Germany
Updated 2024-07-16
2024-06-25 What have Palestine activists in Germany been facing? | The Stream Public shaming in national newspapers, arbitrary arrests and even beatings by police – these are just a few of the consequences that those protesting for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza say they face in Germany. But why are German authorities so committed to stifling any criticism of Israeli actions, and what does it mean for democracy and human rights in the country?
Presenter: Anelise Borges Guests:
Sarah Said – German-Palestinian activist
Tariq Suleiman – Student Coalition Berlin
Cinin Abuzeed – Student activist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGHfIP7XcnM
2024-04-12 The video on Palestine that got Yanis Varoufakis BANNED from Germany Yanis Varoufakis was due to give a speech at the Palestine Congress in Berlin on Friday April 12, when German police burst into the venue to disband the event 1930s style. Judge for yourselves the kind of society Germany is becoming when its police bans the following words. You can also read it here: https://diem25.org/yanis-varoufakis-p… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JXXBhruGhc
2024-04-12 The Online Speech Given by Yanis Varoufakis After German Police Raid Palestine Congress “Friends, we are here because vengeance is a lazy form of grief. We are here to promote not vengeance but peace and coexistence across Israel-Palestine.”
Prominent Greek leftist Yanis Varoufakis on Friday condemned the German government’s complicity in Israel’s ongoing genocidal attack on Gaza as well as its domestic crackdown on pro-Palestinian advocacy in an online speech originally meant to be delivered before a conference that was raided by Berlin police earlier in the day.
Varoufakis—a former Greek finance minister who heads the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25)—was scheduled to address the Palestine Congress, which was slated to run through Sunday in the German capital. However, hundreds of police officers blockaded the event venue on Germaniastraße in Templehof before storming the building and demanding organizers cut the livestream and end the event. Several people including at least one Jewish participant were led away by police.
“This is what democracy in Europe right now really looks like!” DiEM25 said on social media. https://www.commondreams.org/news/varoufakis-palestine-congress
2024-04-12 Germany bars doctor who worked in Gaza, shuts down Palestinian conference A prominent British Palestinian doctor said he was “forcibly prevented” from entering Germany on Friday, with the Palestinian solidarity conference he was slated to speak at shut down by police who detained dozens of activists in the process.
Ghassan Abu Sitta, a reconstructive plastic surgeon who spent 43 days tending to the wounded in Gaza City last year, said that he was questioned for three hours at Berlin’s airport before being told he was not allowed to enter the country. He said he had also been informed he was not allowed to record any videos that could be shown in events in Germany this month.https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/germany-bars-doctor-who-worked-in-gaza-shuts-down-palestinian-conference/ar-BB1lxJCh?
2024-04-06 Lawyers Sue Germany in Bid to Block Arms Exports to Israel The Berlin-based Lawyers’ Collective on Friday sued the German government in an effort to stop weapons transfers to Israel, whose government and military are waging a genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Germany is the second-largest arms exporter to Israel, providing 30% of its imported weaponry from 2019-23. The top exporter, the United States, provided 69% of Israel’s imported armaments during that same period.
“As there is reason to believe that these weapons are being used to commit grave violations of international law, such as the crime of genocide and war crimes, the applicants are hereby demanding that the German government protect their right to life,” groups supporting the lawsuit—including the European Legal Support Center, Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, Law for Palestine, and Forensis—said in a statement. “The German government must stop its arms exports to Israel, as they are in violation of international law,” Ahmed Abed, an attorney in the case added. “The government cannot claim that it is not aware of this.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/germany-israel
2024-03-01 Nicaragua Hits Germany With ICJ Case for Aiding Israel in Gaza Genocide Nicaragua on Friday launched a case against Germany at the International Court of Justice, accusing the nation responsible for the deaths of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust of helping Israel commit genocide in the Gaza Strip over the past five months.
Germany has provided financial, military, and political support to Israel and halted contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in response to unverified Israeli allegations that a dozen employees were involved in the Hamas-led attack that sparked the war on October 7.
Nicaragua’s application to the ICJ argues that Germany “has not only failed to fulfill its obligation to prevent the genocide committed and being committed against the Palestinian people… but has contributed to the commission of genocide in violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/icj-israel
2024-02-23 Lawsuit Accuses German Leaders of Complicity in Gaza Genocide “This lawsuit sends a clear message to German officials: You cannot continue to remain accomplices of such crime without consequences.” Lawyers in Germany representing Palestinian families announced Friday that they are suing senior German officials, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for “aiding and abetting” Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The criminal complaint, filed Thursday with federal prosecutors in Karlsruhe in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, accuses Scholz, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, and Economy Minister Robert Habeck of “complicity in the genocide in Gaza” by approving the export of approximately $350 million worth of military aid to Israel. https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-genocide-2667351559
2024-02-17 German Protests Are Being Manipulated To Focus on Mythic Anti-Semitism at Time of Growing Popular Anger Over Germany’s Support For Israel’s War on Gaza and U.S. Proxy War in Ukraine It is hard not to see the absurdity of demonstrating against anti-Semitism while both the U.S. and German governments are making a point of “standing with Israel” as Israel proceeds to murder the Palestinians.
Nevertheless, this is the case, and especially here, given Germany’s history, it is hard for most people to overcome the collective guilt over the Holocaust to criticize Israel openly, even now that the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians some of what the Germans did to them. [https://covertactionmagazine.com/2024/02/17/german-protests-are-being-manipulated-to-focus-on-mythic-anti-semitism-at-time-of-growing-popular-anger-over-germanys-support-for-israels-war-on-gaza-and-u-s-proxy-war-in-ukraine/
2024-01-15 Why is Namibia furious at Germany’s ICJ intervention supporting Israel? | Inside Story Namibia has condemned Germany’s backing of Israel against genocide charges at the International Court of Justice. It says, given Germany’s colonial brutalities, it should not support Israel. So, what’s behind this furious diplomatic dispute – and why now? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmSJ0Li1jbU
2023-11-30 German cops go ballistic on pro-Palestine protestors. Fascism returns? Israel’s war on Gaza has unleashed a torrent of worldwide denunciation. Many western governments are cranking up repression of pro-Palestine activists in response. In Europe, Germany has set a grim bar in brutalizing protestors and violating their civil liberties. The Real News reports from Berlin’s largely Arab and Muslim Sonnenallee neighborhood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBm8haZOJY4
2023-10-25 In Germany, Historic Guilt Is Fueling Islamophobia, Anti-Immigrant Policies Germany, in recent weeks, has been one of the most vocal European nations in its support for Israel; and its response to pro-Palestine demonstrations across the country has been particularly harsh. As spontaneous and planned demonstrations pop up around Germany, police are quick to ban and disperse them—sometimes using violent tactics. Protests are diverse, but almost all share a call for the end to the bombing of Gaza and the mass displacement that has continued since Israel was formed in 1948. None of these have endorsed Hamas or supported anti-Semitic actions. Still, Germany has banned dozens of demonstrations so far, and continues to do so. https://progressive.org/latest/germany-historic-guilt-makowski-20231025/
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