Open Letter: Germany must stop supporting the annihilation of Palestinians

On December 20, 2024 a printed version of this letter and with 4,600 signatures was delivered to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, and Foreign Minister Annelena Baerbock. The letter is still open for signatures, to sign please visit here.

Open letter addressed to the federal government of Germany

With utmost horror we see the unfolding genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people. We are deeply unsettled. We feel pain and are outraged in the face of this blatant disregard for life – a disregard this German government expects us to accept as necessary and normal. For over one year, the German government has been actively participating in the killing and dehumanization of Palestinians by providing political, financial, military, and legal support to Israel. Germany’s complicity in Israel’s atrocities must stop.

We, the undersigned, demand the German government to stand unwaveringly on the side of justice and international law; to exert pressure on Israel to immediately end the killing, maiming, and destruction of Palestinian life; and to comprehensively re-evaluate its stance and political activities, considering Germany’s state institutions, political parties and politicians have, for the most part, supported the atrocities committed by the Israeli army.

Israel’s atrocity crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, are well documented by the UN and major human rights organizations. In fact, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that there is a real and immediate risk that Israel’s actions in Gaza could amount to genocide.¹ The official death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is at 42,718, with many still buried under the rubble and many more dying from the preventable spread of diseases.² Tens of thousands have been injured, many disabled for life, including thousands of children who have lost one or more limbs.³ Israel has been starving the population, has flattened entire neighborhoods, and has destroyed all vital infrastructure, including food production, health, and educational systems.⁴ The Israeli army has displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s population, and for those fleeing, there is no safe place to go as the army regularly bombs what it declares to be safe zones.⁵ Since early October 2024, Israel has completely besieged northern Gaza and made human life impossible with the apparent plan of permanently driving out the Palestinian population.⁶ In the West Bank, Israeli settlers have intensified their attacks, often under the protection of the Israeli army, destroying Palestinian land and property. Israeli soldiers and, in several instances, settlers have killed more than 700 Palestinians since October 7, 2023.⁷ The Israeli army also carries out regular large-scale military incursions demolishing homes and destroying vital healthcare facilities, road infrastructure, electricity networks, and water supplies.⁸ Israel’s recent invasion of Lebanon follows a similar logic and risks further escalating ongoing regional warfare.

Israel’s atrocities must be stopped immediately through international pressure and sanctions. We, therefore, demand that the German government does its part by taking immediate action in light of the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ in the case South Africa v. Israel in January, March, and May this year and to respect the ICJ’s advisory opinion that declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory unlawful in July. Furthermore, we urge the German government to follow the recommendations of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly Resolution on the ICJ’s advisory opinion. UN experts requested specifically that states should: review all diplomatic, political, and economic​​​​​​​ interactions with Israel; impose a full arms embargo; and cancel or suspend economic relationships, trade agreements and academic relations with Israel that may contribute to its unlawful presence and apartheid regime in the occupied Palestinian territory.⁹

As a signatory to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide and to the Rome Statute, Germany has a historical, ethical, legal, and political obligation not to commit, aid, and abet the atrocity crimes that these treaties proscribe. We, therefore, demand Germany to effectively and immediately stop its complicity in the atrocity crimes committed by Israel in Palestine!

October 27, 2024

German version of the open letter 

Notes

1. In light of available evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the ICC  prosecutor requested the issuing of arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin  Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. On the question of genocide, scholars of  holocaust and genocide and international lawyers – examples include the Lemkin Institute for  Genocide Prevention and Human Security (statement), the report Anatomy of a Genocide by  the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, and the University Network for Human Rights  (report) – have come to the conclusion that the current onslaught of Palestine amounts to  genocide. Forensic Architecture published in October A Cartography of Genocide documenting that Israel’s conduct in Gaza “is organized, systematic, and intended to destroy  conditions of life and life-sustaining infrastructure.” Various statements warned early about  the risk of genocide, such as the statement of over 55 holocaust and genocide researchers on  “Mass Violence in Israel and Palestine” from December 9, 2023. Meanwhile, the International  Court of Justice (ICJ) has not made a final legal conclusion. In January 2024, following South  Africa’s application to the ICJ, the ICJ ruled that provisional measures were necessary to  prevent a plausible genocide in Gaza. States have a duty to prevent acts of genocide. It is not  necessary for a definitive determination that genocide is taking place. As the ICJ held in Bosnia  and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro, a “State’s obligation to prevent, and the  corresponding duty to act, arise at the instant that the State learns of, or should normally  have learned of, the existence of a serious risk that genocide will be committed.” Further  evidence of genocidal intent was provided by South Africa in May 2024. In April 2024, 600  civil servants from various German ministries declared in an open letter that “Israel is  committing crimes in Gaza that are in clear contradiction to international law and thus to the  German Constitution, to which we are bound as federal civil servants and public employees.”  ↩︎
2. Source: OCHA impact snapshot (October 2024). The actual death toll is estimated to be  significantly higher, at least 186,000 (Lancet); see also this open letter from American medical  professionals who served in Gaza, and UNICEF’s press release from January 5, 2024.  ↩︎
3. WHO estimates from mid-September 2024 suggest that over 22,500 had life-changing  injuries, including severe limb injuries, amputations, spinal cord trauma, traumatic brain  injuries, and major burns.  ↩︎
4. The ICC prosecutor sees credible evidence that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and  Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.  Experts, the UN and various humanitarian organizations(including USAID) have warned about  mass starvation and have documented Israel’s interference with aid efforts, including the  killing of aid workers and the bombing of ambulances and hospitals. Recently, a UN  Commission found evidence for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israeli attacks on  Gaza health facilities. In April 2024, UN experts raised concerns about ’scholasticide’ in Gaza.  The use of 2,000-pound bombs and AI to determine ‘targets’ has contributed to the high level  of destruction. Based on satellite images around 66% of the total structures (UNOSAT) and  68% of cropland (FAO) was damaged by September 2024. Heritage and cultural sites have  also been destroyed, as has been the judicial infrastructure. ↩︎
5. Statement by humanitarian chiefs in mid-November 2023 on the establishment of ’safe  zones’. There have been numerous strikes on school and other shelters in the ’safe zone’,  which by mid-August 2024 covered less than 13% of the Gaza Strip (OCHA).  ↩︎
6. In mid-September 2024, first reports appeared on Israel’s “Operation Starvation and  Extermination.” In mid-October 2024, 38 humanitarian organizations made a joint statement warning that “northern Gaza is being erased” and that “global leaders must act now to end  Israel’s atrocities.” ↩︎
7. Source: Humanitarian Situation Update #230 (OCHA); OCHA assessment on violence,  destruction, and displacement (September 12, 2024). See also this mapping and detailed  analysis of 1,400 settlers attacks in the West Bank since October 7, 2023.  ↩︎
8. See various Humanitarian Situation Updates on the West Bank (OCHA); Doctors Without  Borders (MSF) on large-scale military incursions launched by Israeli forces in the West Bank  in late August 2024. ↩︎
9. See also this position paper from an independent UN Commission with a legal analysis and  recommendations. ↩︎

Initial Signatories (in alphabetical order):

Tarik Abou-Chadi, Professor of European Politics, University of Oxford​​​​​​​, UK​​​​​​​

Ghassan Abu-Sittah, Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgeon, Professor of Conflict Medicine, Rector at University of Glasgow, UK

Hanna Al Taher, researcher/lecturer, TUD, Germany

Schirin Amir-Moazami, Professor of Islam in Europe, FU Berlin, Germany

Grażyna Baranowska, Professor of Migration Law and Human Rights, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany

Michael Barenboim, violinist, Professor at the Barenboim-Said Akademie, Germany 

Ulrike Bergermann, Professor of Media Studies, HBK Braunschweig, Germany

Christine Binzel, Professor of Economics: Economy and Society of the Middle East, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany

Manuela Boatcă, Professor of Sociology and Head of School of the Global Studies Programme, University of Freiburg, Germany

Robin Celikates, Professor of Philosophy, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Sawsan Chebli, politician, activist, former secretary of state, Germany

Gwyneth Daniel, Psychotherapist and Writer, UK Palestine Mental Health Network

Dr. Marion Detjen, history lecturer​​​​​​​, Bard College Berlin​​​​​​​, Germany​​​​​​​

Tomer Dotan-Dreyfus, author, Berlin, Germany

Angélique Eijpe, former Dutch diplomat, resigned from the Dutch foreign service over Dutch Gaza policy, The Hague, The Netherlands

Dr. Dörthe Engelcke, Acting Head of the Centre of Expertise for the Law of Arab and Islamic Countries, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law

Christine Engels, Lawyer, Berlin, Germany

Helen Fares, journalist, activist, host, podcaster and business psychologist, Germany

Isabel Feichtner, Professor of Public Law and International Economic Law, University of Würzburg, Germany

Deborah Feldman, author, Germany/USA

Khaled Furani, Sociology & Anthropology Department, Tel-Aviv University (al-Sheikh Muwannis), Israel

Rita Giacaman, Professor, Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University, West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory

Dr. Mads Gilbert, Professor (em) dr.med., Senior consultant, Clinic of Emergency Medicine, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway ​​​​​

Neve Gordon, Professor of Human Rights, Queen Mary University of London, UK

Jens Hanssen, Professor and Director of the Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB), Lebanon

Amira Hass, daughter of survivors of the German led genocide of Jews

Faryda Hussein, Dutch civil servant, former EU staff, co-founder of Diversité Europe – EU staff association who set up Brussels based movement of civil servants protesting against genocide, Brussels, Belgium

Isabelle Ihring, Professor of Social Work, Protestant University of Applied Sciences Freiburg, Germany

Dr. Samah Jabr, Consultant psychiatrist, Head of the Mental health unit, Palestinian Ministry of Health​​​​​​​

Nasrin Karimi, Lawyer, Berlin, Germany

Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies, Columbia University, USA

Laleh Khalili, Al Qasimi Professor of Gulf Studies, University of Exeter, UK

Hanna Kienzler, Professor of Global Health, King’s College London, UK

Phillippe Koch, Lawyer, Berlin, Germany

Jana Krause, Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Oslo and Director of the MA program in Peace and Conflict Studies (PECOS), Norway

Dr. Andreas Krieg, senior lecturer, School of Security Studies, King’s College London, ​​​​​​​UK

Antony Loewenstein, independent journalist and author of “The Palestine Laboratory”, Sydney, Australia

Omar Shahabudin McDoom, Associate Professor, London School of Economics, UK

Hanna Meißner, Professor for Interdisciplinary Women‘s and Gender Studies, TU Berlin, Germany

Carmen Mörsch, Professor for Art Education, Mainz Academy of Arts, Johannes Gutenberg University, Germany​​​​​​​

A. Dirk Moses, Professor of International Relations, City College of New York, CUNY, USA

Dr. Alex Müller, physician and research associate, Charité Center for Global Health, Berlin, Germany

Tahani Nadim, Research Professor, Ruhr-Universität Bochum and College for Social Sciences and Humanities, Germany

Ilan Pappé, Professor at University of Exter, Israeli Historian, Author, UK

Dr. Hanna Pfeifer, Head of Research Area “Societal Peace and Internal Security”, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH), Germany

Thomas Piketty, Professor at EHESS and at the Paris School of Economics, Paris, France

Jean-Philippe Platteau, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Namur, Belgium

Dr. Sharri Plonski, Senior Lecturer in International Politics, Queen Mary University of London, UK

Dr. Laila Prager, Anthropologist, Hamburg, Germany

Nicola Pratt, Professor of the International Politics of the Middle East, University of Warwick, UK

Dr. Nils Riecken, Research Associate, Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany

Emilia Roig, author, France

E. Natalie Rothman, Israeli citizen and Professor of History, University of Toronto, Canada

Nadija Samour, Lawyer, Berlin, Germany

Dr. Benjamin Schuetze, Senior Researcher, Arnold-Bergstraesser-Institute (ABI), Freiburg, Germany

Melanie Schweizer, Lawyer, Civil Servant, Berlin, Germany

Raz Segal, Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Endowed Professor in the Study of Modern Genocide, Stockton University​​​​​​​, USA

Martin Shaw, sociologist of global politics, war and genocide, Research Professor at the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) and Emeritus Professor of International Relations and Politics of the University of Sussex

Annelle Sheline, former Foreign Affairs Officer with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor’s Office of Near East Affairs, Washington DC, USA 

Avi Shlaim, FBA Emeritus Professor of International Relations, St Antony’s College, Oxford, UK

Marc Siegel, Professor of Film Studies, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany ​​​​​​​

Raji Sourani, Palestinian lawyer, Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

Hanan Toukan, Associate Professor, Bard College, Berlin, Germany

Dr. Lewis Turner, Senior Lecturer in International Politics, Newcastle University, UK

Johanna Ray Vollhardt, Associate Professor of Psychology, Clark University, and affiliated with the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies​​​​​​​, USA​​​​​​​

Anosha Wahidi, Lawyer, Civil Servant and anti-racism advocate, Berlin, Germany

Berber van der Woude, former diplomat and policy advisor at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Leiden, The Netherlands 

Liesbeth Zegveld, Attorney (Amsterdam), Professor humanitarian law reparation University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Aram Ziai, Professor of Development and Postcolonial Studies, University of Kassel, Germany

For this full list of over 5,000 signatories see here.