Jewish student union leader to leave Germany after election result

Jewish student leader Hanna Veiler wants to leave Germany because of rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Sunday’s parliamentary election.

“For me, a red line has been crossed with this election, and my decision is firm: I will leave Germany,” the president of the German Jewish Students’ Union told the Jüdische Allgemeine.

One in five people knowingly gave their vote to a party that is largely known to be far-right, she said, adding that she was worried about her parents and her grandmother being deported.

Veiler says she has not yet decided where she will move but is considering Belgium for professional reasons, “even though anti-Semitism is even worse there than it is here.”