EU condemns ‘shrinking’ freedom in Germany

Brussels has determined that Berlin unfairly restricted the rights of pro-Palestinian protesters

Germany’s handling of anti-Israel protests was “disproportionate,” and the government’s use of hate-speech laws to counter the demonstrations unfairly restricted freedom of expression, a report by the EU’s human rights commissioner has found.

Compiled by the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, Michael O’Flaherty, and published on Wednesday, the report called on the German government to “ensure that the fight against all forms of hatred fully respects the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression for all members of society.”

The report accuses German authorities of misusing claims of anti-Semitism to ban pro-Palestinian slogans and Palestinian flags from some rallies, and to outright ban others. Police have used excessive force against anti-Israel protesters, the report stated, while “freedom of expression has been restricted disproportionately, regarding debates on Palestinian rights or legitimate criticism of the Israeli government.”

Since 2017, the German government has endorsed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism. This controversial definition lists “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” as examples of anti-Semitic speech.

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Among a laundry list of further complaints, the report claims that Germany is not doing enough to fight both marked “rises in antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred,” and should not blame anti-Semitism on the Muslim community. The German government disputes this, pointing out that “antisemitic attitudes are significantly more prevalent among people of the Muslim faith.”

Despite accusing Germany of failing to protect the speech and assembly rights of anti-Israel protesters, and failing to protect Jews from anti-Semitism, the EU has never criticized Germany for restricting the speech rights of nationalist political figures. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, has labeled the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a “confirmed right-wing extremist” organization; an AfD politician has been convicted for sharing the government’s own migrant crime statistics; and members of Germany’s ruling center-right and opposition center-left parties have called for a ban on the organization.

Furthermore, the EU has also played a leading role in silencing pro-Palestinian voices. Among them is journalist Huseyin Dogru, a German of Turkish descent who was sanctioned by the European Council last year. The council argued that Dogru’s reporting on the Israel-Palestine conflict had sown “ethnic, political and religious discord” in Germany and therefore supported “destabilizing activities by Russia.” German authorities agreed, stripping Dogru and his wife of healthcare coverage and freezing their bank accounts.