RESOLUTION AGAINST THE REPRESSION OF ADVOCACY FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE IN GERMANY

Whereas, the Federal Republic of Germany and its states have carried out repeated repressive actions against Palestinians and supporters of Palestine in Germany, and

Whereas, this includes the stripping of a Schengen visa from torture survivor and former political prisoner Rasmea Odeh, the political ban on Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat  and his deportation from Germany, and the acts of various state governments, including that of Berlin, to ban events and activities in support of Palestine or advocating for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, from taking place in public facilities or at all, and

Whereas, Deutsche Welle, the German state broadcaster, fired multiple Palestinian and Arab employees for their social media posts in support of Palestine. In at least one case, these firings were later ruled to be illegal, and

Whereas, Berlin banned commemorations of the Nakba in May 2022, and later Berlin police arrested scores of people, including Palestinians and supporters of Palestine, for engaging in peaceful demonstrations, wearing kuffiyehs or waving Palestinian flags, and

Whereas, Berlin immigration officials have, in multiple cases, recommended denial of residency, expulsion and even bans from Germany or from Europe for multiple years, particularly against Palestinian activists. This has also been applied against Palestinian students for nothing more than attending demonstrations, registering a demonstration with the police, or attending a public webinar, and

Whereas,  in all of these cases, state officials have cited defamatory Israeli and Israel lobby press releases as well as right-wing organizations like NGO Monitor, to justify this behaviour, or cited the presumably “legally non-binding” Bundestag resolution condemning the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, and

Whereas, Germany has conditioned its ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on its right  to interpret ICCPR Article 19 and Article 2 consistent with Article 16 of the European Convention on Human Rights which exempts aliens from provisions of Article 10 and 14. Article 10 and 14 correspond to ICCPR Articles 19 and 2. This reservation ostensibly allows Germany to restrict the freedom of expression of aliens and to discriminate against them on the basis of their political or other opinion or national or social origin.

Therefore, Be it Resolved, that the International Association of Democratic Lawyers calls upon German officials at both the federal and state levels to cease the use of political bans, firing from public media positions, police prohibitions on events and immigration consequences to restrict public expression and advocacy for Palestinian rights,

Be it Further Resolved, that the IADL reaffirms its support for Palestinian rights and Palestinian liberation, including the right of Palestinians in exile and diaspora and supporters of justice in Palestine to organize and speak for Palestine, as well as its support for boycott, divestment and sanction against Israel, and

Be it Finally Resolved, that the IADL condemns these actions to suppress expression on Palestine as a form of German and European complicity with ongoing Israeli colonization, apartheid and occupation in Palestine, including ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Adopted by the IADL Council
December 4, 2022

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