this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2025
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[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago (2 children)

And believe me this would make national news in Germany if they did. The depressing reality is that if you do as little as publicly suggesting Palestinians are human, you can get yourself in s lot of trouble in Germany. Authorities will claim you‘re an anti semite nazi who spreads hate speech for it. They are euphoric about the genocide while claiming it doesn‘t take place.

[–] federalreverse@feddit.org 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

if you do as little as publicly suggesting Palestinians are human, you can get yourself in s lot of trouble in Germany

Minor exaggeration there, don't you think? Otherwise, please find a source for that.

[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

Book Fair 2022: Slavoj Žižek received harsh criticism and was even being boo'd on stage by the mayor of Frankfurt for saying exactly that, even after he literally condemed Hamas. An Antisemitism representive then suggested what Žižek did was essentially hate speech.

April 2024: Germany imposed an entry ban on Greek's former financial minister Varoufakis for criticising Israel, labeling it, you guessed it, antisemitist hate speech.

There is more but those are two at the top of my head which you can google yourself if you can't read German or don't want to translate it. It is not an exaggeration to say humanizing the 'wrong' humans can get you in trouble in Germany and that's really depressing.

[–] hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 0 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Well, Germany has a bit of a special relationship with Jews and Israel, since we killed a few million Jews some 80 years ago. There are special laws in place since after WW2. Spreading misinformation or hate speech concerning that will get you in a lot more trouble than in other countries. I mean other countries also shifted lately. I heard in the USA, the current government loves to take protests including for Palestine as an opportunity to oppress people. I'm not sure if Germany shifted or anything. This has always been a delicate topic. Usually, these protests have been handled kinda okay. With a few bad exceptions. Like when a protest turns violent, which this one seems to have.

[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Germany thinks it can right a wrong with another wrong here. That's what's happening.

[–] hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 0 points 3 days ago

I don't think those municipality officials speak for Germany as a whole. I've discussed this on a different platform with some strange people... Generally speaking, we're fine. I've been to protests and they generally work out fine. Most protests for Palestine, too. Sometimes the police or government overstep. I think especially governments are well known for making mistakes. That's what we have a justice system and separation of powers for.