One year genocide in Gaza, one year German State complicity

After one year of genocide in Gaza, Germany still stands unconditionally behind the Zionist state, militarily, politically and ideologically.

In a recent speech in front of the German parliament, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock of the Greens stated: “Self-defense means, of course, not only that one attacks terrorists but that one destroys them. That is why I have made it so clear when Hamas terrorists hide behind people, behind schools, then we get into very difficult issues, but we won’t shy away. That’s why I made it clear to the UN that civilian places can also lose their protected status because terrorists abuse it. That is what Germany stands for, and that is what Israel’s security means for us.”

The speech coincided with yet another massacre in Gaza, where civilians in Al Aqsa hospital were burned alive. Dreadful videos show patients lying in beds in the tents of the hospital, unable to move, some still connected to their IV drips, as the flames of the fire caused by Israeli bombardments on the hospital engulf them. Their screams for help as they are burned to death are what Annalena Baerbock legitimizes by certifying her support of Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

A few days before Annalena Baerbock’s speech, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats declared in Parliament that Germany has delivered weapons to Israel and will continue to do so.

Germany is the second largest weapons exporter to Israel after the USA, providing about 30% of Israel’s arms. A report recently showed that Germany has been leasing Heron TP drones to Israel since last year. Drones and AI played a crucial role in the genocide.

Annalena Baerbock and Olaf Scholz’s statements demonstrate that after one year of genocide, at least 40.000 murdered Palestinians, they continue to act with utter impunity, evidently not fearing that they will be brought in front of international court for their active role in supporting the genocide. However, polls show that over 60% of Germans do not support Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Revolutionary Socialists must work to reach that 60% of Germans who German state propaganda is fighting to keep docile and scared of joining the pro-Palestine movement due to accusations of “antisemitism,” “terrorism,” and “Islamism.” As the ruling ideas are the ideas of the ruling class, we should not be surprised that after one year of genocide, the bourgeois propaganda machinery is spewing the same narratives as it has done for a year, if not decades, as it is in their interest to support German imperialism and hence the Zionist entity as the outpost of Western imperialism in the Middle East.

Despite the criminalization and repressions that have been utilized to crush the pro-Palestine movement in Germany (as elsewhere), activists are still taking to the streets to demand an end to the genocide and for a free Palestine. On the 18th of October, Joe Biden will be visiting Berlin. A demonstration against “Genocide Joe” is planned for 5 PM at Alexanderplatz. It is here that those opposed to genocide should collectively raise their voices for Palestine and demand that the war criminals, if Biden, Baerbock, or Scholz, be held accountable.