As I write these lines, I am forbidden not only to set foot on German soil, but especially to participate via video link in any event in Germany. Why?
On October 8th, the day after Hamas attacked Israel, I was in Berlin and learned about the events of the previous day during a TV interview. To the question "Do you condemn Hamas?" I answered:
"I condemn every crime, whoever is the perpetrator or the victim. What I do not condemn is the armed resistance to the apartheid system which was designed as part of a slow but inexorable program of ethnic cleansing. As Europeans, I think it is important to refrain from judging either the Israelis or the Palestinians when we, the Europeans, are the ones who have caused this endless tragedy: having practiced extreme anti-Semitism for centuries, which led to the uniquely horrific Holocaust, we have been complicit for decades in the dispute genocide against the Palestinians, as if two wrongs make a right."
A few days later, the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts withdrew its invitation for me to hold a lecture in the prestigious "Otto Wagner" series. Then, on February 16, the premiere of the film "In the Eye of the Storm: The Political Odyssey of Yanis Varoufakis", a six-part documentary by the British director and philosopher Raul Martinez, was held in Berlin's Babylon cinema. The police pressured the owner of Babylon to cancel the event. When asked for the reasons, the authorities simply answered: "Vauroufakis". Defiant, the owner of Babylon, who happens to be Jewish, told the police that he would not give in. It was really moving to see him stand in solidarity, along with Jewish, Palestinian and German supporters, and prevent the police from carrying out a raid.
A month ago, my German publisher Publisher Antje Kunstmann he sent me an email warning me that my participation in the Palestinian Congress, which was to be held on April 13th and 14th, organized by my political party in Germany (MeRA25) and the Jewish Voice for Peace, would "overshadow" the reception of my next books in Germany. Thus ended my relationship with the publisher who had published six books for me in Germany in the last ten years.
As the number of dead bodies in Gaza rose, and hearings before the International Court of Justice questioned German official policy Staatsräson (security of Israel is German purpose, the purpose of existence), the authorities started with outbursts. I will give the example of my colleague Iris Hefets. An Israeli psychoanalyst living in Berlin, Iris was arrested on charges of anti-Semitism for walking down the street alone with a placard that read: "Israeli woman and Jewish woman: stop the genocide in Gaza."
Ghassan Abu Sita, a British-Palestinian surgeon and chancellor of the University of Glasgow, was prevented from entering Germany on April 12 to join us at the Palestine Congress. He was deported to the UK after several hours of questioning at the airport. In the meantime, 2.500 policemen mobilized in front of the space where the congress was to be held and harassed those present. A young Jewish activist holding a banner reading "Jews Against Genocide" was arrested. As he was being led away, he half-jokingly asked the police: "Would it be okay if it said 'Jews support genocide'?"
Our congress started with a small audience that managed to break through the police cordon. Shortly before I was to address the audience via video link, the police burst into the hall, grabbed the microphones and ripped out the cables of the live broadcast equipment. I recorded my speech that I couldn't give in front of the audience and posted it on my private blog. The authorities did not like it.
On Saturday, April 13, I was banned from any political activity, Betätigungverbot, which has so far been used only a few times against operatives of the Islamic State. Our lawyers reminded the authorities that, in addition to being an EU citizen, I was a candidate in Germany for the European Parliament in 2019, when I won a respectable 135.000 votes. After a long, embarrassing silence, Betätigungverbot was replaced by a "softer" entry ban, entry ban. To this day, the German authorities refuse my requests for a written explanation.
It is obvious that German Staatsräson it does not protect the Jews. It is about protecting Israel's right to commit any war crime it chooses. It is also a sad reflection of declining economic power, which embraces an increasingly farcical authoritarianism.
(New Statesman; Peščanik.net; translation: M. Jovanović)
Bonus video:
