Overview
- Die Linke’s Neukölln branch nominated lawyer and local BVV co-chair Ahmed Abed with 82.1% support at a weekend membership meeting.
- CDU district chair Falko Liecke called the choice an attack on Jewish life, while SPD and Greens leaders criticized the nomination and questioned working with the local Left.
- SPD Neukölln officials also rebuked the branch for refusing to back a cross-party motion condemning attacks on the pro-Jewish bar Bajszel as antisemitic.
- Coverage recapped Abed’s October remark labeling Bat Yam’s mayor a “Völkermörder,” noted media reports of appearances at charged protests, and cited his legal work for BDS, which many institutions deem antisemitic.
- Left leaders urged a campaign pivot to social issues, with Elif Eralp emphasizing rents and cleanliness, and state chair Kristin Wolter defending Abed’s record and referencing reporting that he lost family in Gaza.