How the Gaza war could drive a wedge between Germans and immigrants

German history means that it has a vastly different attitude to Israel to the immigrants who have arrived from the Arab world in recent years. Will this play into the AfD's hands?

Photo by Moises Gonzalez on Unsplash

Dear Reader,

The coming weeks and months are set to stress test societal harmony in Germany’s new, multicultural society like no other events since the mass arrivals of refugees started a decade ago.

Friendships at work and in the neighbourhood, built up over years, are going to be put under immense strain as the gulf in opinion between ethnic Germans and Arab migrants on the topic of Israel becomes apparent.

I’ve already read vexed headlines about “completely failed integration” and the “grave mistake” of letting in so many refugees from the Arab world in light of the fact that immigrants have been ripping down Israeli flags and protesting in support of Palestine in the wake of the massacre of over a thousand Jews at the weekend.

The far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party sense that the tectonic plates of German politics are shifting in their favour.

Suddenly, the dividing line of polite public opinion is no longer on the question of where one st…