600 senior state employees demand Germany stop arming Israel

Around 600 senior public sector employees have called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to immediately halt the supply of weapons to Israel and continue supporting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)’s relief efforts.

According to the Freiheit Liebe news website, senior public sector employees sent a message to Scholz emphasising Germany’s duty to persuade Israel to allow urgent aid into Gaza.

The message also stated that sanctions must be imposed on Israel, and Germany must immediately take appropriate action in this regard. This includes freezing political and economic relations with Israel.

They highlighted that voices that criticises Israel’s violations of international law are systematically silenced by the German government, and critics are marginalised and criminalised.

The employees expressed fear of being accused and punished for expressing their opinions. They, therefore, chose not to disclose their names. They highlighted the restricted freedom of expression in Germany in 2023 despite this right being protected by the German constitution.

Germany is Israel’s second-largest arms supplier after the United States and a nation whose leadership calls support for the country a “Staatsräson,” a national reason for existence, as a way of atoning for the Holocaust.

The calls from senior public sector employees in Germany come a day before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) began its first hearing in the case filed by Nicaragua accusing Berlin of “facilitating genocide” against Palestinians by continuing to provide Tel Aviv with arms inspite of its actions in Gaza.

During yesterday’s hearing, Nicaragua’s legal team told the ICJ that Germany is responsible for the genocide in Gaza by supporting Israel, noting that Berlin’s military support for Israel has increased tenfold in recent months.

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