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
