German court upholds ban on ‘From River to the Sea’

Protestors using the slogan can be prosecuted for calling for the destruction of Israel.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

A court in Dusseldorf backed an earlier judicial ruling Wednesday that the catchphrase “From the River to Sea, Palestine Will be Free” is illegal and those who shout it at anti-Israel demonstrations are subject to arrest.

The Court of Administrative Affairs had heard a petition brought by protest organizers who were told by the police before an April rally that they could not hold or chant the slogan, which has been ubiquitous at pro-Palestinian demonstrations around the word since the Hamas-Israel war began almost a year ago.

Many advocates for the Palestinians maintain that the phrase is simply a demand for their right to their own state.

The slogan is widely perceived as a call to action to destroy Israel, along with all its Jewish residents, as it is the only country that is located between the (Jordan) River and the (Mediterranean) Sea.

The court agreed that it can be understood that way.

It thereby upheld the May decision by the country’s Justice Ministry that it was to be considered a slogan of the Hamas terrorist organization, which has been outlawed in Germany.

As a result, any use of the hateful phrase can be considered propaganda of an illegal organization and incur heavy penalties.

Like in much of the world since Hamas’ October 7 invasion and massacre that sparked the ongoing war with Israel, antisemitism has shot up in Germany, which includes the occurrence of anti-Israel protests with their hateful slogans.

In total in 2023, 4,782 antisemitic incidents were recorded by a German antisemitism monitor, an 80% rise over the previous year.

The vast majority of the hate crimes following the start of the war were “Israel-related,” said the June report by the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS).

German paper Berliner Zeitung reported recently that Berlin police have received over 5,000 complaints about anti-Israel protests, in 2024 as well, with more than 2,800 people considered as having broken the law in some way, including by injuring others during demonstrations.

Hatred of Israel and hatred of Jews was intimately connected, said the report.

“Since October 7, antisemitism has become visible in Germany in all areas of social spheres in an unprecedented way,” it said.

This view was backed by the country’s antisemitism czar, Felix Klein, who said went the report came out that “Jewish life in Germany is under greater threat than it has ever been since the Federal Republic of Germany came into existence.”