Claudia Roth

Claudia Benedikta Roth (born 15 May 1955 in Ulm) is a German politician. From 2001 to 2002 and from 2004 to 2013 she was one of two federal chairmen of the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen party. She has been Vice President of the German Bundestag since October 2013.

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Public perception and criticism

Claudia Roth in the 2013 general election campaign

(The following text or part of it is quoted from the free Wikipedia:)

Claudia Roth is considered one of the most polarizing politicians in Germany. Either you like them or you find them "really annoying". Roth is credited with always defending her principles. However, their moral rigor could seem antiquated and reminiscent of the "green politics of concern of the 1980s".

The political scientist Franz Walter characterized Claudia Roth as an experienced professional politician who acted as a genuine, vital representative of the new social movements of the 1980s. With her emotional political style, she presents herself as a representative of the Green Party's rebellious past and thus serves the nostalgic longings of party members.

Innerhalb der grünen Partei gilt Roth als Vertreterin des linken Flügels, als das „linke Gewissen“ der Partei. Accordingly, internal party criticism mostly comes from the side of the so-called Realo wing.

In 2007, Roth called the Catholic Bishop of Augsburg, Walter Mixa, a "crazy, divisive top fundamentalist" for describing women as birth machines and childcare facilities as re-education institutions. The public relations officer of the diocese of Augsburg, Dirk Hermann Voß, then accused Claudia Roth of “disturbing fascist traits” and her choice of words was reminiscent of the Nazi propaganda campaign against the Catholic Church.

Roth's lively contact with politicians of the Iranian regime was sharply criticized in parts of the media. The publicist Henryk M. Broder argued that Roth, who veiled her head during a visit to Iran and then campaigned for cultural exchange, could have been enthusiastic about the camp theater of the Theresienstadt concentration camp if she had had the opportunity. In 2013, she high-fived the hand of Iranian Ambassador Ali Reza Sheikh Attar at the Munich Security Conference. On the other hand, in 2010, when she visited the mullahs in Iran, Roth wore a headscarf and a green dress, which in Iran symbolized the color of the 2009 political resistance.

Double standards

Claudia Roth has been campaigning against female genital mutilation since at least 2006, as evidenced by a 2006 inquiry from Bündnis 90/Die Grünen in the Bundestag. One can assume that Claudia Roth is well aware of what female genital mutilation means in legal terms. When it comes to genital mutilation of boys, she clearly shows a double standard.

Circumcision debate 2012

In the German Circumcision Debate, Claudia Roth positioned herself very early on against the protection of children's rights. Already on June 28, 2012 she published the following statement:

“

The judgment of the district court of Cologne on the ban on circumcision for boys is one-sided and unrealistic. Because it has an exclusionary effect on the long cultural and religious tradition of Jewish and Muslim life. The circumcision of boys involves a debate between the poles of religious freedom, the right to self-determination, cultural rites, medical indications and parental care. This debate can only be conducted with the religious communities and not against them by court order. If the question of circumcision, which is actually an irreversible intervention, were based solely on the will of the children, the entire system of parental care would have to be fundamentally reorganized. As a first step, consideration could be given to prescribing accompanying measures such as broad-based educational work or circumcisions to be performed only by physicians, in order to reduce possible negative consequences of circumcisions. – Claudia Roth (Facebook)

At the 34th Federal Delegates' Conference of the GREENS in November 2012 in Hanover, Roth delivered the counter-speech to the Alternative draft amendment to the law by Ulf Dunkel to § 1631 BGB, in which she once again showed her point of view against the right of boys to physical integrity.

Accordingly, on 12/12/2012 in the German Bundestag, Roth voted in favor of the German Circumcision Act and thus against the protection of boys from genital mutilation.