Israel's murderous assault on Gaza divides Germans and political elite

‘Vergangheitbeweltigung’ – loosely translated as “dealing with the past” – is the long-in-the-tongue historical approach Germany adopted following World War II. To constantly remind its people and raise awareness in society to never forget the crimes of the past.

In order to not commit genocide again and to reject fascism, the German state would go on a multi-generational assault, beating out any hints of fascism in society, burnishing its very fabric with shame and glazing it with a promise of “never again”.

In everyday terms, Germany invested in its people, especially the younger generations.

Any mention of a certain Hitler was banished, school trips to concentration camps were made mandatory, the constitution was rewritten to indicate equality for all, and the state deleted any race-related questions from its census forms. It would go as far as to decentralise its state media machine.

In many ways, German history between 1939 and 1945 was scratched out, almost literally.

So in 2023, when the German government decided to offer unconditional support to Israel during its genocidal war in Gaza, which has seen nearly 85 percent of the besieged Palestinian enclave’s population displaced and over 25,000 dead – a large crack appeared between the State and its people.

Israel has been losing the narrative with the German people, and the German State has never before been more aloof to changing public opinion.

Despite the government, media and most policymakers working as apologists and distractors for Israel, all the while rejecting allegations of genocide against Israel and refusing to call for a ceasefire, a recently published poll suggests that 61 percent of Germans find the Israeli military action in Gaza “unjustified”.

That’s a damning indictment of the divergence between the political elite and the ‘Deutsche volken’ – the German people – especially as the poll was published by a renowned electoral publishing firm, Forschungsgruppe Wahlen. For anglophones, that's the Institute for Election Research.

It is, therefore, safe to assume that the Gaza war now threatens the re-election prospects of some of Germany’s political heavyweights.

How did Germany get here?

Firstly, the State can't tell its people to reject fascism and genocide for nearly 70 years and then expect them to be ok with alleged genocide and ethnic cleansing just because an ally/friendly country is doing it.

Secondly, in the age of social media, the hypocritical lies of Israeli politicians over the murderous actions of their soldiers were just too easy to cut through. Palestinian narrative was winning on every front.

Thirdly, it's a generational thing. Many of the older Germans, who tend to speak only the German language, are more susceptible to whole-heartedly trusting national media - which has been badly tainted by a one-sided, unprofessional coverage of the Gaza war.

However, for many of the younger Germans, socialised in a post-German reunification world, with the luxuries of mobile phones and the Internet, armed too with proficiency in the English language – there already existed a whole new world of fresh political ideas from the Middle East, and the wider European and American left.

And many did consume it, coming out richer with diverse ideas and more ways to get to the truth, hence adding to the growing dissent in Germany towards its pro-Israel policy, which extends to rejecting all allegations of genocide.

Then there’s the demographics question.

Nearly 25 percent of Germany’s population comes from a migration background. Most of those were brought up in cultures without ‘a special responsibility’ towards Israel and, therefore, found it easier to blame Israel for crimes against humanity and hold it accountable.

Also, the recent influx of over a million migrants and refugees, mainly from Middle Eastern countries, has helped Germans broaden their understanding through exposure to Arab cultures and, therefore, not believe everything they were being told in the German media and by Israeli politicians.

But the cookie crumbled when the German State moved into police pro-Palestine rallies and demonstrations with shades of authoritarianism, even shutting out Jewish intellectuals calling for a ceasefire. The German people said that’s enough.

More than 100 German Jewish intellectuals put out a statement criticising the State’s policies, “...In recent weeks, state and city governments across Germany have banned public gatherings with suspected pro-Palestinian sympathies. These repressions also punish demonstrations such as ‘Youth against Racism’ and ‘Jewish Berliners against Violence in the Middle East’”.

The Jewish intellectuals’ group condemned the State’s brutality towards speech and expression in support of Palestine.

Neukolln, a heavily Turkish and Arab neighbourhood of Berlin, is under police occupation, armoured vans and armed riot police patrol the streets, looking for spontaneous shows of support for Palestinians or symbols of Palestinian identity, the statement read.

It added, “This is a pretext for racist violence, and we express our full solidarity with our Arab, Muslim and especially Palestinian neighbours.”

Germany’s harsh tactics in dealing with statements and expressions critical of Israel have sent shockwaves through its society.

Many in Germany are now fearful that while their government is rejecting all allegations of wrongdoing by Israel, going as far as to say that ‘Israel should be immune to such allegations as it has been a victim of genocide’, how long before the government adopt an even more fascıst and authoritative policies at home.