Dieter Graumann, chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, urged the Green party to withdraw a candidate from a list for state election after he used expletive language to describe Jews and Muslims who practice the religious rite of circumcision.
According to The European Jewish Press (EJP), Ulf Dunkel has come under fire over two anti-circumcision poems he published which include expletives and refer to those who practice the religious ritual as "blind fanatics."
One of the poems states: "Sharpen the knife, sing a hymn, cut off the member's foreskin."
The German Bundestag passed legislation earlier by a vote of 434 to 100, with 46 abstentions, to allow religious circumcision. The vote brought an end to a prolonged public debate prompted by a German court ruling in June, which determined that circumcision is a criminally liable procedure, saying the practice inflicted bodily harm.
The vote followed months of heated debate in the apprehensive Jewish community, as the potential ban all too closely mirrored the policies of Nazi Germany.
Graumann said Dunkel's words "radiate hate-filled arrogance towards Jews and Muslims."
A spokesperson for the Green Party said that while Dunkel's name would remain on the list in the January 20 election for the Lower Saxony state parliament, the candidate would decline to take up his seat if elected, EJP reported.