Germany: Imprisoned ‘Palestine Action’ activists face harassment |
For years, Palestine activists in Germany have looked to Britain with a sense of astonishment. The state that promised Palestine to Zionist settler colonialism in the 1917 Balfour Declaration is scarcely less pro-Israel than the Federal Republic of Germany, with its so-called Staatsräson (‘reason of state‘) that proclaims unconditional solidarity with Israel – albeit without ever having been codified into law. And yet, solidarity in Britain appears – at least from this vantage point – to be more vibrant, broader, and above all more effective.
This perception is partly shaped by the mass demonstrations that repeatedly brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets of London between October 2023 and October 2025. In Germany, by contrast – despite its many large cities but lack of true megacities – numerous decentralized actions have taken place every week since the start of the Gaza genocide. However, truly large demonstrations breaking the 50,000 or even 100,000 mark did not occur until last summer.
A model: ‘Palestine Action’
For many, this positive view of the British Palestine solidarity movement has also been decisively shaped by the group Palestine Action (PA), which succeeded in combining ‘direct action with media work and political struggle, including legal battles in court. Quite a few activists in Germany felt – and continue to feel – that the time had come to strike directly at the........