Berlin, Germany – More than 500 artists, filmmakers, writers and cultural workers from around the world have announced their willingness to oppose the German position on Israel’s war on Gaza, calling on creatives to stop collaborating with state-funded associations German.
Launched this week, the campaign, backed by French author and Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux and Palestinian poet and activist Mohammed El-Kurd, accuses Germany of having adopted “McCarthyist policies that suppress the freedom of expression, particularly expressions of solidarity with Palestine.” .
Other artists involved include American actress Indya Moore, British Turner Prize winner Tai Shani and Lebanese alternative rock singer Hamed Sinno of the disbanded popular band Mashrou’ Leila.
According to the signatories, the actions of German authorities during the last 97 days of war have had a deterrent effect across the country, particularly in the field of the arts.
“As Palestinians are being massacred by a German-backed army at an unprecedented rate, and as totalitarianism rises in German institutions, it is more important than ever that good people reject anti-Palestinian racism assertively and publicly. and boycott organizations that propagate or cover up this racism,” El-Kurd told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“There can be no status quo during the genocide and there can be no collaboration with those who deny, justify or participate in the Israeli genocidal campaign currently being waged against the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip. It is our moral responsibility.
Called Strike Germany, the protest is a response to Israel’s brutal and ongoing assault on Gaza which, since October 7, has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians, including nearly 10,000 children. It aims to draw attention to Germany’s alleged crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists, which has been widely reported in the context of the latest escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Pro-Palestinian symbols of support were banned, authorities in Berlin banned rallies and, in a move widely condemned as discriminatory, the German president called on Arabs to distance themselves from Hamas.
The artist-led coalition demands that German authorities protect artistic freedom.
“Cultural institutions are monitoring social media, petitions, open letters and public statements to express solidarity with Palestine in order to eliminate cultural workers who do not echo Germany’s unequivocal support for Israel,” said the organizers.
It also calls on German institutions to combat structural racism, referencing Germany’s 2019 resolution against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.
If a certain number of artists respond to this call, German cultural events like the upcoming Berlin Film Festival, as well as associations like the Goethe-Institut and museums like Gropius Bau could be affected.
“Strikes and boycotts are often effective in bringing about political change,” Phillip Ayoub, professor of political science at University College London, told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“They disrupt existing power structures and, if implemented effectively, mobilize public support. At a minimum, they raise awareness of social issues and amplify the voices of those who advocate for them.
He said that in the case of “Germany’s unbalanced and increasingly isolated response to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza”, the latest campaign could challenge a “well-established status quo that academics and artists criticize increasingly as being blind to the suffering of Palestinians and dehumanizing their lives.”
Fearing personal or professional reprisals, a striking artist who requested anonymity said the artists’ withdrawal represented “the refusal to comply with Germany’s absolute and unconditional support for the Israeli state.”
“Generous public funding for culture is a trap. This allowed the German state to censor, control and punish those it considers ideologically out of the ordinary,” said the artist. “Withdrawing means refusing to be an ornament for a state that wants to be open to spirit and center of a progressive culture – but prohibit expressions of support for a people facing genocide. A genocide armed, in part, by the German state itself.”