Photo: Iván Madero Vergel is the president of CREDHOS.
On June 8, the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) posted: “We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine. In the midst of a rally in Munich, Germany, we express our solidarity with the People of Palestine who resist with dignity. And today, in unison, we say: Stop the genocide!”
A student encampment in solidarity with Palestine was set up in mid-May at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.
Last year, Deutsche Welle reported: “As elsewhere around the world, Saturday [October 21, 2023] saw thousands in Germany take to the streets in support of Palestinians trapped in Gaza. …Police say pro-Palestinian demonstrations took place in Cologne, Frankfurt, Hanover, Karlsruhe, Münster and Stuttgart. The largest, however, appears to have taken place in the western German city of Düsseldorf, where an estimated 7,000 people marched under the motto, ‘For peace, justice, and human dignity in Palestine.’”
That article adds: “A march scheduled to take place in central Berlin on Sunday [October 22, 2023], however, has been canceled by police, who cited the ‘imminent danger’ of incitement, antisemitic slogans and violence or the glorification thereof at the event. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that although everyone in Germany has the right to demonstrate and freely express their option, ‘there is a clear red line: no tolerance for antisemitic or anti-Israel agitation and no tolerance for violence.’”
This week, Amnesty International in Germany noted: “In 2024, there was no blanket ban in Berlin. However, the protests reportedly led to numerous cases of police violence.” They further asserted: “Criticism of Israeli and German government policy must not be criminalized across the board” and “the suppression of Palestinian solidarity voices in public discourse are incompatible with human rights.”
Arms sales
Aljazeera has reported: “In 2023, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros ($354 million), a tenfold increase compared to the previous year, providing 30 percent of the Israeli military’s weapons, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.”
In early-April, the BBC also reported: “A group of [German] civil servants wrote to the German leader [Chancellor Olaf Scholz] calling on the government to ‘cease arms deliveries to the Israeli government with immediate effect’. ‘Israel is committing crimes in Gaza that are in clear contradiction to international law,’ the statement said, citing January’s ICJ [International Court of Justice] ruling.”
In this statement from February, Peace Brigades International called on the international community “to show its strong support for such important institutions for global justice as the International Court of Justice” and “to suspend the supply of arms to Israel and the armed groups involved in the conflict.”
The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has accompanied the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) since 1994.
Also:
COPINH (accompanied by PBI-Honduras): “Since #8YearAnniversary of the Sowing #BertaCáceres, we stand in solidarity with the people of #palestine, who face a painful humanitarian and environmental crisis on the part of the State of Israel.”
Bernardo Caal Xol (accompanied by PBI-Guatemala): “Palestine: cry until you drown @elsaltodiario”
Comite Cerezo (accompanied by PBI-Mexico): “A talk with those who fight for the #Human Rights of working people: Palestine 100 days of Genocide Guest: His Excellency Mohamed Saadat – Ambassador of the Palestinian State in Mexico Join us!”
Further reading: More than 800 human rights defenders killed in Palestine over the past six months (April 26, 2024).
Published by Brent Patterson on