing of Palestinian civilians in the Middle East.
Mr Katsav was speaking at the opening of a synagogue in the western German city of Wuppertal yesterday at the start of a three-day visit to Germany.
"The voices of anti-Semitism can be heard now and again in Europe, including on German soil," said Mr Katsav. The voices come from sideline groups, he said, but "one can never know how many people feel the same way".
Mr Katsav will hold talks with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder this morning to discuss the Middle East. "We are convinced that we can achieve peace in spite of the difficult situation," said Mr Katsav yesterday. "But the atrocities of Palestinian terrorists are no longer just terrorism, but worse." He said he regretted the "inadvertent killing of Palestinian woman and children", but denied that the Israeli army targeted civilians.
Mr Katsav's visit, taking place amid high security, is a "historical signal" for Germany's 100,000- strong Jewish community, according to Mr Paul Spiegel, the president of the Central Committee of Jews in Germany.
Many Jews in Germany have been made to feel guilty for "living in the land of the murderer", said Mr Spiegel yesterday, recalling comments made by Mr Katsav's predecessor on a state visit in 1996.
"This visit is a confirmation that the Jewish community in Germany is respected and accepted in Israel," he said. Mr Spiegel attacked German politicians and intellectuals for not speaking out against Mr Jürgen Möllemann, the controversial deputy leader of the liberal Free Democrats, who used an election pamphlet to attack Israel and Jewish leaders in Germany.
"We have had to experience anti-Semitism being aired in a democracy and the weak protest against it. We must not forget this silence," he said.
Around 200 skinheads from the far-right National Democratic Party plan to march through Berlin today to protest against Mr Katsav's visit and Israel's policy toward the Palestinians. Berlin police have no legal means to ban the march.
Meanwhile, Mr Edmund Stoiber, the conservative Bavarian state premier, has said Turkey has no place in the EU.
"Turkey's entrance to the EU would be the end of the political union of Europe," he told Der Spiegel yesterday.