To save its democracy and respect the Holocaust, Germany must stop blindly backing Israel | Opinion
www.haaretz.com
***

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/28684388

In a recent escalation, Berlin authorities ordered the deportation of four pro-Palestine activists – three EU citizens and one American, none of whom were convicted of a crime. Rather, citing Staatsräson, their threatened deportation was for holding anti-Israel views. Although one of these deportations was later deemed invalid by the Berlin Administrative court, the move followed 18 months of cancellations, bans and dismissals of artists, academics and speakers – Palestinians, Jews, Israelis and others – for speaking out against Israel.

In a cruel historical twist, Germany, the perpetrator of the Holocaust, has enabled what numerous observers, including Amnesty International, have identified as a genocide of Palestinians. Rather than learning a universal historical lesson that applies to all people, Germany chose a particularist interpretation of its history, centered on the state’s relation to Israel.

The recent deportation order suggest a dramatic escalation in the influence of Staatsräson, which now seems to extends beyond foreign policy. For example, one controversial clause in a draft of the coalition agreement leaked last month proposes stripping dual nationals of German citizenship if they are found to be “supporters of terrorism, antisemites or extremists who jeopardize the free democratic order.”

  • Saleh@feddit.orgEnglish
    161·
    3 days ago

    All of these are known to be active political activists and at times violent.

    That is false. They are not “known to be violent” see my other comment. They are not accused of violence in regards to entering the FU building. They are merely accused for trying to prevent arrests by the police. Something that is already the case if you build a chain and let the cops beat you, but not push through to grab someone they want to grab.

    The rest is politically motivated conjecture by the interior ministry.

    The courts are working this out now and the authorities are respecting court orders. So, I don’t see where this is disregards the Grundgesetz.

    Because repeated attempts to violate the principles of the constitution by the executive are still causing a lot of damage, even if the courts later catch it. For the people threatened with deportation their life was turned upside down for at least two month now. Losing everything you have in one country, your flat, your personal belongings, your work, your education, your social environment… Those are huge impacts on the individuals protected constitutional rights. These go far beyond what a conviction to a fine or even a short prison sentence would cause in damages to the individual. This is also fundamentally different from your example of people not being granted entry into a country. Being deported from where you life is different from not being able to enter another country for a limited time.

    • Samskara@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      42·
      3 days ago

      I agree that this is politically motivated and these folks don’t deserve losing their residence.