ProPalestine activists targeted for deportation hit out at German state repression

On a video call, two EU nationals and an American recently served with deportation orders by Berlin’s state government for attending demonstrations against Israel’s war on Gaza told Middle East Eye they strongly reject accustions of antisemitism and indirect support for Hamas. 

Kasia Wlaszczyk, a Polish culture worker, 31-year-old Irish artist Roberta Murray, and 27-year-old American social work student Cooper Longbottom, were served the deportation orders last month, along with 29-year-old Irish citizen Shane O’Brien.

The four activists have been given less than a month to leave Germany.

Lawyers representing them have filed an injunction to suspend the deportation deadline set for 21 April while they wait for an appeal hearing, which could take a few months. 

The activists hope their case will shed light on the oppression the Palestine solidarity movement is facing in Germany in the wake of Israel’s war on Gaza – and wake up wider German society to the rapid erosion of civil liberties in their country.

New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch

Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters

“The deportation letter lacked any legal basis citing accusations of antisemitism and of supporting Hamas,” Wlaszczyk says. “It’s destabilising and taking up a lot of time. I'd rather be campaigning against the genocide and demanding Germany stop its military support for Israel.

“Germany never went through a genuine process of denazification, and what we're seeing now is a hard shift towards racist, anti-migration politics. The antisemitic label is being weaponised against predominantly Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims,” argues Wlaszczyk.

Murray echoed their Polish comrade’s words about the case being a “massive resource drain”, saying it had been “exhausting". “But it has also highlighted the community support system we have here. The government is using us as guinea pigs to see how far they can push this.”

Deportations

While the German and local Berlin government is pursuing them, the activists also feel as though they have a lot of support to draw on in their community.

Murray says they see this as a litmus test, and that the German government will likely face some sort of backlash for issuing an unprecedented deportation order against EU citizens.

But the artist is fearful for what this means politically for those who have a less stable passport and immigration status, and who are already feeling the force of German state bigotry.

'Anti-Muslim and anti-Arab racism works to criminalise people to the point where just existing as Palestinian in Germany becomes seen as criminal'

- Cooper Longbottom, American student in Berlin

“Unfortunately, it hits differently when it's white people. Deportations of people with less stable immigration status have been taking place but we don't always hear about them, so deporting Europeans and western nationals is definitely a test to see what they can get away with,” Murray tells Middle East Eye.

Longbottom, the American student, agrees, saying that middle-class Europeans might pay more attention to their cases “because they think that, oh, now they could come after us”. 

“Anti-Muslim and anti-Arab racism works to criminalise people to the point where just existing as Palestinian in Germany becomes seen as criminal, and so the targeted deportations of Palestinians doesn't get the outrage or media attention they deserve,” he says.

The American says that he and his fellow activists want to “put this moment in a historical context, similar to the US,” to make clear that if authorities are able to get away with deporting them, they will “continue to do so”. 

Germany's Staatsrason

In a statement, the four activists condemned German authorities for politicising their deportation and referred to Germany’s “Staatsrason” (reason of state), the more or less unconditional support of the Israeli state in the name of its security.

“In the deportation documents, the LEA (Immigration Office) opens with a statement depicting the events of 7 October through Germany's Staatsrason,” the statement reads.

“This same Staatsrason has been used to justify Germany’s complicity in the ongoing genocide… We categorically condemn Germany's complicity in genocide and reject these unlawful measures. With our legal team, we will fight this deportation all the way to the highest courts.”

'They are doing what is called Gleichschaltung, this is what Nazi Germany did, to push everyone to obey and comply, and not go against the system'

- Iris Hefets, Jewish Voice for Just Peace in the Middle East

The deportation orders have drawn widespread condemnation across civil society, including from left-wing political activists in Germany and from Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin.

Martin has told Ireland’s parliament that he will raise the case of O’Brien and Murray with German authorities.

The Irish embassy in Berlin has already begun discussions with the German foreign ministry, while Irish MEPs are planning on raising the matter with the European Commission.

Iris Hefets, a Jewish-Israeli board member for Jewish Voice for Just Peace in the Middle East, a campaign organisation that has widely criticised Germany's continued military and diplomatic support for Israel, tells MEE that democratic values in the country have receded to a point where bureaucrats are now being forced by politicians to take illegal actions.

“They are doing what is called Gleichschaltung, this is what Nazi Germany did, to push everyone to obey and comply, and not go against the system,” Hefets says.

“German politicians are turning the country into an illegal democracy, they have so-far managed to shrink the pro-Palestine protests by politically persecuting people. These demonstrations used to be big, people used to attend from all over the world, particularly the Global South,” Hafets says. 

But now, many people who used to protest, fearing their citizenship status, are worried they will be targeted.

'Fascism pipeline'

According to the Berlin-based journalist Hanno Hauenstein, who broke the story, the deportation orders were met with considerable pushback from senior bureaucrats against political pressure from Berlin's state government.

In one instance, two senior bureaucrats wrote to the mayor of Berlin’s office expressing their refusal to issue the orders due to a lack of “criminal convictions to substantiate a sufficiently serious and actual threat”.

'We're in a fascism pipeline, the erosion of civil liberties is very real, we're like that frog in slowly boiling water'

- Roberta Murray, Irish artist in Berlin

Left-wing Greek party Mera25, founded by former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, also strongly condemned the orders, saying it was part of a “fascist, authoritarian attack on fundamental democratic rights.”

“Staatsrsson is not a legal category. It is a political slogan now being used to undermine constitutional rights and target dissenters,” the statement continued. 

Following the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023, the German federal government froze the processing of all asylum applications from Gaza, saying “the current events [in Gaza] are consistently unclear and difficult to assess”.

This directly contradicts German courts, which have explicitly stated that “there is a direct threat to life to anyone in Gaza”. 

“We have to stand strong against this now,” says Murray, the Irish artist.

“We're in a fascism pipeline, the erosion of civil liberties is very real, we're like that frog in slowly boiling water; if you don't stand up now for those more marginalised that us, then when the next crisis comes along, it will be your door they will be knocking on.” 

Longbottom says that while their situation “might seem scary”, it is “not deterring the movement. We will continue calling for a free Palestine. We will only intensify our work.”

The group draws parallels between Germany and the US Trump administration, which has been targeting pro-Palestine civilians and using deportation as a weapon of repression.

Alexander Gorski, the lawyer representing the activists, says he is optimistic the four activists won’t be deported on 21 April. He tells MEE that the deportation orders are based on political pressure, and that because of this he is optimistic the group will get some interim relief in the next couple of weeks. 

But he says that he also sees parallels with how pro-Palestine activists are treated across the West.

“The weaponisation of migration law, not just in the US but also here, the same pattern has been used by German authorities as the US Trump administration."

middleeasteye.net