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Even two days after the free rider action by Xavier Naidoo and right-wing video activists in front of the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, tempers have not calmed down. Now the organizers of the original demonstration are speaking out via social media.
Controversial spectrum in the background
The “Justice for Survivors” initiative, an association of those affected by sexual violence against children, clearly distanced itself from Naidoo’s appearance. In Instagram posts, the organizing team emphasized that their demo was exclusively dedicated to the protection, dignity and rights of affected children – free from party-political appropriation or personal interests.
However, the appropriation of the relatively young initiative cannot be completely dismissed, as the rumored presence of representatives from “Lion-Media” or “Compact-Magazin” shows. Various experts emphasize that “various actors take part” in the demonstrations that took place under this motto. This indicates a broad, but sometimes controversial, spectrum.
According to its own information, the initiative was on site for around an hour, strictly prohibited party political statements during this period and then left the complex hustle and bustle. Only then did Naidoo and other comrades gradually appear. There was no knowledge of their pre-planned appearance.
Instrumentalization was sharply criticized
The organizers particularly sharply criticized the instrumentalization of the topic. Anyone who uses the protected space of those affected for their own purposes is not focusing on the children, but rather on themselves. In another statement it is said that Naidoo could have contacted the organization team in advance if he was seriously interested in support.
As expected, there are divided reactions in the comment columns to the “Justice For Survivors” post. While many users welcome the initiative’s clear demarcation and support the focus on victim protection and perpetrator prosecution, the usual trolls assume that the initiative’s distancing is taking part in the “hunt” against Naidoo. The statements cut across the current cacophony of opinions and attitudes.
Criticism from Mannheim
Criticism also came from Naidoo’s hometown of Mannheim. Mayor Christian Specht (CDU) described Naidoo’s latest statements as “deeply regrettable”. He pointed out that the singer had distanced himself in 2022 after previous anti-Semitic and conspiracy ideological statements, but was now apparently using similar stories again. In doing so, he is not only damaging himself, but also his artistic legacy.
The Mannheim Green city councilor and right-wing extremism representative Gerhard Fontagnier told SWR that Naidoo had shown that there had been no lasting change in content.
Historical classification
Meanwhile, clever world explainers like Nils Minkmar put the whole thing into a larger context: “These terrible stories are not a modern invention, their narrative and often highly anti-Semitic ancestors have been documented since the Middle Ages,” he writes in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
“Whenever trust in a form of government or the specific rulers was particularly low, people sublimated their mistrust and their fear in such stories of a conspiracy by the powerful, often with Jewish dark men in the background, to the detriment of the innocent.”
Naidoo camp is silent
In any case, Naidoo himself has once again shot himself out of the picture with this scandal. It is also noteworthy that so far (as of February 19th, 10:15 a.m.) neither the Naidoo camp itself nor its logistical and artistic supporters have spoken out.
