Germany’s Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament, backed a bill to criminalize the denial of Israel’s right to exist on Friday, a motion that constitutional experts said could jeopardize freedom of expression.
According to the bill, anyone denying Israel’s right to exist or calling for its abolition would be punished with a prison sentence of up to five years under the regulation. The bill will be examined by the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, after its summer recess.
What does genocide have to do with this bill?
The modern state of Israel is a settler-colonial state, inherently built on genocide. Saying that it should be dismantled and replaced with something better shouldn’t be a crime, and making it one is ignoring nearly a century of context. Nearly a century of context inextricably linked to Germany, no less.
Challenging a state’s right to exist should be covered by freedom of expression. It’s not the same as saying the people shouldn’t exist, which I could see a human rights argument against, but the state is an organisation and as such should always be open to challenge, regardless of context. They’re spitting on basic human rights.
Most of us aren’t responsible for most of that century of context, but we are responsible for what happens today. To ignore it is to ignore genocide. To ban criticism is to protect it. Merz and his accomplices should be charged with aiding genocide and this law should be entered as evidence.