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News from Berlin and Germany, 18th June 2025

Weekly news round-up from Berlin and Germany


18/06/2025

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrations since October 2023

The Berlin police have counted 674 pro-Palestinian demonstrations and hundreds of related incidents since October 2023. A further 24 demonstrations have been banned, as the Senate and police responded to an SPD questioning. According to the police, the number of recorded violent offenses at pro-Palestinian demonstrations up to the end of May was 714, almost 600 of them in the past year. In addition, 615 propaganda offenses and incitement to hatred were recorded during the demonstrations. The Senate Interior Administration stated that the majority of demonstrators were peaceful. Source: rbb

Neo-Nazi attacks in Lichtenberg

In 2024, the police registered the highest number of right-wing extremist crimes in Berlin for 10 years: 2,791 cases, an increase of 20% compared to the previous year. The significant increase in coercion and threats is particularly striking. The number of so-called propaganda offenses also rose. These include the distribution of banned symbols in the form of stickers or graffiti. Last year, Lichtenberg was one of Berlin’s hotspots for right-wing crimes: 246 offenses were counted in the district, compared to 147 in 2022. 85 right-wing extremist crimes were already documented in the first quarter of 2025. Source: rbb

Soldiers honored at the first National Veterans Day in front of the Reichstag

National Veterans Day were celebrated for the first time in Germany on Sunday. Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) opened the central ceremony. Around ten million Germans currently count as veterans. Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) described the Bundeswehr as an “integral part” of society. On the other hand, several counter-demonstrations were announced in the capital. At midday, “Veterans against war” met in Scheidemannstraße in front of the Reichstag, with 110 registered participants. There was also a counter-vigil in Spreebogenpark near the Reichstag. According to the police, ten arrests were also made at another demonstration in Mitte. Source: rbb

Muslims in Berlin under general suspicion

It is estimated that up to 10% of Berliners are Muslim, but it is difficult to say exactly how many. This is because those who identify as Muslim do not necessarily have to be part of an Islamic community. The organization CLAIM brings together 50 Muslim and non-Muslim civil society actors and it runs a center on anti-Muslim discrimination in Berlin. Last Wednesday, it published its current annual report, which shows that 70% more cases of discrimination were registered last year than in 2023. The office registered 644 incidents, roughly two incidents per day. Almost two-thirds of those affected were women (64%). Source: nd

Berlin activist after Gaza mission: “Israel won’t exist for much longer”

The Berlin activist Yasemin Acar, who intended to travel to the Gaza Strip together with Greta Thunberg on a ship of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, landed at Berlin’s BER airport last Thursday. She was greeted there by dozens of supporters. Acar accuses Israel of kidnapping the crew members of the sailing ship Madleen in international waters. The activist group had set sail from Sicily at the beginning of June. According to their own statements, they wanted to bring relief supplies such as baby food and medical supplies to the suffering people in the Gaza Strip. “We will come back until we stop the siege,” Acar added. Source: BZ

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Making peace? Only with weapons!

The reactions to the modest manifesto against unlimited militarization by SPD politicians show how far the internal mobilization has progressed—no matter how much the Social Democrats, who are pleading for a reversal of the “turnaround” delusion, claim that they also stand for the EU’s defense capability and military support for Ukraine. Today, even the most well-founded warning about the growing danger of a nuclear inferno associated with the stationing of US medium-range missiles in Germany is considered treason. Rheinmetall and Co. are happy about this, as are, of course, the arms investors in other parts of the world. Source: nd

Border control with Austria was unlawful

The Bavarian Administrative Court has decided that a personal check on June 11, 2022, at the German-Austrian border was unlawful. During an identity check at that time, the Federal Police came across the international law expert Stefan Salomon. He is a junior professor of European law at the University of Amsterdam. Salomon then took action against the check, represented by Christoph Tometten from the Berlin law firm Möckernkiez. The decision nevertheless does not address the general legality of internal border controls. Source: lto

“Drama in the billions”

Last Saturday, Jens Spahn, head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, made a public demand for a return to compulsory military service.  For a moment, the headline “Jens Spahn demands” displaced the numerous accusations directed at Spahn himself—about the masks affair and about Spahn’s mistakes at the beginning of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, when he was Federal Minister of Health. On Sunday, NDR, WDR and the Süddeutsche Zeitung quoted from the 170-page report by special investigator Margaretha Sudhof: driven by “political ambition,” Spahn had wanted to “master the procurement of the masks alone.” The result was “a drama costing billions.” Source: taz

News from Berlin and Germany, 11th June 2025

Weekly news round-up from Berlin and Germany


11/06/2025

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Rents in Berlin are rising sharply, with a disastrous effect

Rents in Berlin have only been going in one direction for years: upwards. More and more people are moving to the capital – the four million mark is within reach. But there is not enough living space for this influx. The result is an explosion in prices. In such scenario, it pays to have a rental contract that is several years old. According to the Berliner Zeitung, prices for new tenants per square meter in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg are now almost twice as high as the average for existing tenants. This leads to a disastrous consequence, with hardly any mobility on the market. Researchers call this the lock-in effect. Source: Berlin Live

The fence that almost nobody wants

The “Day Z”, the day when a fence will be built in Görlitzer Park, is now imminent and that is why Clara Vuillemin, cofounder of the magazine “Republik”, sat in the middle of the park in Berlin-Kreuzberg last Thursday. The 33-year-old lives around the corner. The park, “that’s my garden, my balcony,” she says. “If they close it now, they’ll just take it away from us.” Almost two years ago, Berlin’s mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) announced that he would have a fence built around the park, primarily to combat drug dealing. Source: SZ

“New Generation” blockade stopped at the Bundestag

A blockade by the New Generation Initiative was stopped by the police at the Bundestag in Berlin last Friday. A group of around 20 people tried to stick themselves in front of the entrance to the parliament’s underground parking garage at around 8.30 am, a policespokes woman said. However, the officers intervened, and 20 people were provisionally arrested. The New Generation initiative is the successor to the Last Generation climate protection group. It calls for a “non-violent, democratic revolution” and had announced a week of action for more democracy. Most recently, it tried to block access roads to a printing plant in Berlin-Spandau. Source: rnd

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Left-wing MP thrown out of Bundestag over Palestine shirt

During questions to the Federal Government in the Bundestag, Parliament President Julia Klöckner (CDU) expelled Left Party MP Cansın Köktürk from the chamber. The reason for this was a shirt with the word “Palestine” on it. Around half an hour into the questioning of Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) and Development Aid Minister Reem Alabali-Radovan (SPD), among others, Klöckner said: “We have agreed – and these are the clear rules of the House – that neither stickers nor any other form of denomination on T-shirts are allowed”. “Then I would ask you to leave the meeting,” Klöckner continued. Köktürk then left the room. Source: islamiq

Hanau survivor initiates an open letter against the Gaza war

Germany’s Middle East policy has been criticised: around 50 personalities from academia, culture, politics and society have sent an open letter to the German government. The initiator of the letter comes from Hanau. Etris Hashemi knows what pain and suffering mean, especially when innocent people are affected. The 28-year-old survived the racist attack in Hanau on February 19, 2020, seriously injured and losing his brother Said Nesar and several of his friends. The letter states that Germany has a special responsibility due to its historical guilt: “both for the observance of international law and universal human rights as well as for the fight against anti-Semitism and racism.” Source: Hessenschau

US troops to remain in Germany

During Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s (CDU) inaugural visit to Washington, US President Donald Trump confirmed that the US troops stationed in Germany should remain there. In response to a question from journalists in the Oval Office, Trump answered with a clear “yes”. According to the US European Command, around 78,000 US troops are currently stationed in Europe, of which around 37,000 are in Germany. The number varies regularly as part of rotations and exercises – especially since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Trump praised Germany’s increased defense spending as a “positive thing” in principle, but did not want to comment onspecific figures. Source: berliner Zeitung

Bavarian AfD wants ban rainbow flags

The AfD in Bavaria plans to ban the use of the rainbow and EU flags on public buildings and state institutions. As reported by Deutsche Presse-Agentur, a corresponding draft bill from the parliamentary group in the state parliament stipulates that “only the federal flag, the Bavarian state flag and the flag of the respective municipality may be hoisted or displayed”. The motion met with massive criticism from all other parliamentary groups during the first debate in parliament. “It’s amazing how a small colorful flag can inflame the minds of a few,” said Doris Rauscher (SPD). Source: Merkur

Bundeswehr: new NATO goals, old infrastructure?

Boris Pistorius (SPD) has brought up the idea of increasing the Bundeswehr’s personnel by up to 60,000 soldiers. But how should they be distributed – and where should they be housed? The institution faces enormous structural changes to meet the changing requirements. The only thing that is certain is that the money is there. Meanwhile, NATO is tightening slowly the reins. Experts speculate about what exactly NATO’s new requirements will be. According to dpa, an increase of around 30% in the size of NATO was discussed in Brussels. However, a decision will only be made at the NATO summit on June 24 and 25 in The Hague. Source: Defence Network








“The Metaphorical Ship of the Zionist Entity is Sinking”

Interview with Yazan Eissa (Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Germany)

Yasan Eissa stands in front of a wall, hands clasped in front of him. He is wearing a keffiyeh and a necklace with a pendant.

Editors’ Note: This interview was taken on 8th June, the day before the occupants of the Madleen were kidnapped by Israeli troops on international waters. We will update you with more news as quickly as we can.

Hi Yazan, thanks for talking to us. Could you start by briefly introducing yourself?

My name is Yazan Eissa. I am a Palestinian in exile. I have been living in Germany for seven years already. I am a representative of the Freedom Flotilla in Germany and a steering committee member.

When did you become an activist, and why?

Although I’m not a big fan of the word “activist,” I can say that as a Palestinian, I’ve always resisted the occupation one way or the other. However, ever since October 7, the masks have fallen, not only for me, but for anyone else around the world. 

The governments of the world started taking sides. Capitalism has shown its colours, colonialism and Zionism have become more prominent in the way the governments respond to everything. It was just clear to me that I have to do as much as I could to cause a change in this world. 

How did you get involved with the Freedom Flotilla? 

I simply couldn’t take it anymore, sitting there being helpless. The inability to do anything pushed me to contact as many direct actions as possible, offering my help. I contacted the Freedom Flotilla repeatedly without response. When I found out that a steering committee member was moving to Germany, I contacted them and offered to help start the Germany team.

What inspired you specifically about the Freedom Flotilla compared to other efforts since October 7th?

What really stood out for me was that the Freedom Flotilla had started way before October 7th. It was about the siege of Gaza. It’s the values carried by this organization. Those people actually know about the struggle in Palestine. I realized that even more after joining and talking to them. They’re doing this for the right values and the right cause. 

I really wanted to join them because they were advocating for direct action. Different organizations have different approaches, but for me it was direct action that could make a difference. We could cause turmoil. We could start the butterfly effect. 

Can you tell us about your involvement with the Conscience?

The Conscience is a big ship, and, along with the Madleen, it was set to take almost 50 people to Gaza. I was one of the people who was willing to be a participant and go all the way to break the siege.

But as we were trying to get things started, the Zionist entity took notice of our movements and tried to stop us. First through bureaucratic warfare, then by removing a flag from a ship in international waters––breaching maritime law. They finally resorted to dropping a bomb on the engine of the Conscience and destroying it. They thought this would destroy our hopes. But 2 weeks later, we organised the Madleen to deliver the aid. 

I guess most people know about the Madleen because of the involvement of Greta Thunberg. How important or unimportant is her involvement? 

Speaking to Greta, I know for a fact that her values are in the right place. This is something that made me very comfortable having her on board. In the beginning, we asked her to be there as a prominent figure but not be on the ship. Then she decided: “this is something that I would stand behind. I want to be on the ship.” That’s something we hold a lot of respect for.

Prominent people are more than welcome to be on board, because this means more media and less risk of our comrades being attacked. It was a very strategic decision to make. Rima Hassan, a French parliamentarian, is also aboard. 

The Madleen is not able to take much food, and at the moment thousands of children are being starved to death in Gaza. Is this just a symbolic action?

A year ago, we were trying to deliver 50,000 tons of aid, using the Conscience and other ships. We know that even if we were to take a small ship and load it as much as we can with aid, it would not be enough for a single day in Gaza. 

But we’re doing our best, and that’s why we decided to create a storage area in front of the ship. We even bought barrels, filled the barrels with aid, and then just tied them on board the ship. When you see the pictures of the Madleen, you can see those brown, weird-looking barrels that are filled with aid. 

We also understand, regardless how much we take, it would not be enough for the humanitarian aid to Gaza. But it is not only symbolic, because our main goal is to break the siege on Gaza. We want to open the humanitarian corridor so other ships can join us. After that happens, the siege will be broken by land. From the beginning, our goal was to break the siege on Gaza. 

The Global March for Gaza is starting next week. How are you coordinating with what they’re doing? 

A strategic alliance has been made between the Global March to Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla. They simply share the same goal of breaking the siege on Gaza, so it’s very natural, very organic, that this would happen. As a grassroots movement, we decided not just to break the siege of Gaza by sea, but also by land. Having these all together adds to the idea that the siege is illegal and inhumane. 

How are people in Gaza responding to the Freedom Flotilla?

We have received a lot of support from Gaza; a lot of videos that are emotional and eye watering. They view any sign of hope, any uprising by free people, with happiness. Seeing that there is even the slightest reaction from the people in Gaza is so powerful and motivating for us.

Gaza is basically our soul right now, and our soul is slowly dying. They are killing people by the hundreds every single day. Any form of hope that comes from Gaza is amplified a million times and moves millions of free people around the world, causing waves of resistance from the outside. 

How easy is it for you to stay hopeful? 

It’s really not easy, especially with hundreds of people dying every single day. With every martyr who is killed by the Zionist entity, it makes it more difficult to be hopeful. However, it brings together communities, and makes us want to gather our strength and to move forward.

When we are not resisting, what are we doing? We’re sitting there at home alone, unable to feel, unable to move, unable to live. We experience a collective suicide that is experienced by every single individual on their own. 

We send out a little boat to Gaza, which gets reciprocated by a small hope from Gaza, which gets amplified a million times. This is the way that our energy keeps on adding up and multiplying and amplifying, and the hope starts lightning from this lighthouse. 

It is one fight. It is one monster we are facing. The only way to defeat it is by putting our hands together and fighting.

There’s been attempts to break the siege before, most memorably the Mavi Marmara, where two German MPs were on the boats. That got attacked by Israeli troops. What’s the likelihood that this will happen again? 

If we look at the different missions that came after 2010, the Zionist entity has realised that it’s not in their interest to go on the ship and kill activists and journalists. They had to pay for that.

I really think that because of the strong media presence that we have this time, because all eyes are on us and because the Zionists are losing the grip of their narrative, this will add to our security and hopefully what’s happening right now will not be similar to what happened on the Mavi Marmara.

Could you say a little bit about the change in narrative? Last month, we had Friedrich Merz, Annalena Baerbock, Emmanuel Macron, and Keir Starmer all saying that maybe Israel has gone a little too far. Why do you think that there’s been this shift in how our politicians talk?

Right now, we are reaching a phase where the masks are being removed, where the Zionist entity is losing its grasp of reality. People are seeing what has been going on in Palestine since 1948. They are looking back into the records and a lot of people around the world are starting to wake up; to realize. 

The metaphorical ship of the Zionist entity is sinking. And the partners complicit in this genocide, including Germany, have started to realize this. So it’s a way for them to abandon the ship, to save themselves a little bit by saying: “Now we realize what’s happening is a genocide. Now we realize that we are standing on the wrong side of history.”

One day or the other, the Zionist entity will fall. People are starting to lose hope in the Zionist narrative, and that’s why a huge shift in narrative is happening around the world. 

What are the different scenarios which could happen to the Madleen in the next couple of weeks? 

I think the best way for them is to actually let the ship enter and provide the aid, even if it means they would lose the inhumane siege they have been upholding all those years. The other alternatives would not help them. If they board the ship and injure any one of our comrades that would not come back positively on them. 

It’s also a possibility that they occupy the ship, take it to Ashdod port or Haifa, put the activists in prisons, and then deport them. Our comrades have practiced non-violent resistance. They know what to do there, and they will try their best to make sure that no one gets injured during this process. 

Another scenario, which is, in my opinion, the least likely, is that they would just drop a bomb and kill everyone on board. I do not think that would be a smart move for them, and that’s why I believe there’s a really small likelihood that this thing would happen. But once again, we’re dealing with the Zionist entity, and who knows how far they’re willing to push this.

What happens next? 

Since the beginning of the siege, our idea has been to keep sending ships until the siege is broken. I hope that we do not have to send even more ships, but we are going to send as many ships as we can to end this siege.

What is your next step, personally?

I want to be more part of this global uprising. I want to take part in the social movement of decentralizing away from the government.

I received my Bachelors in renewable energy engineering. Currently I am pursuing a Masters in electrical engineering. I think it would be beautiful if I’m able to use my knowledge and my skills to create electrical grids that are not connected to the government and used in a way that upholds human values and does not destroy the environment. 

This would be a form of launching point, or a base for more social movements where everyone is accepted; everyone is united. We live life the way it’s supposed to be, and then hopefully an example for humanity to just go deeper in that sense and build this new future that I am dreaming about.

What can people do to actively help the Flotilla?

What they need to realize is that this is not a fight for specific people. It’s not only the 12 people on board who are leading the fight. It’s a fight that involves every single person of the free world, and they are part of it. We have so much power in the collective. Putting our hands together and working together would move mountains and not just stones. Freedom Flotilla will soon publish a form for people to join us on the next mission, to participate in any way they can. 

Right now, we are approaching a very tense and critical time with the Madleen, because they are less than 24 hours away from Gaza. We have already been receiving threats by the Zionist entity. The latest threat is that they are going to deploy commandos to board the ship. Those specific commandos with the specific numbers and specific names have been involved in multiple war crimes in Gaza. They’re also going to employ ships and helicopters just to stop this small boat. So it’s going to be a very critical time.

What could be done right now is to not leave our comrades alone on the waters in that ship. Send letters to the government in Germany, for example. German citizen Yasemin Acar is on board that ship, and the German government is obliged to provide security for a German activist who is just upholding the ICJ laws and following the Geneva Conventions and the UN laws to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. 

We should send as many letters and emails as possible to the German foreign office and the Zionist entity’s embassy in Germany. Maybe they won’t read them, but maybe we succeed in causing so much disruption in their system and jamming their signals with the phone calls that they are forced to have a look and see what is going on here.

This is only one of the things that we can do at this specific moment in the next 24 hours where times are critical. 

What is possible in Germany?

I was speaking to a German once, and he told me that what’s happening in Palestine right now is liberating us in Germany. It is making us wake up and see what Germany is doing to us. We do not in fact live in democracy. The amount of people whose houses have been raided by the police for standing firm for Palestine, these are things that should not be silenced.

We, as people, need to draw our boundaries, to tell the German government that this is not all right. If Germans believe in freedom of speech, it doesn’t come at an easy cost. 

Risks are part of it, but it is a global uprising, and it’s happening everywhere else in the world. It’s up to the German public now, whether they choose to be part of it or choose to be complicit in the genocide happening in Gaza.

News from Berlin and Germany, 4th June 2025

Weekly news round-up from Berlin and Germany


04/06/2025

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Klöckner threatens to ban Nietzard from the Bundestag

An Instagram post with an anti-police sweater is putting Green Youth leader Jette Nietzard under increasing pressure, and an internal letter from Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) to the Greens could continue to cause considerable political tension. Nietzard posted a photo on Instagram with a sweater bearing the inscription “ACAB” (“All Cops Are Bastards”), with the provocative caption “On my way to the Bundestag.” According to the Bild newspaper, Klöckner reacted with harsh criticism and threatened Nietzard with concrete consequences: Up to 5,000 euros in fines and, in the event of a repeat offense, even a ban from the house. Source: BZ

“Beck is the mouthpiece of the far-right government”

There is a dispute within the German-Israeli Society (DIG) over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the Gaza offensive. Former DIG President Reinhold Robbe (SPD) affirmed that the current DIG President Volker Beck (Greens) had “now become the mouthpiece of the right-wing extremist Israeli government.” “While thousands of Israelis demonstrate week after week in Tel Aviv against Prime Minister Netanyahu’s conduct of the war and for the return of the remaining hostages, DIG President Beck is trying to justify the disproportionality of the warfare, which has been confirmed by all sides,” says Robbe, who led the DIG from 2010 to 2015. Source: tagesspiegel

Racism and sexism on the rise in Germany

More than 11,000 people contacted the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency in 2024—more than ever before in Germany. “Discrimination is a growing problem in Germany. We have a massive problem with racism, we have a massive problem with sexism. And we have a massive unwillingness to give people with disabilities equal participation,” says Ferda Ataman, Independent Federal Commissioner for Anti-Discrimination. However, she also sees the increase in requests for advice as a sign of confidence in the rule of law. Among the various groups, black women and women with headscarves are particularly targeted by racist hostility. Source: dw

Asylum: Dobrindt sticks to rejections despite ruling

Despite a court ruling, Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) is sticking to his strict course on immigration to Germany. In a first case concerning two men and a woman from Somalia, the administrative court in Berlin declared the new rejection practice unlawful in summary proceedings on Monday. Dobrindt nevertheless affirmed that “we are sticking to the rejections.” The court had referred to an individual case in its summary judgment, while Dobrindt’s ministry is seeking a decision in the main proceedings. The CSU Minister explained that the judges had requested more detailed reasons for the rejection. Source: dw

Germany is third last in terms of economic growth

According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), Germany will be one of the slowest growing industrialized nations this year. Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to increase by 0.4%, as the OECD confirmed in its March forecast. This puts Europe’s largest economy in the third-to-last place in the OECD’s growth forecast for 2025, together with Mexico. It is followed by Austria and Norway. In 2026, growth is expected to reach 1.2%, compared to the previous forecast of 1.1%. According to the OECD, the global economy is only expected to grow by 2.9% in both 2025 and 2026, compared to 3.3% last year. Source: taz

Germany says it has approved over €485M worth of arms exports to Israel since October 2023

From October 7, 2023, to May 13, 2025, Germany issued export licenses for arms deliveries to Israel totaling €485.1 million, according to the government’s response to a question in parliament from Die Linke. The approved exports include a broad range of military equipment including weapons systems, ammunition, radar and communication devices and parts for armored vehicles. The government observed it had provided only limited information about the nature of the exports, citing a Federal Constitutional Court ruling that restricts the disclosure of details which could reveal Israel’s current military capabilities or needs. Source: aa

News from Berlin and Germany

Weekly news round-up from Berlin and Germany


28/05/2025

NEWS FROM BERLIN

BDS “anti-constitutional” for the first time

Berlin’s domestic intelligence service has listed the BDS (“Boykott, Desinvestition und Sanktionen”), a Palestinian-led movement, as a “proven anti-constitutional endeavour” for the first time. However, this designation appeared in a 2024 report on the ‘protection of the constitution’. According to the Senate Chancellery, the reason for this is the alleged anti-constitutional ideology of BDS, which negates Israel’s “right to exist”, as well as its central role within an “anti-Israeli scene in Berlin”. BDS, a transnational political campaign, is directed against trade with Israel and co-operation in culture and science, among other things. Source: Jungewelt

Mass accommodation Tempelhofer Feld?

More places for refugees are to be created on Tempelhofer Feld. As reported by “rbb24”, this is to compensate for the loss of places at a planned refugee centre in Köpenick. The containers and hangars on the edge of Tempelhofer Feld already have space for more than 2,000 refugees. Elif Eralp, spokesperson for The Left (die Linke) in the House of Representatives, takes a critical view of this: she is concerned that further expansion will lead to situations that ‘harbour conflicts’, for example due to a lack of privacy. The Senate wants to decide on additional container accommodation in a fortnight’s time. Source: berliner Zeitung

NEWS FROM GERMANY

SPD members see arms exports as possible involvement in war crimes

The way in which Israel is fighting Hamas is now beginning to be criticised. Although some aid is being delivered to the Gaza Strip again, at the same time a major offensive is exacerbating the suffering of civilians. Therefore, influential SPD MPs are calling on the German government to stop German arms exports to Israel in view of possible war crimes in Gaza. In the party´s Berlin conference, the SPD passed an initial motion calling for a stop to all arms deliveries to Israel. So far, the German government has made an exception for Israel from the practice of not supplying weapons to conflict areas for good reasons. Source: n-tv

The good guys and the bad guys

Instead of thinking about the victims, ethnic origin is discussed first and foremost after attacks. When breaking news of an attack appears on the mobile phone screen, the victims are no longer the focus of reporting. Instead, we are preoccupied with the question: which ethnicities are those involved? It is believe that ethnic origin – “race” – says something about whether a person is “good” or ‘bad’. In last fridays knife attack in Hamburg Central Station, Muhammad Al Muhammad, a Syrian refugee, stopped an attacker, who injured 18 people, from even stabbing more people. Source: taz

More refugees are living in Germany than ever before – but new arrivals have fallen significantly

There are more refugees are living in Germany than ever before. At the end of 2024, approximately 3.45 million foreign nationals who came to the country as refugees were registered. On the other hand, far fewer refugees arrived in 2024 than in previous years: approximately 124,000 more in the country on New Year’s Eve 2024 than the year before. Furthermore, under the new coalition’s asylum policy, a lot could change for refugees in Germany. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has said that that the family reunification rule for refugees with subsidiary protection status, which has been in effect since 2018, might end in a few weeks for at least two years. Source: welt


Right-wing extremist? Raids on police officers

According to a report, a 27-year-old police officer from the Emsland/Grafschaft Bentheim police station and a 21-year-old police trainee from Hann. Münden (Göttingen district) are accused of having shown the Hitler salute and distributed photos of foreign citizens in cells, among other things. They were suspended from duty for the time being as part of disciplinary proceedings. Investigators said they had seized mobile phones, laptops and electronic data carriers. In a joint statement, Andrea Menke, Police Vice President of the Osnabrück Police Directorate, and Carsten Rose, Director of the Lower Saxony Police Academy, spoke out clearly against right-wing extremist ideas. Source: ndr


Antisemitism Commissioner Klein calls for debate on “raison d’état”

The German government’s antisemitism commissioner, Klein, has called for a debate on the term “Staatsräson” (purpose of state) considering Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. The term is blurred, as he mentioned to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. The Staatsräson is vague, but the sentiment is that Germany must do everything in its power to preserve the security of Israel and Jews worldwide, and is widely accepted amoung many politicians. However, now it is being questioned with some proponents saying that it must also be made clear that this is not justification for anything. Starving Palestinians and deliberately making the humanitarian situation dramatically worse has nothing to do with safeguarding Israel’s right to exist, Klein has said. Source: deutschlandfunk