Israel and the AfD divide

What reactions to the war in the Middle East tell us about the AfD

Dear Reader,

The dominant motivation behind pushing Trump-esque deportation policies is so prevalent in the AfD that it is easy to overlook the substantial ideological divides that split the party beneath the surface.

In fact, while the AfD can agree on its approach to mass migration, the ideological underpinnings of two broad camps can even be seen within this contentious issue.

On the one hand, there is the völkische wing, influential in the east of the country, which places the integrity of German ethnicity at the centre of its ideology. This faction of the party views the preservation of a German Volk as a goal in itself. They advocate the removal of migrants from German lands out of a desire to preserve the native population, its culture, and language.

While comparisons are often drawn between this group’s ideology and that of the Nazis, it is interesting to note that they spend less time publicly vilifying migrants than the party’s other wing. For them, it is simply self-evident that Germany belongs to the Germans—no further justification is needed for wanting to ensure it remains so.