Bundestag 3 for Palestine (BT3P): Our Principles
“We know all too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinian people.”
Who we are
We, the Bundestag 3 for Palestine (#BT3P), have sued the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany. In this policy paper, we would like to explain how this came about, why this step was necessary and what you can do to support our initiative.
Judith Bernstein is a German Jew, born in Jerusalem and winner of the 2017 "Aufrechter Gang" award of the Humanistische Union Bayern. Together with her husband Dr Reiner Bernstein, she received the award for laying Stolpersteine (literally: “stumbling blocks” commemorating Jewish victims of the Shoah right at the very spot where they lived before their deportation) in Munich and for her commitment to peace between Israelis and Palestinians*. She is the spokesperson of the Munich-based "Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue Group".
Amir Ali is of German-Palestinian origin. His family was completely displaced from the region of Haifa in 1948 and they now live as refugees in Jordan. Amir is involved in the "Palästina Spricht-Palestine Speaks" initiative of young Palestinians and German-Palestinians.
Christoph Glanz has been an active anti-fascist and anti-racist since his youth. He lived and worked in Israel/Palestine for two years and has been a volunteer for the Palestinian BDS campaign for several years (BDS-Initiative Oldenburg).
The Berlin-based lawyer Ahmed Abed filed the lawsuit. Attorney Abed has repeatedly and successfully challenged restrictions on freedom of opinion and freedom of assembly targeting the BDS campaign (verdicts: Niedersächsisches OVG, 10 ME 48/19, VG Köln, 14 L 1765/19) in the courts and has been campaigning nationally and internationally for human rights for years.
What unites us three plaintiffs as politically thinking and acting persons is our unconditional commitment to human rights. We oppose all forms of racism, discrimination and oppression without any exception. Our commitment to the Palestinian cause and BDS arises from this very obligation and these values.
We have sued the Bundestag - why?
On May 17, 2019, the Bundestag passed a non-binding resolution that branded the BDS campaign as anti-Semitic, denied any cooperation with BDS activists and supporters, and called on states, municipalities and cities to obstruct events dealing with BDS by denying them public space. Due to the authority of the German Bundestag, states, municipalities and local authorities as well as private companies de facto comply with this decision. They apply it against BDS activists and Palestine supporters despite its obvious flaws and contradictions and the lack of a legal basis. This grossly violates the basic right to freedom of expression for human rights work in Germany.
To be able to assess this situation, one must first know what BDS actually is. The BDS campaign was launched in 2005 by Palestinian civil society. It is the response to decades of ethnic "cleansing", military occupation, continuous oppression and apartheid practices by the Israeli state and is oriented in its principles and means to the historic boycott movement against the apartheid regime in South Africa.
The BDS campaign includes three demands of the Palestinians rooted in international law and the resolutions of the United Nations, namely:
The right of the refugees to return to their homeland
The complete dismantling of the illegal Israeli wall and barrier installations in the West Bank and the end of the occupation, and
The full legal equality of all Palestinian citizens of Israel.
To achieve these demands, three non-violent means are used, which are based on the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, namely
Boycott
Divestment
Sanctions.
We as BT3P join the above mentioned demands of the Palestinian civil society.
The resolution of the German Bundestag in question defames the Palestinians and their demands covered by international law (see above) as well as their non-violent method of enforcing these demands (BDS) by labelling them as anti-Semitic. Nothing could be further away from the truth. Human rights are indivisible and therefore every human being is entitled to them. The demand for human rights for the Palestinians of course does not mean that other people's rights shall be taken away from them. To claim this in the face of decades of violent oppression, expulsion, apartheid and occupation by the Israeli state is a vile defamation of the Palestinians themselves and the people who support them in their legitimate struggle. In the court case we will show that this has very concrete anti-democratic and racist effects here in Germany, too.
Our evaluation of the Bundestag resolution
The majority of the Bundestag has voted in favour of the resolution (https://dip21.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/19/101/1910191.pdf) and thus successfully passed it. Numerous members of the Bundestag did not appear on that particular day. The parliamentary group DIE LINKE voted against the resolution, but in favour of its own motion, which also opposed BDS. A minority of the Bundestag abstained completely and the ultra right-wing AfD even tried to push through a motion to legally ban BDS in Germany for good. (https://dip21.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/19/097/1909757.pdf).
Not even an appeal by 240 Jewish and Israeli academics could dissuade the members of the Bundestag from this vote. They wrote:
“We are appalled that demands for equal rights and compliance with international law are considered anti-Semitic. (...) this motion is driven by political interests and policies of the most right-wing government of Israel (...).”
We must state:
In the entire German Bundestag not a single politician raised her/ his voice clearly and unconditionally stood in favour of the oppressed and of international law. This decision and the widespread systematic obstruction of a human rights campaign will one day be considered by the general public as the equivalent of supporting the South African apartheid state and the defamation and criminalization of the liberation movement there.
“Governments which criminalize or unreasonably restrict BDS activities should end these measures and instead ensure that BDS advocates can freely express their views and conduct their campaigns without harassment or threat of prosecution.”
The legal perspective
Instead of promoting human rights in Palestine and Israel, BDS activists and Palestine supporters are attacked by this resolution. A legal basis for restricting freedom of opinion, assembly and association does not exist. Neither the warning issued by the state against the BDS campaign nor the declaration of and demand for bans on assembly and opinion on BDS are based on a legal basis. The resolution demands that the German federal states, municipalities and all other public actors ban venues and facilities for BDS affiliated groups, which constitutes nothing short of a demand to break the law. The fundamental democratic rights and laws that guarantee the provision of rooms and facilities to all citizens are being ignored without any consideration. Serious and defamatory accusations are raised against BDS supporters- according to the public slander they do not only adhere to some kind of anti-Semitism, but to the very eliminatory racist manifestation of jew hatred, which resulted in millions of European jewish victims during the Shoah at the hands of Nazi Germany.
Furthermore, the decision is incompatible with European and international human rights, as they are enshrined in Art. 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the UN Civil Pact.
As in the recent verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights of June 11, 2020 (Baldassi et al vs. France, Case 15271/16 and others), of the European Court of Justice (C-363/18) and of the Administrative Court of Cologne on September 12, 2019 (14 L 1675/19), we are convinced that the courts will ultimately rule in favour of freedom of expression for human rights work in the context of BDS.
Effects of the Bundestag resolution
The encroachment on our democratic rights of freedom is also present in the case of the German Bundestag. Although the resolution has a non-binding character de facto, federal states, municipalities, other public actors and even private companies follow the call of the Bundestag and deny or withdraw public space from BDS activists and Palestine supporters; this even applies to discussions between supporters and opponents of the BDS campaign. There are many more reprisals against us and others. In the past, these were directed against the following persons and groups, among them:
The post-colonial, Cameroonian intellectual Achille Mbembe,
The author Kamila Shamsie
The rapper Talib Kweli
The Hip-Hop group Young Fathers
Jewish Voice for Peace in the Middle East
Palestine Speaks
They have all had to experience being disinvited by German institutions, having their prizes withdrawn and speeches cancelled due to false accusations based on their support for the BDS campaign. The above list is incomplete and the list of violations of the law is constantly growing. Even in its incomplete form, it should illustrate that the freedom rights of artists, intellectuals, thinkers from the whole world are massively restricted inside Germany. This is unacceptable, because it leads to a considerable restriction of the freedom of opinion, art and science in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Last but not least, the Palestinians and German-Palestinians themselves are most impacted by this resolution. On top of expulsion and exile, apartheid and occupation, omnipresent threat and humiliation, they are accused of anti-Semitism in Germany. The cry for justice and dignity and human rights is turned upside down and the oppressed is vilified and labelled by top politicians as alleged haters and racists.
Because the injustice for Palestinians is documented so well, the advocates of Israel's apartheid and occupation practice have only one means left: namely, to slander Palestinians.
We as BT3P will no longer stand by and watch these practices of the German Bundestag and the states, communities and municipalities. Our common history, which has brought us together coming from different walks of life, obliges us to stand up for universal human rights and against racism and colonialism. We will successfully overturn the resolution of the Bundestag and thus contribute to the general debate in Germany finally changing in favour of the oppressed Palestinians.
We and you as the new we: the BT3P
We invite all people, who are committed to human rights and support the Palestinian cause, to feel as an integral part of the BT3P initiative.
We also invite those people, who do not agree with all aspects of the BDS call, but for whom freedom of expression for human rights work is a priority, to engage in critical dialogue.
Support this important move for human rights of Palestinians in Germany. In keeping with the spirit of the 2005 BDS Call, we will humbly try to contribute to ensuring that in the region of Palestine/Israel in the future "all daughters and sons of the land between the river and the sea" can live together in freedom, equality and justice, regardless of their religious or ethnic background.
What can you do to support?
Spreading the word about the initiative and the news on all available channels, such as social media and email
Invitation to discussion rounds and lectures
Donations to cover the costs of the lawsuit
Public support by individuals and public figures
Public support by German and international organizations which endorse the values mentioned above (for example: trade unions, party organizations, foundations, human rights groups, liberation movements, BLM and LGBTQI groups...)
Critical exchange and cooperation
Press coverage (Please send press inquiries to: press@bt3p.org)
We are looking forward to hearing from you and to working together for this good cause. Will you be joining us?
Yours,
Judith Bernstein, Amir Ali, Christoph Glanz
Sources:
Nelson Mandela: Day of International Solidarity with the Palestinians*, Pretoria, South Africa, 4.12.1997, http://www.mandela.gov.za/mandela_speeches/1997/971204_palestinian.htm