Bundestag Vice President Aydan Özoguz received a lot of criticism because of a social media post about the Gaza war. Now the SPD politician asks for forgiveness.
After a controversial social media post about the Gaza war, Bundestag Vice President Aydan Özoguz admitted mistakes and apologized. “It was a mistake to share this Instagram story. I ask for your forgiveness,” said the SPD politician about the incident after a meeting of the Bundestag Council of Elders.
Her goal is to build bridges in society and bring people together. “But this post had the exact opposite effect. I distance myself from it.”
Pro-Palestinian organization that wants to abolish the Jewish state
According to her office, the SPD politician shared a post from “Jewish Voice for Peace” as an Instagram story on Wednesday. Such stories delete themselves after 24 hours and the process can no longer be traced on your account. The organization says it is committed to “Palestinian liberation and Judaism beyond Zionism.”
The “Bild” newspaper reported that the article was about an Israeli attack on a hospital in the Gaza Strip. Screenshots were circulating on Platform X, the authenticity of which could not initially be verified. In one photo you can see burning objects with the words: “This is Zionism” written above them. The Israeli army announced on Monday that a Hamas command center had been attacked.
The Zionist movement emerged in the 19th century with the aim of creating a Jewish nation state – Israel was founded in 1948.
Central Council of Jews sees “derailment” by Aydan Özoguz
After the post, Özoguz was met with massive criticism. The President of the Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, spoke of a “derailment”. “It’s one thing to criticize Israel’s conduct of the war, or to use anti-Zionist narratives that led to the worst anti-Israel and anti-Jewish riots in Germany last year,” criticized Schuster.
The German-Israeli Society (DIG) called for Özoguz to resign from the position of Bundestag Vice President, as DIG President Volker Beck told “Bild”. “By sharing, Ms. Özoguz crossed a red line.” Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) also criticized her deputy and party colleague.
Özoguz initially expressed regret. “I realized that the shared post hurt the feelings of fellow citizens who stand for peaceful coexistence,” she said. “That was not my intention and I deeply regret it.” Her office emphasized that since the brutal attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the politician has clearly committed herself to Israel’s right to self-defense.
Council of Elders deals with incident
The Union accused her of making anti-Israel statements and called for an immediate meeting of the Bundestag’s Council of Elders. As Vice President, Özoguz is a member of the Council of Elders alongside other deputies and Bundestag President Bas herself. It also includes other experienced MPs.
According to information from participants, a discussion took place at the meeting of the Council of Elders on Friday afternoon. Özoguz apologized there again. The representatives of the traffic light parties would have accepted this. The Union took note of the words and stuck to its demand for resignation. “We don’t want to be represented by such a vice president,” the parliamentary director of the CDU/CSU, Thorsten Frei, had previously said. According to the participants, no intention to resign was apparent at the meeting.
Özoguz herself subsequently announced that she had apologized “clearly” during the meeting for the Instagram post she had shared. She also contacted the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Schuster, and asked him to apologize.
Source: Stern
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