German activists speak out in Dubai on suffering in Israel and the Gaza Strip
"We would like to express our grief and our boundless solidarity for all civilians," explain the signatories. These are the Political Director of Germanwatch, Christoph Bals, the Fridays for Future activist Luisa Neubauer, the board member of the Climate Alliance network, Christiane Averbeck, BUND Chairman Olaf Bandt, Nabu President Jörg-Andreas Krüger, Bread for the World President Dagmar Pruin, Misereor CEO Pirmin Spiegel and Kristina Lunz from the Center for Feminist Foreign Policy.
Reference is made to the attack by the Islamist Hamas on Israel on October 7, in which, according to Israeli figures, around 1,200 people were killed in Israel and around 240 people were taken hostage. "We are deeply shocked by the continuing terror, hatred and violence of Hamas against Jewish life and Israel, by the will to destroy that is evident here, and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms," the text reads. It also calls for the immediate release of all hostages.
The participants also clearly oppose anti-Semitism in Germany and everywhere else in the world as well as on the internet, including "possibly at COP28". "It breaks our hearts that more and more Jews are feeling increasingly unsafe in Germany of all places" and "are becoming the target of attacks".
However, it also states: "We are increasingly appalled by the growing suffering of civil society in the Palestinian territories and the many people who have been killed". Reference is made to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza. Anti-Muslim racism is also rejected, including in Germany. The signatories expressly recognize Israel's right to self-defence, but it must be based on "human rights and human dignity".
"It is time for all guns to fall silent in the long term," the statement reads. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) should do everything in their power to achieve this.
In recent weeks, the war between Israel and Hamas has led to internal disputes within some climate and environmental organizations, including Fridays for Future. At the climate conference on Sunday, there was a pro-Palestinian rally by a number of participants. They called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
In response to the Hamas attack on October 7, Israel has been massively shelling targets in the Gaza Strip from the air and on the ground ever since. According to Hamas, which cannot be independently verified, more than 15,500 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in the Palestinian territory to date. A ceasefire lasting several days ended on Friday.
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Source: www.stern.de
