In Berlin, thousands of people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate this afternoonto demonstrate against the wave of harassment and attacks against Jews in Germany.Many blame the rising anti-Semitism there and across Europe on tensions over the Gaza conflict.Chancellor Angel Merkel, who attended the Berlin rally, saidthere was no place for anti-Semitism in Germany, because - particularly because of its Nazi past.And that fighting anti-Semitism is every German citizen's duty.NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson was at the rally and filed this report.Merkel is usually reserved in her reproaches,but spared no punches in denouncing threats and violence toward Jews in Germany,some 160 cases of which were reported in recent months.She called it a monstrous scandal that anyone here would be hassled for being Jewish or for backing Israel.The Chancellor says all Jewish institutions in Germany are under police protection because of the current climate.Merkel says we want Jews in Germany to feel secure, and to feel this is our joint home,adding that like everyone else who lives here, Jews should feel they have a good future.The Chancellor says Jewish life belongs to us. It's part of Germany's identity and culture.But that's not how many Jews here feel these days, says Dieter Graumann, the president of Germany's Central Council of Jews,which organized the rally.He says on German streets Jews are being called pigs.
