Uttering the slogan ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ will probably become a criminal offense in Germany. At the beginning of November, Hamas was declared a banned organization by Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD). A specification of that ban followed last Thursday. The slogan, which is heard at pro-Palestinian demonstrations worldwide, was assessed by Faeser’s ministry as pro-Hamas.
In August, a Berlin judge ruled that the slogan can be interpreted in different ways and does not necessarily incite violence, and is therefore permitted. Protesters who shout the words also often defend themselves by arguing that they want a country in which Palestinians can live freely. According to less sympathetic interpretations, the slogan calls for a country free of Israelis.
With the new decree from the Ministry of the Interior, that judgment and argumentation are unlikely to remain valid. The slogan is mentioned in a list of Hamas symbols, such as the Hamas coat of arms or the green headbands worn by the al-Qassam brigades, the military branch of Hamas.
Justice in Bavaria plans to quickly implement the new regulation, reported the South German Zeitung. The slogan now counts as ‘propaganda’ for a banned organization, according to a public prosecutor in Munich, and is therefore just as punishable as, for example, the swastika or an SS slogan. According to the law, spreading such ‘propaganda’ is punishable by up to three years in prison, although in practice it usually amounts to a fine.
According to the Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel Justice in Berlin is still considering whether to take as harsh action against the cry as in Bavaria. Both the Berlin police and the public prosecutor’s office told the newspaper that they will continue to take the “context” into account. Berlin mayor Kai Wegner (CDU), on the other hand, believed that the phrase “not in jest” is used and that it should be made clear how those who utter the slogan can be punished.
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The Ministry of the Interior has not yet explained the decision to include the slogan in the list of prohibited symbols. The decision may be based on the text in the 2017 Hamas charter, which states that the goal is a “complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.”
Since October 7, Germany has been cracking down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations. In the first weeks after Hamas’s attack on Israel, almost all such demonstrations were banned, according to the police because it could not be ruled out that inflammatory or anti-Semitic texts would be heard. More demonstrations have been allowed in the past two weeks, albeit under strict supervision. According to German media, someone was arrested in Berlin on Friday evening holding up a sign with the text: “From the river to the sea, we demand equality”, and the demonstrators were also forbidden to chant “stop the genocide”.
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