Arabs must reject antisemitism, German president says

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said it is incumbent on people of Arab origin in Germany to denounce antisemitism and Hamas.

The president, whose post is largely ceremonial, said people in Germany with "Palestinian and Arab roots" should not be "instrumentalised" by Hamas and its supporters.

"Speak for yourselves and make a clear stand against terror," he said, adding that Germany's constitution  guaranteed them the freedom to express "pain and despair" at civilian casualties in Gaza, but not terrorism or "calls for the destruction of the state of Israel".

Steinmeier went on to say that because of the Holocaust, Germany and its citizens had “a duty” to protect Jewish life. Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust conducted by Nazi Germany during WWII. 

Steinmeier didn’t say that the state had the same special "duty" to protect Christian and Muslim lives.