The country’s so-called political centre has licensed a new era of authoritarianism – to the AfD’s delight, says Hanno Hauenstein, a Berlin-based journalist

Germany has recently taken a chilling new step, signalling its willingness to use political views as grounds to curb migration. Authorities are now moving to deport foreign nationals for participating in pro-Palestine actions. As I reported this week in the Intercept, four people in Berlin – three EU citizens and one US citizen – are set to be deported over their involvement in demonstrations against Israel’s war on Gaza. None of the four have been convicted of a crime, and yet the authorities are seeking to simply throw them out of the country.

The accusations against them include aggravated breach of the peace and obstruction of a police arrest. Reports from last year suggest that one of the actions they were alleged to have been involved in included breaking into a university building and threatening people with objects that could have been used as potential weapons.

But the deportation orders go further. They cite a broader list of alleged behaviours: chanting slogans such as “Free Gaza” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, joining road blockades (a tactic frequently used by climate activists), and calling a police officer a “fascist”. Read closely, the real charge appears to be something more basic: protest itself.

  • acargitz@lemmy.caEnglish
    131·
    1 day ago

    The author of the article links to their own earlier article in the Intercept that goes in detail: https://theintercept.com/2025/03/31/germany-gaza-protesters-deport/

    The only event that tied the four cases together was the allegation that the protesters participated in the university occupation, which involved property damage, and alleged obstruction of an arrest — a so-called de-arrest aimed at blocking a fellow protesters’ detention. None of the protesters are accused of any particular acts of vandalism or the de-arrest at the university. Instead, the deportation order cites the suspicion that they took part in a coordinated group action. (The Free University told The Intercept it had no knowledge of the deportation orders.)

    Some of the allegations are minor. Two, for example, are accused of calling a police officer “fascist” — insulting an officer, which is a crime. Three are accused of demonstrating with groups chanting slogans like “From the river to the sea, Palestine Will be Free” — which was outlawed last year in Germany — and “free Palestine.” Authorities also claim all four shouted antisemitic or anti-Israel slogans, though none are specified.

    Two are accused of grabbing an officers’ or another protesters’ arm in an attempt to stop arrests at the train station sit-in.

    O’Brien, one of the Irish citizens, is the only one of the four whose deportation order included a charge – the accusation that he called a police officer a “fascist” – that has been brought before a criminal court in Berlin, where he was acquitted.

    All four are accused, without evidence, of supporting Hamas, a group Germany has designated as a terrorist organization.

    • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      6 hours ago

      Thanks. A few follow up questions. First, who is causing the deportation attempt. In the US we know these all come top down from trump. But is the executive branch in germany also in the hands of anti-immigration management? And is that the executive branch? Second, is guilt by association like this a thing for German citizens? And last, are these guys like university students? Or are they like tourist who came to protest or something? Thanks.

        • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          5 hours ago

          People have commented that there is a lot of misinformation out there on this. The best sources would be german sources probably. But I don’t know which sources in germany (or even the EU) are reliable. I know the US sources are NOT reliable on this subject.

          • acargitz@lemmy.caEnglish
            2·
            4 hours ago

            However, the known record of German institutions cracking down on dissident Jewish voices(*) is a very good indicator of what’s going on here. Now, I’m not saying that any of these people are little saints, or that they did nothing questionable, but that there is a systemic bias in Germany against pro-Palestinian activism. Which is the more burning point than counting pennies of the particularities of each individual legal case.

            (*) such as Masha Gessen, Nancy Fraser, Yuval Abraham, Omri Boehm and others.

            • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.worldEnglish
              1·
              4 hours ago

              So… me being a yankee… why is that? In the US it has to do with money of course. Selling weapons to Isreal makes a lot of people rich. But also I have been told that a lot of the power people in our democratic party are Jewish or something.

      • needanke@feddit.orgEnglish
        61·
        1 day ago

        In Germany it is generally a crime to insult anyone.

        I think that itself is not bad. What makes it bad is the general tendency of German police to only follow up on that when it affects someone with power (politician, police, etc.). And of course in this case that they punished someone for it while they were not able to prove it in court.

        • Norah (pup/it/she)@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          1·
          17 hours ago

          I don’t know, I think that’s pushing too far personally. In Australia it’s against the law to insult someone based off things like race, gender or things of that nature. That is super important IMO. But I could call a cop a pig and get away with it.

        • Suite404@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          22 hours ago

          Which is almost always the case with such laws. Never enforced unless it’s simple or if it’s a person of influence, solved no matter how complicated within a few days. Solved might even be a bit of a stretch here too though.

      • needanke@feddit.orgEnglish
        83·
        1 day ago

        As I mentioned under your other comment quoting this article:

        They only describe what was done at the protests in general. I did not see any mention of the police even accusing them of being directly involved in mayor crimes, let alone proving it.

        Yes, it is not ok, to vandalize the university and threaten people with axes. And those who did that should be persecuted for it. But it is not ok to “make an example” of someone who just participated in the same protest.

            • cyberblob@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
              1·
              17 hours ago

              After Reading additional sources it seems very much certain that they were not just some innocent bystanders:

              […] Zu den vermummten Personen sollen Kasia W. aus Polen, Cooper L. aus den USA, Shane O. und Roberta M. aus Irland gehört haben. Die vier beteiligten sich an mehreren propalästinensischen Aktionen.

              […] The masked individuals are said to have included Kasia W. from Poland, Cooper L. from the USA, Shane O. and Roberta M. from Ireland. The four took part in several pro-Palestinian actions.

              „The masked individuals“ refers to those with the axes.

              (https://www.zeit.de/campus/2025-04/abschiebung-berlin-propaleastina-protest-usa)

              Hence, I kindly decline your request. Obviously, I agree that there should be strong evidence for all of this. Lets see if they have any.

      • acargitz@lemmy.caEnglish
        51·
        1 day ago

        Can’t read German. Is the article about how the group they were allegedly with did things? Because the article I linked to says they were targeted by association.