While the global movement in solidarity with Palestine has been repressed more or less everywhere, the German mobilization stands out for the weakness of its expression of support. Parts of the feminist, environmentalist, and even anti-racist movements have not only failed to oppose but even endorsed the cancellation of Palestinian voices in the name of a misguided fight against antisemitism. From academia to cultural centers, institutions usually seen as arenas for critical thinking have tried to silence critics of the Israeli genocide. Unions and religious groups involved pacifist campaigns in the past have not mobilized in support of the Gazan population or in criticism of German state repression. With few exceptions, human right groups, which have traditionally fundraised for people in need, have been careful not to mention Palestine, not even when the genocide intensified and was criticized by a large majority of the German public. The liberal “progressive” mass media presented fake news and conspiracy theories to discredit pro-Palestinian protesters and expressed solidarity with the German police forces that brutally repressed peaceful demonstrations. In most cases, the self-proclaimed “critical” and “left-wing” daily Die Tageszeitung has sided with Israel, contributing to the harassment of those who protested against human rights violations in Gaza and the occupied territories, at best publishing debates between journalists for and against the violent removal of student encampments by the police.

The Social Democratic chancellor at the time, Olaf Scholz, stated that he trusted Israel would respect the human rights of Palestinians; on October 10, 2024, the Green foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, infamously said,

we have made it clear time and again that self-defense means, of course, not only attacking terrorists, but also des-troying them. This is why I have made it so clear that when Hamas terrorists hide behind people, behind schools, then we end up in very difficult waters. But we’re not shying away from this. This is why I made it clear at the United Nations that civilian sites could lose their protected status if terrorists abuse this status. That’s what Germany stands for — and that’s what we mean when we refer to Israel’s security.¹