Israelis für Frieden Israelis for Peace

Alongside friends in Vienna, Copenhagen, Prague, and Amsterdam, today we called on the German governement and the EU to intervene against Israel‘s proposed apartheid death penalty law. This bill can still be stopped - if the EU puts real pressure on Israel.
Thanks for joining us today .together.berlin and

*Stop Israel’s death penalty!*
Join us on 27.2 to demonstrate against the introduction of a new law in Israel that will lead to the mass ex*****on of Palestinian prisoners. The racist formulation of this law will make it applicable to Palestinians only. It is pending approval and will likely be passed to the Knesset this week. Germany and the EU must uphold their commitment to abolish the death penalty and put pressure on Israel to abandon this horrific legislative process.

Our demo will include speeches from members of several human rights NGOs active in Israel-Palestine.

Parallel demos will take place across Europe, including events in Vienna, Prague, Copenhagen Amsterdam and Berlin.

Please read our petition below and consider to sign.
Link in the first comment
To:
Chancellor Friedrich Merz
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul
Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil
Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs Armin Laschet

German Action Against Human Rights Violations and Annexation in the West Bank
Since the announcement of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza in October 2025, international attention has largely shifted away from the region. However, the Israeli government has continued to severely violate the ceasefire and its human rights obligations, in Gaza and in the occupied West Bank. We call upon Germany, one of Israel’s closest allies, to fulfill its own obligations under international law and its commitment to human rights by acting decisively against these ongoing atrocities.
In Gaza, military force continues to be used daily against areas not under Israeli control. We witness recurring bombing campaigns affecting Palestinian civilians and the systematic deprivation of essential humanitarian aid. Israel is dragging its feet toward the second stage of the ceasefire, which will include the removal of Israeli forces from the entire Strip.
At the same time, the situation in the West Bank is deteriorating rapidly. In recent months, there has been a surge in settler violence against Palestinians, particularly targeting herding communities in Area C. These attacks – which include the daily harassment of farmers, targeting of humanitarian activists - Israelis and internationals - and organized raids on Palestinian villages – often occur with the tacit agreement or active assistance of the Israeli military. This has led to the forced displacement of entire communities. According to the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, more than 44 communities have been displaced since October 2023.
Furthermore, the Israeli government and military – under the direction of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Major General Avi Blut – are executing a process of de facto annexation of the occupied territories. This involves a fundamental overhaul of the legal structures governing the West Bank, transferring authority to civilian bureaucrats. This process has accelerated the permitting of new settlements. Meanwhile, Israel is financially suffocating the Palestinian Authority. Minister Smotrich has explicitly stated that the intent of both policies is to prevent the possibility of a future Palestinian state.
Germany holds a unique position of influence in the West Bank as a primary financial supporter of both the Palestinian Authority and local civil society. While the U.S. has turned a blind eye to the escalation of extremist violence and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, the many military raids on cities and villages in the region must not enjoy tacit international approval. We urge Germany to shift its policy and pressure Israel to cease the annexation and human rights violations. This requirement is specifically reinforced by the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in July 2024, which stated clearly:
“All States must co-operate with the United Nations to put into effect modalities required to ensure an end to Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the full realization of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. All are under obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Obligation to distinguish in dealings with Israel between the territory of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”*
In light of the above, we, Israelis living in Germany, alongside local supporters, demand that the German government act with the following steps regarding the Occupied West Bank:
- Promote sanctions on the EU level against settlers and their supporting entities involved in violations of human rights and international law
- Publicly recognize forcible transfer as a grave breach of international law
- Promote a ban on the import of products from settlements in the occupied West Bank at the German and EU levels
- Expand support for Palestinian civil society

We believe that these measures represent a bare minimum of actions against constant violations of international law by an extremist government.

Respectfully,
Israelis für Frieden

*Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, p. 6 (https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-adv-01-00-en.pdf)

We call you to join us in a protest on Friday, 30.1 in front of the foreign ministry calling for a denormalization of Israel's recent and ongoing actions on Palestine.

While a so-called ceasefire in Gaza has shifted international attention away from the war, the reality on the ground remains dire. We call on the German government to exert pressure and sanctions to promote full humanitarian access to Gaza and halt ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and lead an urgent, large-scale effort to flood Gaza with food, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid.

Wir haben die Führung der progressiven Parteien Deutschlands – SPD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen und Die Linke – aufgefordert, nicht an von rechten Kräften organisierten Reisen nach Israel teilzunehmen. Diese vermitteln ein verzerrtes Narrativ und entsprechen der Linie der extrem rechten israelischen Regierung. Politiker:innen und Parteien, die Frieden voranbringen wollen, sollten israelische Propaganda nicht verstärken, sondern die Kräfte des Friedens und des Wandels in Israel und Palästina unterstützen.

Since the so-called ceasefire came into effect Israel’s war crimes in Gaza have slowly lost the world’s attention and Germany has lifted its arms embargo. This evening we returned to the German Foreign Office to say: No business as usual with Israel. No to ceasefire violations. No to ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and in Gaza. No to the appalling treatment of Palestinian detainees in torture camps.
This is not the time for Merz to rekindle relations and pay a visit to a government of war criminals, or to purchase arms freshly tested on Gaza.
It is time to respect the ICC arrest warrants and the ICJ advisory opinion, and to double down on sanctions, to finally put a stop to the Israeli war machine.

We call on the German government to stop supporting and enabling Israel’s ongoing violations of the ceasefire in Gaza and the escalating violence in the West Bank, and to demand accountability from the Israeli leadership. For the sake of a just and peaceful future in the region, we urge Germany to impose sanctions and to do everything in its power to stop Israel’s aggression.

Friday, December 12, 17:00 – in front of the German Foreign Ministry, Werderscher Markt 1, 10117 Berlin

According to a new Survey bu GIGA (German Institute for Global and Area Studies), almost 60% of Germans are convinced that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. About two-thirds agree that Israel, like Hamas on October 7th, committed extensive war crimes. Most strikingly, only 10% of respondents agreed with the principle of Staatsräson – Germany’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s security. A majority of Germans read their historical responsibility as directed toward the Jewish people and not the state of Israel and its government.
Meanwhile, the German government is reiterating its support for a state that has committed genocide. Only last week, Friedrich Merz spoke to Netanyahu on the phone, restated that his party’s stands “on the side of Israel”, and announced an end to the short-lived arms embargo that he imposed on weapons used in Gaza. Since the ceasefire, instead of pushing for a rapid transition to the next stage and pursuing accountability for what has passed, the German government has made every effort to return to business as usual with Israel.
German society rejects this policy. The people learned the lessons of the past and know that 'never again' means 'never again' for all. They know that their moral commitment is to stand at the side of the victims of war crimes and persecution. Yet they are being dragged unwillingly to collectively support a state and a government that has committed genocide, and is bent on continuing a regime of occupation, apartheid, and constant violence. The people of Germany are better than their political class, and they must make their voices heard.

Hagar Shezaf, who worked as Haaretz West Bank correspondent between 2019 - 2025, will discuss the situation in the occupied territories during the two years of the genocide in Gaza and the deepening processes of ethnic cleansing targeting Palestinian communities. Throughout her reporting, Shezaf has revealed the close coordination between settler militias, responsible for daily attacks on Palestinians and peace activists, and the Israeli army. She followed the aggressive measures of de facto annexation promoted by Minister Smotrich and the growing influence of settler ideologues in managing the occupation. Shezaf has an in-depth knowledge of both the Palestinian communities fighting against their dispossession and the settler groups aggressively pushing for the vision of greater Israel.
November 8, 18:00 Heiners Bar
Weserstraße 58 12045 Berlin

Following the welcome ceasefire in Gaza, many in Germany appear eager to go back to business as usual. Chancellor Merz claimed that relations with Israel may now return to normal, and said that there is no longer any reason to protest.

But the architects and commanders of the war and genocide remain in power, the apartheid regime is still fueled by European and US American money, and the Israeli mainstream media either denies or fails to inform the public of the systematic violence in Gaza and the West Bank. We cover here a short, insufficient list of Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank in the last few days, while the world focused on the ceasefire agreement and the hostage deal.

In Gaza, the retreat of the Israeli army was accompanied by a scorched earth tactic: several testimonies from soldiers and TikTok videos show that in a wide operation of ground troops, buildings that remained standing in Gaza were set on fire.

In the West Bank, it is olive harvest season, which is traditionally a celebratory time of the year for Palestinian farmers; for the Israeli settlers , it is a time to apply violence and intimidation, backed by the Israelis army and government.

Furthermore, a very vague interpretation to the meaning of "ceasefire" is expressed through the ongoing shooting and killing of Gazan civilians and bombing campaigns in southern Lebanon.

Around 11,000 Palestinians are still held in Israeli prisons, around 4,000 of them without charge or trial. Countless testimonies of former prisoners as well as former guards portray the Israeli prison as hell on earth, with poor living conditions and abuse or outright torture by guards.

We reject the impunity which Israel enjoyed up to October 6th while enacting crimes, which according to the ICJ amount to Apartheid. Much so now:
A State cannot commit genocide one day, and escape accountability the next. We demand that a substantial reform in Israel's policies, along with a change in its leadership, be a minimal condition to any further international support.

We are hopeful today for the first time in two horrific years. A ceasefire deal was reached between Israel and Hamas. If completed - it will bring an end to the war and the genocide in Gaza. It will see Israeli and Palestinians hostages and prisoners freed, and a retreat of the Israeli army from the entire Gaza Strip.
The end of the war is just the beginning of a long process that would - if both parties engage in good faith - bring peace and justice for both peoples. We are not naive - we know that this deal was reached against the will of the Israeli government and that a path of peace could not be reached with the present Israeli leadership and policy - one of dehumanisation, occupation and destruction.
This is the time to intensify the struggle against the ideology and policy that brought all this destruction, and for a different vision for Israel/Palestine - a vision of shared life and security instead of endless war.