Annette Groth
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Annette Groth (born 16 May 1954 in
Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...
) is a German politician from Baden-Wuerttemberg.


Career

From 1974 to 1979, she studied at the
Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...
, in development sociology, economics and business administration and international politics. She passed her diploma in sociology. From 1981 to 1984, she worked as a research fellow at the European Research Institute of Ecumenical Research Exchange (ERE) in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, on migrant workers in the EC. From 1984 to 1987, she worked in the office of the Protestant Student Community
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
as ecumenical officer. From 1992 to 1997, she was Education Officer at the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...
, UNHCR in Geneva. From 1997 to 1999, she worked as director of the Ecumenical Coalition on Third World Tourism (ECTWT), and editor of the quarterly journal ''Contours in Barbados''. For many years she was active in the work of the EKD, before 2007 Research Assistant of
The Left (Germany) Die Linke (; ), also known as the Left Party ( ), is a Democratic socialism, democratic socialist List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of the merger of the Party of Democr ...
. She was a guest lecturer at the University of Lüneburg, and was a research associate at the University of Wuppertal. She speaks English, French, Dutch and Spanish. In 2014, she was at the center of the so-called 'Toilet-gate' scandal during which a speaker invited by Groth and her colleagues chased the then-leader of Die Linke,
Gregor Gysi Gregor Florian Gysi (; born 16 January 1948) is a German attorney, former president of the Party of the European Left and a prominent politician of The Left () political party. He belonged to the reformist wing of the governing Socialist Unity ...
, into the bathroom of the Bundestag; in video footage of the incident, Groth can be seen trying to prevent her guest from chasing Gysi into the bathroom. Groth subsequently apologized to Gysi. The same year, the
Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating antisemitism, tolerance educati ...
placed Groth and several of her Die Linke colleagues fourth on its 'Top 10 Most Anti-Semitic" List.


Party

Since October 2007, she is a member of the Left party in Baden-Württemberg, a member of the AK European integration, the BAG peace and international politics and active in the European Left Party to the feminist structures "EL-Fem". She is also a member of the Forum of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Annette Groth is co-founder of the "attacking anti-GATS campaign and the nationwide" Attac EU-AG.


Member of the Bundestag

Groth was a candidate for the
2009 German federal election The 2009 German federal election was held in Germany on 27 September 2009 to elect the members of the 17th Bundestag. The Christian Democratic Union (Germany), Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Uni ...
by the Left Party, for
Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the ...
, reaching 6.8 per cent of first votes. She was elected to the 17th Bundestag from Baden-Württemberg of the Left party. For the Left Group, she is the human rights policy officer. She is a member of the Committee for Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, and the Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development.


Gaza Flotilla

At the end of May 2010, together with Inge Höger and Norman Paech, she accompanied an international convoy from Free Gaza Movement.
It was like war, They had guns, Taser weapons, some type of teargas and other weaponry, compared to two-and-a-half wooden sticks we had between us. To talk of self-defence is ridiculous.
Groth's comments stand in contrast to the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
' official report on the incident, the so-called Palmer report; while stating that "the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force by Israeli forces during the take-over of the ''Mavi Marmara'' was unacceptable," the report observed that the Israeli Defense forces met "organized and violent resistance from a group of passengers". Additionally, The Palmer report "seriously questions the true nature and objectives of the flotilla organizers";" the report concluded that to "deliberately seek to breach a blockade in a convoy with a large number of passengers is in the view of the Panel a dangerous and reckless act." On 1 June 2010 she spoke at a protest outside the Foreign Ministry in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
.


Statements deemed anti-semitic

In 2015 at an evangelical church day in Stuttgart, Grothe made the following remarks Gaza Strip:
The water supply in Gaza was destroyed in a very targeted manner. And I have to say that this is also against international law, you can't do that, so I mean, the basis of life in Gaza is almost ... almost ... actually no longer there. Ultimately, Israel is harming itself because all the chemicals – tons! Metric tons! Over thousands of tons! – are now gradually coming into the sea. This is the Mediterranean. It goes on. And there is toxic material in there, you know that too. Yes, well, it is extremely dangerous for everyone else."
Commentators have observed several problems with Groth's assertions: the statement is factually incorrect; it also mirrors long-standing anti-semitic tropes that Jews poison wells.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groth, Annette Living people 1954 births Politicians from Bielefeld Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg Free University of Berlin alumni Female members of the Bundestag 21st-century German women politicians Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag for Die Linke