This week, the German Parliament will likely be voting on the resolution »Never Again is Now: Protect, Preserve, and Strengthen Jewish Life in Germany.« We welcome political initiatives that are committed to protecting minorities and preventing racism, antisemitism, and all forms of discrimination or ideologies of inequality. Yet in its current form, this resolution will increase social division and contribute to an increasingly repressive climate in Germany, and risks massively intervening in the freedom of the arts.
A first resolution draft was made public in July 2024. It was largely drafted behind closed doors by Germany’s governing coalition and the Christian Democratic Party. On Friday 1 November 2024 the final wording of the resolution was fully published in the German press (for example see this Spiegel article in German). Despite strong objections from a broad civil society and serious legal concerns, party leaders have agreed on a resolution with content that is deeply questionable regarding both constitutional compatibility and effectiveness. This decision sends an alarming signal about the state of our democracy.
The negotiators have adopted their draft from July 2024 almost unchanged, regardless of extensive criticism from all sides—from Jewish intellectuals, Israeli and international human rights organizations, legal experts, academics, cultural practitioners, political foundations, the Foreign Office, and more.
This happened without consideration for the serious doubts about constitutionality raised by leading legal experts, and without any real consideration of alternative proposals from renowned scholars who emphasize consensus over division. Repeated invitations for dialogue were ignored, as was the often shared concerns that the IHRA definition endangers Jewish diversity as it encourages equating Jewish people with Israel, which currently puts Jewish people at risk of being held accountable for the actions of the Israeli government. It has been documented that this working definition is frequently used to delegitimize unwelcome but permissible forms of criticism of Israeli government and policies.
This draft resolution does not combat antisemitism but instead pits minorities against each other, targets the rights of asylum seekers, migrants, and students, and disregards the fact that antisemitism originated in Europe. Through its one-sided focus, it derails Germany’s responsibility to also protect Palestinian lives, shields Netanyahu’s government in its war efforts, and undermines foreign policy efforts to end the war and avert impending genocide.
We at CTM Festival have joined the thousands of organisations, scholars, civic society advocates, politicians, legal experts and cultural workers that have signed a petition supporting an alternative wording that proposes a non-repressive and more nuanced approach. You can read and sign the petition here (in German only).