Francesca Albanese on her five-day trip that exposed Germany's harsh deviation from democratic values and shrinking landscape for freedom of expression.
Culture of Dehumanization: Anti-Palestinian Racism
The extreme nervousness surrounding my visit is a symptom of the systemic crackdown on Palestinians, their allies, and pro-Palestinian stances – part of a wider culture of dehumanization of the Palestinians and anti-Palestinian racism that, in the West, has helped enable Israel’s genocide. Numerous individuals shared harrowing accounts of overt discrimination and racism, intimidation, suppression, and punitive measures, each more disturbing than the last.
At a time when the International Court of Justice has 1) deemed Israel’s occupation unlawful, amounting to racial segregation, apartheid, and partial annexation, 2) acknowledged plausible genocide (South Africa v Israel), and 3) warned states – Germany specifically – against arming potential war criminals (Nicaragua v Germany), Germany’s unwavering support for Israel is not only crushing the rights of those advocating for justice in Palestine, but also violating the most fundamental principles of international law. It is absolutely worth reminding people that the Apartheid Convention lists “persecution of organizations and persons, by depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms, because they oppose apartheid” among the acts constituting apartheid.
The lengths to which repression is used to shield Israel from accountability – even if only by suppressing the exposure of the facts and their legal ramifications – had made me vividly aware of the state of collective hysteria in which Germany seems to be trapped, and the complex legal dimension underpinning it. Even with prior knowledge of worrisome restrictive trends in the country, I could not have anticipated how Germany – with its proud and decade-long history of advocating for the rule of law – would suddenly feel disconcertingly reminiscent of an era long past. This is all the more true given Germany’s contribution to developing the international normative, regional, and multilateral system to advance the rule of law.
At the core of this issue lies Germany’s rigid ideological alignment with Israel – a relationship that purports to safeguard not only the historical responsibility of Germany towards the Jewish people post-Holocaust, but unquestioningly supports any policy of the Israeli state, even when unlawful and plausibly criminal, and even when contested by Jewish people, including in Germany.
In the face of all this, I left Germany wondering: Where are the intellectuals, the historians, the principled civil servants, and the independent journalists? Where are the legal scholars, the international and constitutional lawyers, the formidable philosophers of legal sociology that this society nurtures, and where are civil society organizations, as well the German Institute for Human Rights, which have not only shaped but also benefited from Germany’s decades-long and heralded reputation as a bastion of democracy and human rights?
Justice Because It’s Right
As an Italian, I carry a profound awareness and sense of responsibility – an evolution beyond guilt per se – regarding my society’s historical injustices toward its Jewish citizens during the Holocaust. Jus quia justum, not merely jus quia iussum – justice because it is right, not merely because it is commanded – this is the principle taught in Italian and German law schools. It is through unthinking obedience that ordinary citizens become instruments of oppression. This legacy has been fostered in many, especially in Western societies that perpetrated the Holocaust and other genocides before that, with a deep-seated commitment to combat all forms of racism, discrimination, and dehumanization of others. This is the purest meaning of ‘Never Again.’
This time, many in Germany were unable to hear these messages from me, Eyal, and others. May the next opportunity be different. I hope this moment sparks introspection and a reckoning, encouraging us to realize that speaking out for the oppressed should not be viewed as an act of bravery, but as a fundamental duty we all share to uphold the rights and freedoms of all people, regardless of nationality or religion – from every river to every sea, in Palestine/Israel, and beyond.
The part of the article beyond the paywall:
Culture of Dehumanization: Anti-Palestinian Racism
The extreme nervousness surrounding my visit is a symptom of the systemic crackdown on Palestinians, their allies, and pro-Palestinian stances – part of a wider culture of dehumanization of the Palestinians and anti-Palestinian racism that, in the West, has helped enable Israel’s genocide. Numerous individuals shared harrowing accounts of overt discrimination and racism, intimidation, suppression, and punitive measures, each more disturbing than the last.
At a time when the International Court of Justice has 1) deemed Israel’s occupation unlawful, amounting to racial segregation, apartheid, and partial annexation, 2) acknowledged plausible genocide (South Africa v Israel), and 3) warned states – Germany specifically – against arming potential war criminals (Nicaragua v Germany), Germany’s unwavering support for Israel is not only crushing the rights of those advocating for justice in Palestine, but also violating the most fundamental principles of international law. It is absolutely worth reminding people that the Apartheid Convention lists “persecution of organizations and persons, by depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms, because they oppose apartheid” among the acts constituting apartheid.
The lengths to which repression is used to shield Israel from accountability – even if only by suppressing the exposure of the facts and their legal ramifications – had made me vividly aware of the state of collective hysteria in which Germany seems to be trapped, and the complex legal dimension underpinning it. Even with prior knowledge of worrisome restrictive trends in the country, I could not have anticipated how Germany – with its proud and decade-long history of advocating for the rule of law – would suddenly feel disconcertingly reminiscent of an era long past. This is all the more true given Germany’s contribution to developing the international normative, regional, and multilateral system to advance the rule of law.
At the core of this issue lies Germany’s rigid ideological alignment with Israel – a relationship that purports to safeguard not only the historical responsibility of Germany towards the Jewish people post-Holocaust, but unquestioningly supports any policy of the Israeli state, even when unlawful and plausibly criminal, and even when contested by Jewish people, including in Germany.
In the face of all this, I left Germany wondering: Where are the intellectuals, the historians, the principled civil servants, and the independent journalists? Where are the legal scholars, the international and constitutional lawyers, the formidable philosophers of legal sociology that this society nurtures, and where are civil society organizations, as well the German Institute for Human Rights, which have not only shaped but also benefited from Germany’s decades-long and heralded reputation as a bastion of democracy and human rights? Justice Because It’s Right
As an Italian, I carry a profound awareness and sense of responsibility – an evolution beyond guilt per se – regarding my society’s historical injustices toward its Jewish citizens during the Holocaust. Jus quia justum, not merely jus quia iussum – justice because it is right, not merely because it is commanded – this is the principle taught in Italian and German law schools. It is through unthinking obedience that ordinary citizens become instruments of oppression. This legacy has been fostered in many, especially in Western societies that perpetrated the Holocaust and other genocides before that, with a deep-seated commitment to combat all forms of racism, discrimination, and dehumanization of others. This is the purest meaning of ‘Never Again.’
This time, many in Germany were unable to hear these messages from me, Eyal, and others. May the next opportunity be different. I hope this moment sparks introspection and a reckoning, encouraging us to realize that speaking out for the oppressed should not be viewed as an act of bravery, but as a fundamental duty we all share to uphold the rights and freedoms of all people, regardless of nationality or religion – from every river to every sea, in Palestine/Israel, and beyond.