Berlin’s Genocide Denial Runs Deep and Beyond Nicaragua’s ICJ Case
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Hamzah Rifaat
- 13 Mar 2024 00:21
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5 Min Read
Berlin being taken to the ICJ by Nicaragua for abetting Israeli war machinery is not surprising at all.
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Berlin’s Genocide Denial Runs Deep and Beyond Nicaragua’s ICJ Case (Illustrated by Hadi Dbouk to Al Mayadeen English)
At the International Court of Justice in the Hague, Nicaragua filed a case against Germany for abetting, facilitating, and enabling Israeli genocide in Gaza. The case also points at Berlin’s unabashed blocking of funds to the UNRWA and brazen provision of weapons to the Netanyahu regime despite over 30,000 Palestinians losing their lives amid widespread famine, displacement, and destitution. Expectedly, Nicaragua’s case resulted in a sharp rebuke from Germany, yet few can deny that Berlin’s contemporary and historical denial of the Palestinian genocide is a product of its governmental and societal fabric and engineering. Such denial enables Germany to conveniently label anti-war activism, peaceniks, and critics of its foreign policy in the Middle East as ‘anti-Semitic.’ It runs deep.
It also comes in many forms. Take the Anti-Afd (Alternative for Germany) protests calling out right-wing, far-right segments of German society who are also sympathetic to the Zionism cause. They were completely muzzled out harassed and attacked. The anti-Afd protests which took place in February 2024, were aimed at ensuring that Germany does not descend into crass populism and fascism which has otherwise haunted Europe in the form of Viktor Orban’s authoritarianism in Hungary or Giorgia Meloni’s fascism in Italy. Both leaders in Budapest and in Rome are unequivocally pro-Israeli and ironically, have been called out repeatedly by German leaders for their fascism. Since October 7th, 2023, however Germany finds itself in similar terrain on Palestine with historical guilt washing taking place under the garb of democracy.
No more is this evident than in academia. German universities such as the University of Heidelberg are highly ranked and supposed to be bastions for freedom of thought, assembly and expression. They are being subjected to blatant racism. Take what happened at the Freie University in Berlin as an example. In December 2023, a group of students assembled in a lecture hall on campus to express solidarity with Palestine and were accompanied by counter protestors who had opposing views. Instead of the university administration encouraging students and counter protestors to debate, discuss and refrain from violence, they called the police over the premise that any act of ‘anti-Semitism’ on campus will not be tolerated. A criminal charge of trespassing was also imposed while Federal Minister for Education, Bettina Stark-Watzinger called for the public expulsion of severe cases of ‘anti-Semitism.’ The protestors subsequently encountered media harassment, demonization and silencing campaigns under the very watch of the Olaf Scholz government.
What took place at the Freie University in Berlin is not an anomaly. It is part of a systematic anti-Palestine campaign stemming from the very top echelons of power in Germany. Just under a week after October 7th, 2023, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said ‘there is only one place for Germany’ which is to remain ‘side by side with Israel.’ Scholz’s comments were followed by wide-ranging diplomatic, political and military support extended to Israelis to slaughter the already besieged, battered and occupied Palestinian population with impunity. As of November 2023, German military exports to "Israel" were up nearly tenfold with Berlin approving close to $323 million worth of defence equipment to the Netanyahu government. Germany’s penchant for supporting Zionist terrorism also comes with apathy from its political elite. The German government has consistently opposed any calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and ensured that apartheid continues under the garb of the Israeli so-called ‘right to defend itself.’ This can be contrasted with one of Israeli staunchest allies, the United States, where the Biden administration is seen working towards a fleeting ceasefire to save his own domestic credibility.
Berlin is obsessed with ‘atoning’ for its crimes which translates into tactics supporting the crimes of an apartheid state. According to the June, 2023 European Legal Support Center report, Germany was one of the countries found to dismiss employees falsely accused of being ‘anti-Israel’ and also denied public places for Palestinian protests, events, and fundraisers. One such example is German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle which fired seven Arab and Palestinian journalists for allegedly making anti-Semitic comments, which was ultimately dismissed in court the moment two of the fired journalists, Maram Salem and Farah Maraqa, challenged the defamation.
Also, important to note is that in order to guilt wash, Germany equates Zionism with Judaism or the defense of "Jewish civilization" which is a myopic way of viewing the crisis in Gaza and those perpetrating it. Many leading Jewish voices such as Deborah Feldman called out Germany’s unconditional support for the Israelis and the manner in which Berlin is silencing Jewish progressive voices which are anti-war, pro-peace and pro-Palestine in orientation. Feldman’s case negates the dominant narrative in Germany that pro-Palestinian voices are anti-Judaism or anti-Jewish, where the actual battle is between an occupied population and its tormentors. Failure to acknowledge these nuances is where the tragedy lies for Palestinian voices in Germany.
Hence, Berlin being taken to the ICJ by Nicaragua for abetting Israeli war machinery is not surprising at all. Instead of castigating Nicaragua, Germany should introspect and look within.
