Germany Increase Censorship By Targeting Antisemitism And Criticism Of Israel, Crackdowns On Pro-Palestinian Protests

The following report is by The Trends Journal:

The New York Times reported that Berlin has allowed schools to ban the kaffiyeh or the Palestinian flag or its colors and has barred Gaza solidarity protests across the country out of fear that these gatherings would “emotionalize” Palestinians who are now living in Germany. 

Wafa Mustafa, a Syrian refugee who has spoken out against authoritarian rule in Iran and her home country, told the paper that she stood on the sidelines of a pro-Palestinian protest in Berlin while dressed in the ubiquitous black and white Palestinian scarf. She said German officers pushed her and her friend to the ground. They were arrested. 

What I saw in their eyes is similar to what I saw in the eyes of Assad regime forces. I know it’s not the same but that is how I felt. When you look into their eyes, there is nothing. You cannot talk with them, you cannot discuss with them. You cannot ask them, ‘What how are you doing?’

She told the paper.

A pro-Palestinian protest broke out in Berlin on Saturday that was attended by about 10,000 demonstrators and 1,000 police who were on hand to make sure there were no anti-Israeli speeches or signage, Al Jazeera reported. 

One protester, who held a sign that read, “Israel is a Terrorist State,” was pulled out by police to chants of “shame, shame,” Al Jazeera reported. 

I am really starting to question whether we actually have freedom of speech in Germany.

Monika Kalinowska, the protester holding the sign, told the outlet.

Al Jazeera reported that she was frisked and was told she was allowed to leave without arrest. Police told her that she could pick up the sign the next day. Another sign that called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “assassins” was confiscated. 

The Times noted that countries like Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland tried to prohibit pro-Palestinian protests.

Germany has reported what it said has been a rise of anti-Semitic attacks in the country since the 7 October Hamas attack in Israel and the subsequent carpet-bombing in Gaza that has killed over 11,000—40 percent children.

One incident in Germany involved two petrol bombs that were lobbed towards a Berlin synagogue. The country said there had already been a jump in anti-Semitic attacks before the Hamas raid, and blamed the incidents on the rise of the “far-right.”

Scholz has been a full-throated supporter of Israel and rejected calls for a ceasefire. He visited Israel and said, “In such difficult times there is only one place we can be: at Israel’s side.”

TRENDPOST: DW, the German news outlet, noted that, “For Germany, the past is always present,” which has impacted its foreign policy for decades. After killing six million Jews in death camps during WWII, Germany sees a “special responsibility” towards Israel. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel told Israel’s Knesset in 2008 that Israel’s security and existence is Germany’s “Staatsräson.”

The BBC reported that Germany’s state doctrine is being challenged in the streets.

“Your staatsräson sucks!” one poster at a recent protest read. 

Nadim Jarrar, who is half-German, and half-Palestinian, told the BBC that people must be able “to show we are in pain about what’s happening in Gaza.”

“What’s been done to the Palestinians since 1948… We’ve all seen the videos of what they’re doing to our children,” he said.

Robert Habeck, Germany’s vice-chancellor, brushed off criticism that Germany is opposed to free speech, but he said, “Israel’s security is our obligation.”

The crackdown in Germany has even drawn criticism from progressive Jews in the country. The Times noted that one protester last month was detained after she refused to put down a sign that read, “As a Jew and Israeli, Stop the genocide in Gaza.”

The paper noted that over 100 Jewish writers and academics signed a letter criticizing Germany’s efforts to bar pro-Palestinian protests. It read, in part, “If this is an attempt to atone for German history, its effect is to risk repeating it.”

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AUTHOR COMMENTARY

I mention this because once again, as to be expected, speech is being censored in the wake of this new War on Terror 2.0, as I call it. I’m not here to take the side of Gaza and the Palestinians, but simply pointing out what is going on; and what is happening is the governments of the world tightening the leash speech, where more and more things are no longer allowed to be criticized.

SEE: The War On Terror 2.0: Israel’s Foreign Ministry Parrots George Bush, Says ‘You Are Either Standing With Israel Or You Are Standing With Hamas’

For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged.

Proverbs 28:2

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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

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