Michael Mertes, Director of KAS Israel, states that “KAS Israel urges German law enforcement authorities as well as the decent majority within German civil society not to tolerate this wave of hate speech. The right of assembly is a fundamental civil liberty, but hate speech is a criminal offense.

From the outset, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung has advocated the principle of ‘militant democracy’ (wehrhafte Demokratie) in its political education programs. According to this principle, it is each and every citizen’s duty to defend democracy against its enemies.”