A current report by the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) has highlighted the suppression of Palestinian activism within the European Union and the United Kingdom. The examine, which focused on using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, revealed widespread restrictions on the proper of assembly and freedom of expression associated to criticism of Israel.
Recognized examined three nations, including Germany, where it discovered violations starting from the dismissal of staff on false costs of anti-Semitism to the denial of public areas for pro-Palestinian occasions and defunding of organisations. Such findings resonate with the experiences of many Palestinians residing in Germany, who have confronted hostility and challenges when attempting to voice their issues and share their experiences.
One notable example of this suppression occurred in 2017 when two Israeli activists and a Palestinian protested towards Knesset member Aliza Lavie speaking at an occasion at Humboldt University in Berlin. The German media falsely accused the protesters of anti-Semitism, and the university filed a legal grievance towards them for trespassing. After three years of authorized battles, the activists had been vindicated.
In 2019, the German parliament handed a decision describing the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) motion as anti-Semitic. This movement has been used to shut down, silence, and censor pro-Palestinian activism, regardless of German courts ruling against anti-BDS actions by state authorities on a number of occasions, finding that they violate freedom of expression.
The German authorities’ anti-Palestinianism extends past suppressing criticism of Israel. Their response to attempts by the Palestinian community to mark the Nakba—the word Palestinians use for their ethnic cleansing from their homeland—demonstrates a desire to deny Palestinian existence in public areas. In one instance, Berlin police banned a rally to mark the Nakba, and two courts upheld the choice. Despite this, hundreds of Palestinians and their allies took to the streets in small teams, solely to be met with overwhelming police presence and hostility.
The Palestinian group in Germany is one of the largest in Europe, but they face invisibility, intimidation by German police and establishments, surveillance, and dehumanisation within the media as anti-Semites and potential terrorists. These techniques geared toward depoliticising Palestinians can affect their residency status, job search, and even lodging.
Despite these challenges, Palestinians in Germany proceed to withstand state repression and silencing. A new technology of Palestinians refuses to comply with German state diktats and remains vocal in the face of humiliation and strain. Organisations like Palästina Spricht (Palestine Speaks) aren’t letting any act of repression go by with no public response and problem..