Analysis
Berlin labels Jews for peace group as ‘extremist’
In Berlin today, anyone who speaks out against genocide falls under secret-service surveillance. Jewish Voices for a Just Peace in the Middle East is a ‘foreign extremist organization’ in Germany.
The Jewish organization Jüdische Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost (Jewish Voices for a Just Peace in the Middle East) is back in the German authorities’ crosshairs. After a lengthy inquiry by domestic intelligence, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has branded the group a “foreign extremist organization,” lumping it together with Palästina Spricht and every initiative tied to the BDS movement, a label that immediately insinuates anti-Semitism.
The new report by the federal office – the same one that in May declared the far-right AfD party extremist, thus equating a Jewish pacifist association with an ultra-nationalist party – says Jüdische Stimme is pursuing “confirmed extremist efforts.” The sole grounds for this statement is its support for BDS, which the Bundestag has branded illegal and anti-Semitic since 2019 on the theory that it threatens Israel’s existence. The argument grows even more alarming when the report calls anti-apartheid and anti-occupation sentiment dangerous to Jewish life in general. Jüdische Stimme says that the document “underscores the German state’s commitment to ignoring international law.”
A few months ago, in a public debate hosted by ANPI Berlin-Brandenburg, Israeli psychoanalyst and Jüdische Stimme spokesperson Iris Hefets dissected Germany’s recent resolution on “protecting Jewish life,” passed by the previous legislature. She called its guidelines deeply discriminatory and dangerous, noting that they pigeonhole “acceptable” and “unacceptable” conduct by ethnicity and culture and single out Arab and North-African residents as inherently disposed towards conflict. Hefets warned that the backers of the resolution – from the SPD, Greens, FDP, CDU and CSU – were exploiting the memory of the Holocaust for political convenience, building rationales for repressive measures. Amnesty International Germany flagged this resolution as a grave threat to fundamental rights.
Fast-forward to the past few weeks: on Friday, at the close of a Die Linke sit-in in Neukölln, seven police officers hauled Hefets away and held her for more than an hour so they could investigate her placard: a Star of David in Palestinian colors with the words “Another Jew for a Free Palestine.” She carries the same sign at every pro-Palestine rally; it has already landed her in court, and this was her fourth arrest.
In Berlin today, anyone who speaks out against genocide falls under secret-service surveillance. Riot police interventions against demonstrators are getting ever harsher, with officers wading into marches unprovoked and punching defenseless 20-year-old women in the face. The fact that an anti-Zionist Jewish organization now stands accused of “foreign extremism” should prompt the critical-minded public to reflect and to take action.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/berlino-etichetta-gli-ebrei-per-la-pace-gruppo-estremista on 2025-06-13