On April 5, 2024, the same morning that Germany voted No on the UN resolution to stop sending arms to Israel, a group of Berlin lawyers’ associations filed an emergency legal action against the German state for its complicity in the genocide in Gaza by continuing to send arms after the precautionary measures ordered by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The entities and associations European Legal Support Center (ELSC), Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD), Law for Palestine, which have united under the initiative Justice and Accountability for Palestine, and Forensis with this action want the German government to immediately stop the approval of arms shipments to Israel.
As shown in the report presented by Forensis, Germany in the past 20 years has sent weapons to Israel worth billions and in the last two years provided Israel with 47% of conventional weapons, making Germany the second largest arms supplier to the Zionist state after the US.
During the press conference to present the lawsuit in the state capital, Berlin, several international media outlets were present, but only one German, Junge Welt, one of the few newspapers critical of Israel and its government’s actions. During the round of interviews, through a video call, a journalist from the public broadcaster ZDF interviewed lawyer Nadija Samour with questions such as: “What about Hamas and international law?”, “Does Israel have the right to defend itself? After 6 months of genocide and war crimes, the German press, public and private, follows the guidelines set by Israel and focuses attention on Hamas and October 7, and thus on Israel’s alleged legitimacy to self-defense, and does not find it important to attend and report on the filing of a legal action against its government for its complicity in the present genocide.
In a move not seen in 75 years, the Sparkasse bank …blocked the Jewish NGO’s account and requested a list of the names and addresses of all members. Instead of a popular outcry from all the people and media supposedly fighting anti-Semitism in this country, there has been silence and thus acceptance.
Germany has faced this week on the 8th of April at the International Court of Justice in The Hague a lawsuit filed by Nicaragua for having continued to export arms to Israel and to have ceased funding UNRWA, following the interim measures issued by the same court in the case of South Africa against Israel for possible genocide. Nicaragua argued that Germany with these actions is failing to prevent genocide, as it is obliged to do as a signatory to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This lawsuit and trial proceedings has not received much media coverage in this country either.
At the same time associations fighting for the Palestinian people in this country, such as the Palestinian United National Committee (Vereinigtes Palästinensisches Nationalkomitee), Jewish Voices for Peace in the Middle East (Judische Stimme), Workers’ Force (Arbeiter: innenmacht), Revolutionary Left (Revolutionäre Linke), Diem 25 and BDS are organizing for the weekend of April 12-14 the Palestine Congress in Berlin, where they accuse the German government for its complicity in the extermination and apartheid committed against the Palestinian people. Among the speakers are such prominent activists of the Palestinian cause as Ghassan Abu Sittah, Noura Erakat and Yanis Varoufakis.
This congress is being attacked by the political class and most of the media, which they label as “Anti-Semites of the world want to meet in Berlin”. While the political class seeks to effect their ban, the German press publishes the names, addresses and jobs of some of the speakers, who are now receiving threats, and the criminal police carry out searches and seizures of electronic devices in the homes of these speakers. In a move not seen in 75 years, the Sparkasse bank, where Judische Stimme, the organization that collected the congress entrance fees, has blocked the Jewish NGO’s account and requested a list of the names and addresses of all members. Instead of a popular outcry from all the people and media supposedly fighting anti-Semitism in this country, there has been silence and thus acceptance.
After the funds were frozen, an event was planned for Friday, April 5 in Berlin to raise money for the congress with a panel discussion on the repression in the German state of solidarity with Palestine. The venue where it was to be held, where political and artistic meetings often take place, received a call from the police, who alleged “security problems”, strongly suggested that the event should not be held. They did not see fit to perhaps do their job and protect the event, opting instead to pressure to cancel it, forcing the organizers and workers at the venue to call it off. This event was held on Sunday in a completely private center and therefore immune to state (economic) repression.
The organizers of the Palestine Congress in view of this dreadful situation have launched an international call for support and ask all groups and individuals in the Palestinian solidarity movement to demonstrate on April 14 in front of German embassies and consulates to show Germany that it is standing alone in its support for the zionist regime. More information here. They also inform that the congress will be broadcasted, you can look for information in the same web.
The German government and society are being exposed for their unwavering defense of Israel. More and more critical voices worldwide are paying attention to the serious events taking place in Germany. It is time for everyone to join those voices and there is no better time to let them know than on Sunday, April 14 in front of their embassy or consulate.
