Buffy the Vampire Slayer once sang, “Life is a show and we all play our part.” The judge of Berlin’s Higher Court played her part loud and clear, giving judicial voice to Germany’s infamous political Staatsräson.
In November 2023, the German state declared—without evidence—that the international slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was a Hamas slogan. Since then, German police, especially in Berlin, have used this profoundly ahistorical and ignorant assertion as a pretext to arrest thousands of people. For nearly two years, the prosecutor’s office attempted—largely unsuccessfully—to prosecute dozens of cases in Berlin, with many lower-court judges unequivocally ruling that the slogan is not a Hamas symbol. Nevertheless, prosecutors persisted, searching for a judge who would rule in their favour.
Today, 17 December, after thirteen sessions of a trial riddled with irregularities, and based on the “expert” testimony of an individual whose extreme bias is immediately evident from even a simple, cursory online search, a judge of the Berlin Higher Court declared the slogan to be one of Hamas.
Let us be clear: this trial was not really about “From the river to the sea…”, nor was it about one individual defendant. The entire Palestine solidarity movement was placed on the bench. The German state demonstrated its willingness to undermine its own rule of law in defence of the genocidal state of Israel. The ruling in this highly political trial bore little resemblance to an impartial application of the law. The so-called evidence presented—nine examples of Hamas using the slogan, not even consistently phrased—was flimsy at best. It appears the court was determined to legitimise the ongoing political persecution of the pro-Palestine movement through weak and unconvincing arguments, further damaging the already tarnished image of Germany’s justice system.
The defence team, exceptionally well prepared, played their part too—this time as the voice of reason—warning of the dangerous path Germany is taking. The curtailment of freedom of expression, which directly impacts the right to assembly, has now placed Germany alongside Orbán’s Hungary in the 2025 CIVICUS Monitor. In other words, in just two years of brutal repression of the anti-genocide movement, Germany has moved from an “open” state to a “restricted” one in terms of civil liberties.
This is happening while the German state rearms, expands its military ambitions, grants police ever-growing budgets and impunity, and watches an extreme-right party gain increasing electoral legitimacy. To say that Germany today looks disturbingly retro, uncomfortably reminiscent of the 1930s, would be an understatement.
Yet this time the German state faces one of its most formidable opponents: the international movement for the liberation of Palestine. Germany is facing legal challenges in both national and international courts, criticism from experts and NGOs, and the scrutiny of millions worldwide who have seen its genocidal and racist face. Government institutions are losing credibility domestically daily and making themselves look like fools internationally.
The liberation of Palestine stands as a symbol of the liberation of all peoples from colonial oppression. It also exposes the pretence that Germany has truly learned from its own one-genocide-per-generation past.
The spectacle of this trial will continue. Lawyers will appeal. People will keep taking to the streets to demand an end to collaboration with a genocidal state. Police will continue to arrest them, and prosecutors will continue to prosecute. But eventually, when the highest court rules on “From the river to the sea”, we will see whether the German judiciary is genuinely independent—or merely another follower of the Staatsräson cult.
