The decision of Die Linke’s Federal Arbitration Commission in the appeal proceedings against my expulsion from the party by the Berlin State Arbitration Commission has been postponed until the end of November 2025.
The reason for the delay in the decision was a document submitted at short notice the day before today’s hearing by Katina Schubert and Martin Schirdewan, who had requested my exclusion.
Here is my statement:
Die Linke is postponing the decision at a time when an effective, loud, and internationalist Left is urgently needed.
Even if the current ceasefire offers the population of Gaza a sigh of relief, Trump’s 20-point plan cannot resolve the root causes of violence in Palestine. Occupation, settlement expansion, apartheid, and oppression continue, as does German support for them. Die Linke will have to continue to confront this reality.
The last-minute introduction of a document containing further allegations into my appeal proceedings, which were supposed to concern my right to fair and statutory treatment, has shifted the focus of the matter under discussion.
Voices in solidarity with Palestine
Although the Federal Arbitration Commission made it clear at the beginning of the hearing that this document could not serve as the basis for the negotiations, I was repeatedly questioned about the new allegations.
In contrast, my response to the reasons for exclusion given by the Berlin State Arbitration Commission, which I objected to, played a subordinate role.
This confirms my impression from the proceedings so far that Katina Schubert and Martin Schirdewan, as members of the reformist wing, will use any means to silence voices of solidarity with Palestine.
First response to new allegations
I will comment in detail on the allegations made, but I’ll say this upfront: Unlike the Berlin State Arbitration Commission, which explicitly did not accuse me of antisemitism, Schubert and Schirdewan are once again attempting to imply that I am antisemitic. I categorically reject this.
Schubert and Schirdewan deny me any solidarity within the party. This is particularly absurd because Katina Schubert had already denied me any solidarity within the party before the trial and attacked me in the press.
Furthermore, Schubert and Schirdewan accuse me of not advocating peaceful conflict resolution and non-violence. This, too, is beyond misleading. Of course, as a socialist, I strive for non-violent conditions in every respect. At the same time, as a leftist, I have a responsibility to identify the structural violence and conditions of oppression that underlie the events of October 7 and the genocide in Gaza. In doing so, I do not fall short of international law, which, in a context of violent occupation and oppression, grants the oppressed the right to resist. This applies to the Palestinians as well as to the Kurds and other oppressed people, even if they do not share my socialist principles.
The fact that Katina Schubert herself does not stand firmly on the ground of complete non-violence and—in contradiction to the party line—supports arms deliveries to Ukraine, demonstrates the double standards of those who support my expulsion.
Equal rights for all
The real issue is the debate about whether it is possible in a pluralist left-wing party to advocate for a democratic one-state solution that enables equal rights for Jewish and Palestinian people. This is important because I am by no means the only one in the party who shares this position.
I am overwhelmed by the solidarity from broad sections of the party. The demonstration we organized together on September 27 was a milestone in making active solidarity with the Palestinians visible in Germany and exposing the federal government’s unwavering support for the genocide. Ines Schwerdtner’s recognition of the genocide played an important role in this. Let us continue to stand together in solidarity with Palestine.
Berlin, October 11, 2025
This statement originally appeared in German on the Sozialismus von Unten website
