Volker Beck announced his support for the Israeli war on Gaza (European)
Pro-Palestinian activists said on Friday that they had filed a criminal case against a German politician on charges of inciting hatred and denying war crimes in the Israeli bombing of Gaza.
The lawsuit was filed by two groups in solidarity with the Palestinians, “Palestine Speaks” and “Jewish Voice for Just Peace in the Middle East,” against Volker Beck, the former parliamentarian and president of the German-Israeli Association.
“This is the first step towards legal accountability for public figures who publicly make statements about genocide,” a group wrote on its Instagram page.
The charges, which were filed in five prosecutors' offices across Germany, cite Beck's statements on social media, in opinion articles and media interviews in which he expressed support for the Israeli war on Gaza and called for making humanitarian aid conditional on the release of Israeli detainees by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). .
Beck rejected the accusations, describing them as “nonsense,” and told Reuters, “There is no genocide in Gaza, and I do not support genocide,” adding that he had filed complaints against the two groups and accused them of defaming him.
"These people have an uneasy relationship with the rule of law if they believe that filing many complaints leads to more investigations," he added.
Volker Beck had previously filed a criminal complaint against Moroccan Nassir Mazraoui, the German player for Bayern Munich, due to his post in support of Palestine on social media pages.
Germany has strongly supported Israel's right to defend itself since the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7, stressing its duty to stand alongside Israel.
It is noteworthy that Tel Aviv's ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, had described Germany as Israel's best ally in Europe and that it had become Israel's second strategic partner after the United States, following its unconditional and absolute support for Tel Aviv since the start of its war on Gaza.
Source: Reuters