Summary
Since the barbaric massacre committed by Hamas in Israel on 7 October 2023, antisemitic actions by radical activists relating to the war in the Middle East have been taking place regularly in Germany. The forms of expression range from demonstrations through occupations of universities and camps in public space to disinformation on the internet. Under the cloak of supposedly “pro-Palestinian” and “anti-colonial” protests, these activists are ever more openly supporting banned terrorist organisations such as Hamas and Hezbollah and spreading their propaganda.
Unfortunately, across large parts of the public and among decision-makers at universities and in education and science policy, the necessary experience to recognise, contextualise and take action against corresponding anti-Jewish and anti-Israel statements is at times lacking. Instead, helplessness and an inability to cope with the situation can frequently be observed.
This information sheet therefore provides an overview of the most common slogans of the anti-Israel scene and their meaning. For statements that may appear harmless at first glance often have a violent and eliminatory antisemitic background.
Typical slogans of the anti-Israel scene at a glance
„From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, „There is only one solution: Intifada Revolution” und “Yallah, Yallah Intifada”
„Globalize the Intifada”
„Free Palestine“
„We don’t want no two-state, we want 48”
„Israel you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide”
„Resistance is justified when people are occupied”
„Say Free Palestine and we go”
“Zionism is a crime, get your hands off Palestine”A clear case of Israel-related antisemitism
Overall, the clearly antisemitic and eliminatory character of the anti-Israel movement can be recognised in its common slogans. There is a large ideological overlap here with Palestinian terror groups such as Hamas or the Iranian Revolutionary Guards:
- Israel has no right to exist and should be destroyed.
- In the territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan there should be only one Arab state.
- Terror and violence against Jews and Israelis are legitimate – in Israel and worldwide.
- Israel bears sole responsibility for the conflict.
The criteria for Israel-related antisemitism are met throughout:
- The State of Israel is demonised.
- The State of Israel is delegitimised.
- Double standards are applied to the State of Israel.
In the following we explain and contextualise the slogans named above individually:„From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”
Translation: “From the river (Jordan) to the sea (Mediterranean), Palestine will be free”
This sentence denies Israel’s right to exist and demands the complete destruction of the only Jewish state. It is found, among other places, in the Hamas charter of 2017, which calls for the “complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea”. The Bundesinnenministerium (BMI) has classified the slogan as an identifying symbol of the terrorist organisation since November 2023 within the framework of the ban on Hamas activities. First convictions by regional courts have already been handed down.
The statement also stands for a rejection of the two-state solution, which provides for a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and for a coexistence of both peoples. Instead, what is demanded is the ethnic cleansing of the Jewish people from their indigenous homeland and the erasure of the millennia-old connection of the Jews to the Land of Israel in favour of a single Arab state.
This becomes particularly clear in the Arabic formulation of the sentence: “From water to water, Palestine is Arab”, which can also frequently be heard in Germany. While for the English formulation the supposed intention could still be put forward that one wishes for the peaceful coexistence of all peoples of the territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan in a single democratic state, the original Arabic formulation reveals the true intention behind the slogan at the latest.
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„There is only one solution: Intifada Revolution” und “Yallah, Yallah Intifada”
Translation: “There is only one solution: Intifada revolution” and “Come on, come on, Intifada”
This slogan glorifies the series of violent and terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians during the first Intifada from 1987 to 1991 and the second Intifada from 2000 to 2005. There were numerous suicide bombings, rocket and bomb attacks, shootings and stabbings by Palestinian terrorists. The second Intifada in particular served the purpose of torpedoing the path to peace within the framework of the Oslo negotiations and was driven forward by militant terrorist organisations such as Hamas.
In order to restore the protection of the Israeli civilian population in the wake of the countless terrorist attacks, checkpoints and a barrier had to be erected. Perfidiously, it is precisely these protective measures that are now invoked by opponents of Israel as evidence of an alleged “apartheid”, without naming the causes for them.
The call for an Intifada does not stand for an “uprising”, but demands the use of terror and violence to achieve political goals and celebrates the murder of innocent civilians. For Jews and Israelis the term “Intifada” has at times a traumatic dimension and should therefore have no place in public space.
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„Globalize the Intifada”
Translation: “Globalise the Intifada”
This slogan extends the statement named above from the regional to the global level and thus calls for violence and terror not only in Israel but throughout the entire world – especially in the West. The aim is that Jews and Israelis should feel safe nowhere. Attacks on Jewish and Israeli people, communities and institutions, which have risen sharply since 7 October 2023, must accordingly be assessed as being in the spirit of this slogan and of those who chant it.
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„Free Palestine“
Translation: “Freedom for Palestine”
Even if this statement may appear uncritical at first glance, as a rule it occurs in the context of the other slogans discussed in this information paper and is voiced by the same actors.
Behind the call for a free Palestine there is often not the demand for an Arab state alongside a Jewish one, in accordance with the two-state solution, but the wish for the destruction of Israel. The consequence of the “liberation of Palestine” in this sense would be that the Jewish people would once again have no state place of refuge and would be at the mercy of the global antisemitic threat without sufficient means of protection.
If the slogan referred to the borders of 1967, it would have to be assessed differently. As a rule, however, this is not the case, or it is deliberately used ambiguously.
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„We don’t want no two-state, we want 48”
Translation: “We do not want a two-state solution, we want 1948”
The eliminatory basic attitude of the anti-Israel movement becomes even clearer in this sentence. It stands quite clearly for the rejection of any form of Jewish state sovereignty as well as of a peaceful coexistence of the two peoples side by side. Instead, the wheel of history is to be turned back to the year 1948, to the time before the State of Israel was founded. In this slogan, too, the right of the State of Israel to exist and the right of the Jewish people to self-determination are denied. In doing so, a central lesson of the Shoah, the necessity of a state place of refuge for the Jewish people, is not recognised or is denied.
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„Israel you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide”
Translation: “Israel, you cannot hide, we charge you with genocide”
This contains the factually false claim that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians, which could be credibly substantiated neither by international courts nor by organisations. The accusation of genocide serves to demonise Israel and to delegitimise the war of defence following the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023. This is a reversal of perpetrator and victim which, on top of that, trivialises the crimes of Hamas.
In addition, in this connection there are also frequently relativisations of the Holocaust, in that of all states it is the Jewish state that is equated with National Socialism. In this way the historical trauma of the Jewish people is instrumentalised for the activists’ own antisemitic narratives.
In the slogan, Israel is often replaced by any other figures or terms, such as Germany, Staatsräson, US President Biden, the Berlin culture senator Joe Chialo or also various university leaderships. By now, all those who do not make common cause with the radical views of the anti-Israel activists are accused of responsibility, or at least of complicity, in connection with the alleged genocide.
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„Resistance is justified when people are occupied”
Translation: “Resistance is justified when people live under occupation”
This slogan serves the purpose of defending terrorism and violence against civilians by portraying them as legitimate, often supposedly anti-colonial, “resistance”. Attacks on innocent people are glorified as heroic acts and terrorism is glorified. By contrast, non-violent and diplomatic paths to peace and coexistence are rejected.
In this connection the phrase „by all means necessary“ (translation: “By all means necessary”) is often heard as well, by which violence and terror are likewise to be normalised as legitimate means for attaining political goals. In addition, responsibility for the conflict and for the occupation of the West Bank, which continues to be necessary for security reasons, is assigned solely to the Jewish state, while the Palestinian side and its political leadership are absolved of any responsibility. Frequently, in this connection, there is also talk of “Occupied Palestine” (translation: “occupied Palestine”), by which as a rule the entire territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan is meant. This amounts to a denial of the right of the State of Israel to exist.
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„Say Free Palestine and we go”
Translation: “Say ‘Freedom for Palestine’ and we go”
This sentence goes back to a scene during the pogrom-like attacks on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam in November 2024. An Israeli tourist who was being chased through the city by Arab men jumped into a canal to bring himself to safety. From the edge of the canal the attackers shouted the sentence “Say Free Palestine and we go” at the Israeli. He was thus to say this sentence if he wanted to be left in peace.
The video circulated on the social networks as disturbing evidence of the manhunts against Jews. Anti-Israel activists have since adopted this sentence and chant it, among other occasions, at university occupations. By using this slogan, the activists make clear that they stand behind the pogroms in Amsterdam and approve of violence against Jews.
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“Zionism is a crime, get your hands off Palestine”
Translation: “Zionism is a crime, hands off Palestine”
In this slogan Israel’s right to exist is denied by declaring Zionism, the legitimate peaceful striving of the Jewish people for national self-determination, to be a crime. The message is that Zionism in any form is illegitimate and that Jews have no place in the region (Palestine) and should disappear by “keeping their hands off Palestine”.Our appeal: no space for hatred and antisemitism in public space
Against the background that the fight against antisemitism is always held high in politics and in civil society, it is absolutely unacceptable and incomprehensible why decision-makers in politics, science and at universities tolerate Israel-related antisemitism and even provide it with space by tolerating lecture hall occupations and protest camps.
The people acting are often not local students, but highly networked and very well organised activists who repeatedly stage similar actions in various public spaces. This fact is in part concealed by masking with scarves or FFP2 masks. These activists prove again and again that they have no interest in a democratic dialogue, but want to impose solely their maximum demands on politicians and university leaderships. Often their harassing actions are not about a constructive exchange of views, but about generating photo and video material for propaganda and disinformation campaigns on social media.
As a free and democratic society we must not get involved in this and must resolutely oppose these slogans and actions that glorify violence and terror.
We appeal to decision-makers in politics and at universities:
- No toleration of antisemitic protest actions that call for hatred of Jews and for the destruction of Israel.
- No offers of dialogue to activists close to BDS and no provision of public premises for corresponding forms of protest.
- Zero tolerance for trespassing and criminal damage. Corresponding criminal offences must be reported without exception.
- Immediate enforcement of the right of domiciliary authority through the clearing of lecture hall occupations and protest camps by the local police.