‘From the river to the sea’: Freedom of speech in Germany

Where is the line for freedom of speech in Germany, concerning Palestine and Israel?

Emma Hunter
17th September 2024
Image credit: Flickr, Frederik Cordes
They’re only six small words, but the division and confusion they can sow is scarily strong. “From the river to the sea” is in some instances now illegal in Germany, as activist Ava Moayeri discovered when she was convicted of chanting the slogan at a protest in Berlin in October last year. Since this, accusations and cries of injustice have been flying through German streets and courts and media, but I think that before we dive into the mass of arguments we need to breathe and understand clearly what the issue is here.

I say issue, but actually there are two issues at play, and it is important to separate them out. The first is the slogan and its meaning. “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is a phrase that has been in use since the 1960s, but it has grown in popularity in recent years and especially since the start of the war in Gaza. It refers to the river Jordan to the east of Israel and the Mediterranean sea – so, all the land comprising Israel and the occupied territories. Its various intentions, particularly concerning the word “free”, can and have ranged from wanting to abolish Israel and fully supporting Hamas, to a simple wish for Palestinians to live freely without domination, depending on who has used them and in what context. In other words, the slogan cannot be blindly categorised.

However, I have a feeling the German court did blindly categorise it, at least in part. It found Moayeri’s leading of the chant to be “condoning a crime” (the killings by Hamas), constituting antisemitism, recognised as illegal. They also interpreted the slogan as a denial of Israel’s right to exist. This is despite, in my opinion, the chances of Moayeri, an atheist and advocate for refugee and feminist causes, supporting a militant Islamist fundamentalist group being pretty low.

As well as this, the German basic law of Volksverhetzung, or incitement of popular hatred, has also been cited as a reason – concluding that no matter Moayeri’s intentions, if it was “capable of disturbing the public peace”, i.e. of potentially being used by the public to fuel antisemitism, it should be disallowed.

This brings us to the second issue: how can Germany get the free speech–legitimate protest balance right? It seems like it’s erring on the side of caution, which in some respects is completely understandable. It is important for it to take a hard stance for Israel’s right to exist, considering its responsibility for shoah. It is also right to take measures for the Jewish community in Germany to feel safe and comfortable, to not risk any chance of antisemitism being displayed. If we take into account the rise in antisemitic hate crimes in Germany since the start of the war in Gaza, this is all the more so the case.

But Moayeri’s words are important too, because they’re expressing pain and frustration at Israel’s actions. Instead of immediately shutting them down, Germany needs to hear the intention behind them and to listen. My heart goes out to Germany because it’s so, so difficult; both sides are suffering, there’s hurt to see your home violently torn away from you and there’s hurt from the holocaust, there’s hurt all round.

But somehow, amongst all this, it must be possible to protest against the actions of Israel as well as Hamas without infringing German law and not verging into antisemitism. The line for Germany is inevitably very fine, but with openness and consideration, I think and I hope that it’s possible to tread it.

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