The Berliner Sparkasse, a German bank, blocked the account of the organization „Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East“ on Monday. The „Jewish Voice“ (the „Jüdische Stimme“ is the German equivalent to JVP) is to submit association documents and a list of members by April 5. The organization sees this as „political persecution“. However, the blocking did not happen by chance: the „Jewish Voice“ has made its account available to the „Palestine Congress“, which is affected by the ban and is due to take place in Berlin from April 12 to 14. This is not the first time this has happened: the organization’s account was already closed in 2019 under pressure from the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

So what is the „Palestine Congress“ all about? It is organized by „Palestine Speaks“, the Israel boycott movement „BDS Berlin“ and the „Jewish Voice“ (the anti-Israel association is isolated within the Jewish community and repeatedly attracts attention with terror trivialization in relation to 7 October). In the past, „Jüdische Stimme“ has also been associated with the group Samidoun, which was banned in Germany. Samidoun is close to the Palestinian terrorist organization PFLP. The vast majority of the organizers and speakers at the congress reject the Jewish state’s right to exist and/or legitimize the violent acts of Hamas. Many also explicitly speak out against peace and coexistence and strive for the destruction of Israel.

The aim of the event is not only to express the solidarity with Palestine of thousands of opponents of Israel, but also to pass a resolution that includes the vision of a Palestine from the river to the sea without a Jewish state. According to the organizers, the congress is already sold out. They are keeping the venue secret so far. According to Kim Robin Stoller, Chair of the International Institute for Education, Social and Anti-Semitism Research (IIBSA): „I assume that the congress will act as a catalyst for anti-Semitism, hatred of Israel and advocacy of Islamism and terrorism“. The instagram post of the „Jewish Voice“ also speaks of practical steps for actions in schools, universities, art, culture, business; being voices against „apartheid, genocide and German guilt“; to fight for the end of zionist settler colonialism, apartheid policies and the right of return for all Palestinian refugees.

According to Stoller, the congress will also bring together people and groups „who described 7 October as ‚resistance‘ and those involved as ‚guerrilla fighters‘ who had ‚broken out of their ghetto‘ or had contacts with people from terrorist organizations or supporters of Hamas or the PFLP in the past“.

Selection from the list of speakers:
Salman Abu Sitta, author and historian. He wrote that if he had been younger, he could have been one of those who broke through the fence on October 7. He described the sexual violence by Hamas terrorists as misinformation and slander.

Ghassan Abu Sitteh, doctor. Among other things, he spread the anti-Semitic narrative of „child murderer Israel“ on Instagram. The Israeli military deliberately kills Palestinian children in their „genocidal war“ because they are „a deadly threat to the Zionist project“.

Richard Boyd Barrett, Irish politician. He claims that Israel is not a „normal state“ but a „barbaric state“.

Yanis Varoufakis, (former) Greek Finance Minister After the Hamas massacres on October 7, he declared that he refused to condemn Hamas for its terror. After all, Hamas are not the criminals, but the Europeans who have not done enough for the rights of the Palestinians.

Francesca Albanese was also invited, but will not be coming after all.

Two people involved in the planning of the event are now under investigation. The newspaper der Tagesspiegel reported that activists Salah Said and Yasemin Acar had their homes searched on Friday. Cell phones and other data carriers are said to have been confiscated. According to Salah Said, Israel controls all states in the world. Acar, on the other hand, claims that Zionists are in fact Satanists. Said is also said to be leading a workshop at the congress. Officials are searching the seized smartphones for possible clues to a number of speakers whose names the organizers say they have so far kept secret, as otherwise they could be banned from entering the country.

The Senate wants to enforce a ban or at least a restriction on the congress. This was announced by State Secretary of the Interior Christian Hochgrebe (SPD) last week in the Interior Committee of the House of Representatives. It is now also being investigated whether there are links to the banned PFLP-affiliated group Samidoun.
The „Friends of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe“ has also called for a ban. It sees the event as „discriminating against the Jewish community and undermining the basic values of our society“.

According to the President of the German-Israeli Society, Volker Beck, the official call for the conference was already „deliberately on the red line to criminal liability“. For example, it calls for an end to „Zionist settler colonialism, which has been going on for over 76 years“, meaning „in the insane mindset of the organizers, nothing less than the elimination of Israel“. He demands: „Berlin must not send a message that trivializes or even approves of Hamas terror.“

Sources:
https://www.israelnetz.com/berliner-sparkasse-sperrt-konto-der-juedischen-stimme/
https://www.jungewelt.de/artikel/472272.repression-gegen-palästina-bewegung-jüdische-stimme-soll-schweigen.html
https://www.pressenza.com/de/2024/03/kontensperre-als-politischer-druck-juedische-organisation-kritisiert-berliner-sparkasse/
https://taz.de/Palaestina-Kongress-in-Berlin/!5997635&s=Palästina+Kongress/
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/teilnehmer-fordern-ausloschung-israels-noch-mehr-hassredner-bei-palastina-konferenz-in-berlin-11394458.html
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/umstrittener-palastina-kongress-in-berlin-polizei-uberrascht-mitplaner-mit-hausdurchsuchungen-11415113.html