Petition addressed to: Mr. Friedrich Merz, chairman of Germany’s CDU party

Dear Mr Merz,

I write to you not as a politician, but as a teacher — and as the granddaughter of a man who lived through the Second World War.
My father was born in 1945 and told me about the fear, destruction, and silence that followed.
Those stories taught me that violence never truly disappears; it continues in words, in attitudes, in structures — unless we stand against it.

You once mentioned that your grandfather held a position during the Nazi era — as mayor of Brilon and a member of the NSDAP and SA —
and that this history has made you determined never to see Israeli society excluded again.
That conviction deserves respect.
But may I ask:
Should this responsibility not extend to all people who today face exclusion, mistrust, or violence — to people of Arab background in Europe, or to those in places like Gaza, where children have long forgotten what safety feels like?
When will responsibility become universal, rather than selective?

I am deeply concerned that people who speak up for justice are being placed under suspicion,
that peaceful demonstrations are met with harshness,
and that language is again turning into a weapon of division.
Those who choose words shape the climate in which we all live.

I understand that standing with Israel may be politically and economically advantageous for Germany.
But what ultimately weighs more — profit or the courage to do what is right, even when it is not the most profitable?

Even if peace is declared in some places, we know it is not yet the end of war or violence — not in minds, nor in hearts.
Peace is more than the absence of weapons;
it begins where people listen, reach out, and recognise one another’s humanity.

A single teacher cannot change politics.
But perhaps this letter reminds us that every political decision eventually reaches a child —
in a classroom, on a playground, in how they learn what justice means.

With respect,
Jenni K.
Teacher, Switzerland