Alternative für Deutschland

33-year-old Bavarian Green party leader Katharina Schulze is young and vivacious.  Neither the AfD nor the other parties had such a charismatic leader on display.

By Carolyn Yeager

The biggest gainer in today's Baravian state election is the left-wing Green Party with a current gain of around 9 points over its 2013 result. That is, if you don't include the gain of over 10 points by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which rose from zero in 2013 since they were not on the ballot then.

The AfD was only formed in 2013 and in those five years has risen to a position hovering between 2nd and 3rd most popular in Germany as a whole. In conservative Bavaria today, though, they came in fourth, following closely behind a right-leaning Southern Germany party called "Free Voters."

By Carolyn Yeager

I SUPPORT AND APPLAUD THE AfD (Alternative fuer Deutschland party) because it's the only thing that is moving Germany out of it's stuck state of post-war guilt and perennial apology. Since I know it is not possible for a politician to defend Adolf Hitler or question a single element of the Holocaust false narrative in Germany—nor in any Western country, for that matter—without committing political suicide, I don't expect any to do so. Still, someone like Bjorn Höcke manages to criticize indirectly these very sacred cows and party head Alexander Gauland has always defended him and prevented him from being excluded from the party. So overall, Dr. Gauland (born in 1941) is a seasoned politician and positive force; I wish him continued vigor and ability to lead the party.

Mesut Özil, left, hands a shirt over to Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 13, during Erdogan's visit to the UK prior to the presidential election in Turkey. This photograph was criticized in Germany as demonstrating a dual loyalty to both countries, which Özil does not deny.

 UPDATE: Mesut Özil spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the phone Monday after he quit Germany's national team, the Turkish leader told reporters in parliament on Tuesday (today). Erdogan praised Özil's decision to quit.

By Carolyn Yeager

LAST WEEK, A TURKISH PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLER who was born in Germany but has been living in England earning a huge salary under contract for the English club Arsenal – but also is one of the top players on the German National soccer team – accused Germany of racism and announced he would no longer play on its national team.

At the same time in The Netherlands, the Dutch Foreign Minister aroused a storm of criticism over his comments about the failure of multicultural societies. “Give me an example of a multiethnic, multicultural society, where the indigenous population still live … where they live in a peaceful, societal union,” he said to a gathering in The Hague. “I don’t know of any.”

By Carolyn Yeager

THE DATE OF JULY 20TH IS USUALLY PASSED FAIRLY QUIETLY IN GERMANY. But this year, although not a milestone year, it's being played up more strongly, possibly because of the important Bavarian state election coming up in October amid fear of strong support for the nationalistic AfD party.

Deutsche Welle writes that it is “usually framed as a celebration of the re-establishment of justice in Germany following the aberration of Nazism, but this year there was a clear note of defiance against new far-right populism in Europe and around the world.”

AfD support is growing in Germany and they are planning for the future.

By Carolyn Yeager

I've found a website that might make my reporting on Germany a little easier—it is Free West Media. Possibly an improvement over the so-biased Deutsche Welle.

The Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) held it's annual party congress in Augsburg over the weekend and the big news was the decision to formally recognize the Desiderius Erasmus Foundation (DES) as its only party foundation. It rejected the idea of a party-based foundation.

By Carolyn Yeager

IN 2017, 14,984 TURKS BECAME CITIZENS OF GERMANY. Because of Brexit, the next highest number was Britons at 7,500 (half the number of Turks). After that comes those darn Poles (6,613), Italians (4,256) and Romanians (4,238).

That adds up to 112,200 new German citizens in 2017 alone. Note I did not say new Germans for they are not.

Remember Erika Steinbach? For more than 40 years a Christian Democratic Union  (CDU) member and friend of Angela Merkel, she was also a recipient of the Bavarian Order of Merit for her tireless efforts on behalf of the cause of the German expellees. She has returned her award to Bavaria.

She did this in response to the General Secretary of "sister party" Christian Social Union (CSU) publicly describing the AfD as "brown dirt." (One may deduce a reference to 'Nazism' in it.)

Alice Weidel, leader of the AfD parliamentary faction, said:

I pay tribute to Mrs Steinbach for this step and thank her for her solidarity.

By Carolyn Yeager

FELIX KLEIN, THE JEW WHO HOLDS A NEWLY CREATED GOVERNMENT POST tasked with fighting antisemitism, said in remarks to online newsite watson.de on Thursday that the AfD (Alternative fuer Deutschland) tolerated party members calling for a new “culture of remembrance”.

“I don’t want to say the AfD is antisemitic, per se, but it tolerates representatives who are demanding a new policy of remembrance,” Klein said. “They initiated this discussion about drawing a line (under the Holocaust) and that is very dangerous because it helps make anti-semitism presentable again.”

By Carolyn Yeager

A MEMBER OF THE ALTERNATIVE FUER DEUTSCHLAND PARTY  INTRODUCED A BILL TODAY IN THE GERMAN BUNDESTAG calling for the notorious Paragraph 130 of the German Criminal Code to be amended to include Germans under its protection.

"The AfD wants just one thing," said fraction member Jens Maier, presenting the bill to the parliament. "Namely that Germans are also protected from hate speech and mockery. Our draft bill is supposed to close a gap in the criminal code."

Here is a longer explanation that Maier posted on his Facebook page in German (automatically translated):

The AfD faction in the Bundestag with leaders Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland seated in front.

By Carolyn Yeager

Deutsche Welle has reported on a question raised by the opposition Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) party as if it were the return of Adolf Hitler in the flesh. Their article is interjected with old stories and pictures representing euthanasia during the Third Reich and warnings of its resurrection by the AfD!

Parliamentary questions are a routine method of gaining information for lawmakers. In this instance, the query was broken down into five questions to Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government, asking for data on disability by age, migratory background, and main cause, and for statistics on disabled children born to parents, "especially those resulting from [incestual] marriage within the family."