The use of a slogan that is considered anti-Israel and anti-Jewish at a planned rally must not be prohibited. This was decided by the Hessian Administrative Court.
The city must not prohibit the utterance of the slogan “From the river to the sea” during a pro-Palestinian demonstration planned for this evening in Frankfurt. The Hessian Administrative Court decided this at midday in Kassel (AZ 8 B 560/24). Similar bans on a demonstration on Saturday are also illegal.
The rally was called “From the river to the sea – Palestine will be free! For a free Palestine for all people!” (“From the river to the sea – Palestine will be free”). The slogan goes back to the 1960s. It was used at the time by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to express its desire for a single state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean – which would also include the territory of Israel. The statement is considered anti-Jewish and anti-Israel.
Court: Various ways and means are conceivable
The city of Frankfurt banned the statement “From the river to the sea”. The organizers, however, successfully applied for interim legal protection at the Frankfurt Administrative Court. The 8th Senate of the Hessian Administrative Court argued that when classifying the slogan under criminal law, it should be taken into account that it expressed the desire for a free Palestine from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean, including the territory of Israel within its current borders. However, the slogan says nothing about how this – politically highly controversial – goal should be achieved.
In principle, different political means and ways are conceivable to achieve this abstract goal, for example through international treaties, a two-state solution, a unified state with equal civil rights for Israelis and Palestinians, or through armed struggle. According to the Kassel judges, it is irrelevant whether these paths are politically realistic.
The Hessian anti-Semitism commissioner Uwe Becker (CDU) reacted with horror to the decision. “If haters of Israel get the green light to advertise their extermination against Israel on German streets, then it will be a bad day for Germany,” he said. “Anyone who demands a free Palestine from the river to the sea does not want a free country, but rather a Jew-free country and therefore this demand can no longer exist on German streets.” Anyone chanting this means the annihilation of Israel between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. Any other interpretation ignores social reality, said Becker.
Source: Stern
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