Germany

Posters and murals supporting the Palestinian struggle in the neighborhood of Neukölln in Berlin, Germany, July 21, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

How Palestine became a ‘forbidden word’ in German high schools

From textbooks to trips, Germany's education system is aggressively pushing a pro-Israel narrative hostile to any Palestinian dissent in the classroom.

By Hebh Jamal December 5, 2022

Visitors browse the exhibitions at documenta fifteen, Kassel, Germany, June 19, 2022. (Dr. Hans-Günter Wagner/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Uniting behind Palestinians, German art festival hits back at antisemitism charges

Curators and artists at the renowned documenta fifteen exhibition faced a torrent of denunciations, including from German officials, for hosting Palestinian collectives and exhibits on Palestine solidarity.

By Hebh Jamal October 24, 2022

The Deutsche Welle office in Bonn, Germany, September 1, 2014. (Christian Wolf/CC BY-SA 3.0 DE)

German broadcaster requires employees to ‘support Israel’s right to exist’

Deutsche Welle's new code of conduct marks the latest Israel-related crackdown on free speech in German public life.

By Hebh Jamal September 8, 2022

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Activists hold a protest vigil in front of the Hackesche Höfe cinema for the opening of the 'Seret International' Israeli film festival, in Berlin, Germany, September 17, 2016. The activists held photos of families killed in Gaza and signs reading "culture can't hide massacres" and "stop whitewashing war crimes." (Anne Paq/Activestills)

Germany puts artists, academics in its anti-Palestinian crosshairs

In the span of just a few months, four high-profile Palestinians have been censored and attacked in Germany for their views after being accused by pro-Israel groups of antisemitism.

By Hebh Jamal July 3, 2022

The German passports of Ibrahim al Kilani and four of his children, seen in their home in Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip, September 18, 2014. Ibrahim was killed together with his wife Taghrid and their five children in an Israeli attack on July 21, 2014, targetting the building where they took refuge in Gaza City. (Anne Paq/Activestills)

Israel wiped out a Palestinian-German family. Germany refuses to investigate

Germany refuses to probe Israel's killing of seven members of the Kilani family in the 2014 Gaza war, despite five of them having their German citizenship.

By Hebh Jamal June 22, 2022

Israeli forces stand guard during the demolition of a Palestinian home, located within "Area C" of the West Bank, near Hebron, December 28, 2021. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

A colonized Palestine isn’t the answer to the world’s guilt

Zionism's synergy with right-wing populists has exploited antisemitism to justify apartheid. And Palestinians refuse to be its silent victims.

By Tareq Baconi June 20, 2022

Berlin police arrest a Palestinian protester during a Nakba Day flash mob, after banning all commemorations of the day in the city, May 15, 2022. (@thequestionislysh)

Palestinians in Germany fear new level of repression after Nakba Day crackdown

Claiming to fight antisemitism, Berlin police arrested 170 people for carrying flags and keffiyehs during a flash mob marking Palestinians' mass expulsion.

By Hebh Jamal May 21, 2022

Farah Maraqa, an Arab journalist fired by Deutsche Welle. (Courtesy of Farah Maraqa)

‘All the questions were about Israel’: Inside Deutsche Welle’s purge of Arab journalists

When Deutsche Welle fired seven Arab journalists over accusations of antisemitism, many in Germany took its decision at face value. But a closer look shows DW's investigation was riddled with political motives.

By Hebh Jamal and Lena Obermaier May 5, 2022

Hundreds of Palestinians and supporters protest in front of the U.S. embassy against President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Berlin, Germany, December 8, 2017. (Anne Paq/Activestills)

In Berlin, a fight for Palestinian identity — and a place to call home

Berlin's Palestinian community, many of whom are refugees twice over, are striving to carve out a space in a country ambivalent about their presence.

By Hebh Jamal February 14, 2022

A copy of Amnesty International's new report accusing Israel of committing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians, launched in Jerusalem on February 1, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

Why is Amnesty Germany staying silent on the apartheid report?

Amnesty Germany’s discomfort with publicizing the new report on Israeli apartheid highlights the sorry state of human rights discourse in the country.

By Michael Sappir February 3, 2022

Palestine solidarity protest in Berlin, Germany, May 15, 2018. (Hossam el-Hamalawy/Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

In Germany, universities are leading the charge against Palestine solidarity

Conservatism and historical guilt are shrinking the space for Palestine activism in Germany — and campuses are among the fiercest battlegrounds of all.

By Hebh Jamal November 9, 2021

Nemi El-Hassan. (Paul Alexander Probst)

The inquisition of Nemi El-Hassan

The campaign to cancel a Palestinian-German journalist is not aimed at fighting antisemitism, but at suppressing Palestinians' political existence.

By Michael Sappir October 6, 2021

Antideutsch activists confront the Al Quds Day Demo in Berlin, July 25, 2014. (Montecruz Foto/CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Israelis challenging the German left’s anti-Palestinian politics

Rejecting the German left's pro-Israel alignment, a group of Jewish Israelis in Leipzig are backing up Palestinians against attacks on their activism.

By Mati Shemoelof July 21, 2021