{"id":11600,"date":"2026-10-08T09:14:28","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T07:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fokusisrael.ch\/nicht-kategorisiert\/hannah-einhaus-appeals-to-the-city-council-and-the-government-of-the-city-of-bern\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T09:49:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T07:49:24","slug":"hannah-einhaus-appeals-to-the-city-council-and-the-government-of-the-city-of-bern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fokusisrael.ch\/en\/nicht-kategorisiert\/hannah-einhaus-appeals-to-the-city-council-and-the-government-of-the-city-of-bern\/","title":{"rendered":"Hannah Einhaus appeals to the City Council and the government of the City of Bern"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Dear Members of the Bern City Council and Municipal Council<\/p>\n\n
\u201cAnyone who tolerates hatred and incitement is a gravedigger of democracy.\u201d I would like to remind you of this quote from the Bernese attorney Georges Brunschvig on the third anniversary of October 7, four days before the next violent demonstration titled \u201cWe\u2019re coming back to tear down Zionism\u201d (see image). I am writing to you as a resident of Bern, as a Swiss citizen, as a woman, and as a Jew.<\/p>\n\n
Messages of hate, symbols of violence, and death threats against Jews (\u201cZionists\u201d) stare me in the face every day on the walls of Bern. For 1,097 days now. They have changed my life in Bern. Not because of Netanyahu and the Israeli army. Nor because of the criticism directed at them. Red Hamas triangles and slogans like \u201cKill your local Zionists,\u201d \u201cDeath to the IDF,\u201d or \u201cWe will tear down Zionism\u201d are not criticism. They call for the destruction of the only Jewish state. In doing so, they deny Jews worldwide the right to a life of self-determination. Including me, here in Bern.<\/p>\n\n
Jewish self-determination can mean national sovereignty, embodied by the State of Israel. But for me, as a Jewish woman living in Bern, self-determination also means openly expressing my identity. \u201cDeath to Zionism\u201d tells me: Only by denying my Jewish identity, only by rejecting Israel\u2019s existence, can I be a good Jew. In short: Only an invisible\u2014or dead\u2014Jew is a good Jew. Bern has had a Jewish community since 1848. Since 1871, Jewish citizens in Switzerland have had the same rights and obligations as other citizens. Yet a Star of David on a necklace, a kippah on one\u2019s head, and even a conversation in Hebrew have become risk factors in everyday life in Bern for nearly 1,100 days now. A key reason for this is that authorities turn a blind eye to anti-Semitism (\u201chatred of Zionists\u201d) in Bern. A death threat is tolerated as mere opinion.<\/p>\n\n