At a time when the Palestinian freedom struggle is gaining steam and spreading internationally, Germany has made anti-Palestinian racism its new status quo.
Germany rarely condemns Israeli human rights violations, but support from leaders and the national media has been unprecedented over the past week.
Benjamin Netanyahu wants as much as he can from the last weeks of the Donald Trump presidency, so he took his time to congratulate Joe Biden– waiting till after midnight last night, many hours after other world leaders had sent Biden their best wishes– then lavishly thanked Trump too.
A video has gone viral on social media of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a high school gymnasium bringing a teenage Palestinian refugee to tears after telling her that she is not welcome in Germany. What comes next is cringe inducing. Merkel tries to “hug” the teen named Reem Sahwil, 14, then settles on awkwardly stroking her arm. Thus, the hashtag #merkelstreichelt (Merkel strokes) along with images mocking the petting chancellor ensued.