Berlin and antisemitism (II)
German authorities stop UN representative from speaking. Their pretext: “antisemitism”. An alternative meeting, on daily newspaper premises, is intimidated by armed police.
BERLIN/MUNICH (own report) – Bureaucratic and police interventions to prevent a United Nations representative from speaking on Palestine mark a new low point in Germany’s ongoing suppression of free expression and assembly. In recent days, planned appearances by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, have been cancelled at short notice in both Berlin and Munich under pressure from politicians and state authorities. The pretext for this latest crackdown is a policy of rigorous action against anyone alleged to hold antisemitic views. A replacement venue was found at short notice on Tuesday for Albanese: in the editorial offices of the leftist daily ‘junge Welt’. But the organisers then found themselves under intense surveillance by armed police. Police vehicles surrounded the building and officers forced their way in despite objections by the organisers. This ugly episode took place against a background of growing repression of those demonstrating against war in Gaza. Rallies are being violently dispersed, one formal reason being the language used by speakers: any language other than German or English can lead to arrest. This also goes for anti-Zionist Jewish protesters speaking Hebrew. Moreover, having adopted a controversial catch-all definition of antisemitism, the German government is now effectively curbing academic freedom. Renowned academics have been sharply criticising these policies – in vain.
The “antisemitism” resolution
The disputes surrounding state action against actual or alleged expressions of antisemitism recently escalated last autumn. With a large majority, Bundestag lawmakers adopted a resolution on combatting antisemitism. Passed on 7 November 2024, the resolution defines antisemitism in accordance with the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition – internationally considered a highly controversial position. It is criticised for enabling those in power to brand criticism of the state of Israel as “antisemitic”. Its legal adoption results in the marginalising and silencing of a range of opinions, including those voiced by Jewish critics of Zionism, by classifying them as antisemitic under the IHRA definition (german-foreign-policy.com reported [1]). In November, Amnesty International, along with various other non-governmental organisations and with academics, artists and many others, warned that “disproportionate interference in freedom of expression, artistic and academic freedom, and freedom of assembly must be feared” in the event of the resolution’s implementation in law.[2] These fears have proved to be well-founded. The latest example of repressive legislation occurred on 30 January 2025 when Bundestag passed another resolution calling for action to be taken against antisemitism in schools and universities. Here, too, the IHRA definition, which was never intended by its authors to become legally binding, provides for comprehensive repressive measures “up to and including the expulsion” of students.[3]
Opening the door to thought control
The new resolution has again triggered fierce objections. It has been met with widespread astonishment that government agencies are now demanding that scholars and scientists recognise a special definition that is itself treated worldwide as, academically, extremely controversial. Countries in which academic freedom prevails do not apply such an arbitrary definition. The President of the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), Walter Rosenthal, has pointed out that at least some of the requirements formulated in the resolution could “even with the best of intentions be seen as opening the door to suppression and thought control, especially in areas such as research funding.” The Director of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Ralf Michaels, takes the view that the resolution “essentially relies on means that are common in authoritarian states: surveillance, repression, security forces.”[4] The Jewish historian Miriam Rürup, Director of the Moses Mendelssohn Centre for European-Jewish Studies at the University of Potsdam, notes that both resolutions have been passed with the votes of the far-right AfD. She asked how antisemitism could be combated with a document that is strongly approved by an extremist party of the right. Indeed, Ralf Michaels sees the Bundestag resolution as “a golden opportunity” for the AfD to “gain control over schools and universities should it ever become a governing party.”[5]
Speak German here!
Germany is increasingly isolating itself internationally by enforcing de facto narrowing the range of views permissible in scholarship, research and teaching. This amounts to provincialism within the international educational landscape [6] and is accompanied by a steady rise in actual repression. Last summer Amnesty International was already accusing Germany and twenty other European countries of imposing severe restrictions on the right to protest and demonstrate, above all when it comes to objecting to Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. The rights organisation complained that, in Germany, even peaceful demonstrators must increasingly expect to be “stigmatised, criminalised and attacked”.[7] The situation is getting even worse. Repressive laws are leading, above all, to physical attacks on gatherings to oppose Israel’s behaviour in Gaza. In many cases, but especially in Berlin, demonstrations may only take the form of stationary rallies. Even then, they are subject to strict legal conditions, ranging from a ban on drumming and anything else which is deemed to prevent the police can from identifying the slogans being voiced. Videos showing brutal police violence against young activists have gone around the world on social media. At a rally on 8 February, the Berlin authorities declared speech, music and slogans in any language other than German or English to be unauthorised. After an hour, the rally was forcibly dispersed: one of the speakers had spoken in Hebrew.[8]
The Un-Free University
The German authorities recently took action against an official representative of the United Nations in view of her criticism of Israel’s conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, a renowned international lawyer, was the target. Based on her first-hand knowledge, working for the United Nations over many years, she has been highly critical of Israel’s conduct of the war and highlighted war crimes. Thirty Jewish organisations rallied behind her last autumn, denouncing what they described as a smear campaign designed to undermine her UN mandate.[9] She was invited to give a lecture and participate in discussions at two German universities, the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and the Free University of Berlin. The management of both were put under intense political pressure to cancel the events on their premises. In Munich the university let it be known that it felt obliged to prevent an expected “clash of opinions” [10], while in Berlin vague reference was made of alleged security problems. In fact, the cancellation by the Free University was a response to a demand publically issued by the mayor of the German capital, Kai Wegner (CDU). He declared in advance that he “would expect” the university to “cancel the event immediately and send out a clear signal against antisemitism”.[11] The meeting with Francesca Albanese ultimately had to move to another location.
Germany’s special path
The same thing happened at a second planned event with Albanese on Tuesday in Berlin. The premises were closed at short notice, again under massive political pressure. The organisers were then able to move the meeting to the editorial offices of the leftist daily ‘junge Welt’. The reaction of the authorities shows that not only has freedom of expression and freedom of assembly been conspicuously curbed in Germany but also that undermining media freedom is no longer taboo. Armed police forced their way into the venue despite the protests of the organisers. Up to five officers, accompanied by an Arabic interpreter, monitored the whole event from start, in the early afternoon, to finish, shortly before midnight.[12] At times, the building was surrounded by more than twenty police vans. The reason given for the police operation was that was necessary to check not only on what Albanese said but also on whether a criminal offence was committed by anyone in the audience. An “offence” was obviously a reference to any slogan now punishable in Germany and is best not mentioned even here in this article. It is not clear how such a massive and intimidating presence of armed police on the premises of an independent daily newspaper, despite a formal request to leave, is compatible with the principle of freedom of the press. Albanese said that she had travelled to many European countries in recent weeks and months in her capacity as a UN Special Rapporteur but had not, in any of them, experienced government repression like this. She spoke of her anxiety and said she was glad to be leaving Germany very soon.
More on the topic: Berlin and antisemitism.
[1] See also: Berlin and antisemitism.
[2] Deutschland: Verabschiedete Antisemitismus-Resolution gefährdet Grund- und Menschenrechte. amnesty.de 07.11.2024.
[3] Antrag der Fraktionen SPD, CDU/CSU, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen und FDP: Antisemitismus und Israelfeindlichkeit an Schulen und Hochschulen entschlossen entgegentreten sowie den freien Diskursraum sichern. Deutscher Bundestag, Drucksache 20/14703. Berlin, 28.01.2025.
[4], [5] Heike Schmoll: Scharfe Kritik an Antisemitismus-Resolution. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 31.01.2025.
[6] See also: “Eine neue Etappe der Repression” and Academia in world war format.
[7] See also: “Stigmatised, criminalised, attacked”.
[8] Hanno Fleckenstein: Deeskalation sieht anders aus. taz.de 09.02.2025.
[9] EJJP supports Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories. ejjp.net 05.11.2024.
[10] Bernd Kastner: Münchner Uni verhindert Vortrag von UN-Sonderberichterstatterin. sueddeutsche.de 05.02.2025.
[12] Wegner fordert Absage der FU an UN-Sonderberichterstatterin. zeit.de 11.02.2025.
[12] Jamal Iqrith: Polizei in der jungen Welt. junge Welt 19.02.2025.
