Lawyers representing Palestinians file criminal complaint against chancellor and other top politicians, as Germany remains committed to Israel.
Berlin, Germany – A group of lawyers has filed a criminal complaint with Germany’s federal prosecutor against senior German politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, accusing them of “aiding and abetting” the genocide they claim is being committed by Israel in Gaza .
The charges against several members of the country’s Federal Security Council, which directs national security policy and authorizes arms exports, were announced Friday.
In addition to Scholz, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Economics Minister Robert Habeck, Finance Minister Christian Lindner and others are accused.
The lawyers behind the case represent the families of two Palestinians with roots in the Gaza Strip, including that of Nora Ragab, a German-Palestinian migration specialist.
“We, Palestinians in the diaspora, will not stand idly by and watch a genocide committed against our families and our people,” Ragab said in a statement. “We will use all means at our disposal. … Today our goal is to hold the German government accountable for its complicity in the genocide in Gaza.”
The European Legal Support Center, the Palestinian Institute for Public Diplomacy and UK-based Law for Palestine are among the civil society organizations supporting the case.
In a joint written statement, they said: “The German state is one of the countries that has shown one of the strongest political and material support for Israel in its assault on the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians. »
Alexander Gorski, one of the lawyers supporting the case, acknowledged that “from a legal point of view and taking into account the German political landscape, this case will be difficult.”
“But we think it is our responsibility as people working in the justice sector to try to do something,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune. “We are witnessing a genocide being broadcast live around the world and, despite this, the Israeli government is still supported by other countries and continues to receive weapons from them. »
After the October 7 Hamas attacks, in which 1,139 people were killed in southern Israel, the Israeli government responded with a military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians to date, including one majority of women and children.
Israel has said it wants to crush Hamas, which rules the densely populated strip, but after four months of war, the devastating civilian toll worries world leaders.
At the end of January, the highest court of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, found it “plausible” that Israel had committed acts in Gaza that violated the International Convention on Genocide.
Since the court’s ruling, Germany and all other third states should have tried to prevent Israel from committing such acts, the lawyers behind Friday’s filing said.
However, since October, many German officials have “incited” genocide through their statements, they claimed.
The court case will also focus on German arms exports to Israel.
These increased significantly in 2023 compared to the previous year, and most of this increase was approved by the German government after October 7.
Despite the ICJ’s ruling, Germany has “already agreed in principle” to send more tank ammunition to Israel, they said.