Tag Archives: Hamas

German arms exporters suddenly worried about “humanitarian law”

September 19, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Silly me. I thought that was the only kind of law there was.

Germany has stopped approving war weapons exports to Israel, source says – Germany has put a hold on new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges, according to a Reuters analysis of data and a source close to the Economy Ministry.

A source close to the ministry cited a senior government official as saying it had stopped work on approving export licences for arms to Israel due to legal and political pressure from legal cases arguing that such exports from Germany breached humanitarian law.

Just because “we’re the lowest court…”

August 6, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Doesn’t mean we can’t sink any lower.

German court due to rule on ‘from the river to the sea’ case in test of free speech – Defendant is accused of ‘condoning the assault by Hamas’ by using slogan during protest…

A spokesperson for the court, Lisa Jani, confirmed that while there had been about five cases in Berlin involving “rioting” and “incitement” at pro-Palestinian protests, this was probably the first revolving specifically around the use of the politically charged phrase.

Even if the defendant is found guilty on Tuesday, it would be only the beginning of a long legal odyssey of appeals through higher tribunals. “The ruling … would not be binding – we’re the lowest court,” Jani said.

No German moral outrage here

July 26, 2024 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Where’s the Schnapatmung (gasping for air in mock indignation)?

If you’re so concerned about Gaza, cancel your order.

Israel’s IAI plugging away at German Arrow-3 order amid Gaza war – Israel Aerospace Industries, the maker of Germany’s future long-range antimissile system, has increased shifts and hired more workers to meet the deadline of setting up an installation in Germany sometime next year, a company executive said.

The extra effort follows the national logic of outfitting the Israel Defense Forces as the priority, while also keeping international orders on track, Shay Gal, vice president for external relations, told Defense News at the Farnborough Airshow outside of London.

“Kai will pay”

July 8, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Red marks the spot.

Berlin bans red triangle symbol used by Hamas to mark targets – Berlin has banned the inverted red triangle symbol due to its use by Hamas and their supporters to mark enemy targets in videos and graffiti.

The motion passed in the state senate said the scarlet arrow icon represents an immediate threat to Jews and to people committed to the freedom and security of Israel and should be banned at protests and in the context of the Middle East conflict.

The symbol has been used to target pro-Israel academics and politicians, including Kai Wegner, the Berlin mayor who ordered the eviction of pro-Palestine protesters from the city’s Free University by police.

“Kai will pay” was graffitied on the wall of a university under a red triangle.

German of the day: Täter-Opfer-Umkehr

May 23, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means the reversal of perpetrator and victim.

As in: “Just seeking an arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Hamas leader Sinwar at the same time is already an absurd reversal of perpetrator and victim.”

Would Germany arrest Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant?

Yes, the Scholz government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Wednesday. CDU leader Friedrich Merz is clearly critical of this.

When asked whether Germany would comply with a decision by the court, the Scholz spokesperson said only briefly: “Of course, we comply with the law.”

“Expressing understanding”

April 13, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Hate, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

He was the author of a January essay that expressed understanding for the Hamas militants who carried out the deadly October 7 raid in Israel that sparked the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Then understand this.

German police shut down pro-Palestinian conference – Police in the German capital, Berlin, have stopped an event expressing solidarity with Palestinians amid the Gaza war. Authorities said they were concerned over potential antisemitic remarks and glorified violence.

Almost 70% of Germans supportive of Hamas attack on Israel

March 23, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

More than two-thirds (69%) of Germans consider Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel to have been justified in view of the many civilian casualties, according to the results of a new survey published on Friday.

Or something like that. I forget the details.

Of 1,296 people polled for the ZDF broadcaster, 87% also said the West should exert more pressure on Israel to improve the supply of food and medicine to the population in the Gaza Strip. Only 7% did not agree with this statement.

Infuriated?

December 21, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Damn right.

They should have voted no. It’s just the same old talk the talk, sort of, without walking the walk.

Cease-fire in Gaza: Why Germany abstained in UN votes – Twice now Germany has abstained in a vote in the UN General Assembly that called for a cease-fire in the Middle East. Many countries around the world are infuriated by this.

“We need Germany’s support at the UN,” Israel’s ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, said afterwards. It wasn’t enough, he declared, to abstain “because people are incapable of saying explicitly that Hamas is responsible for this brutal massacre.”

“Who?”

November 30, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

“Germany has a president?”

“You, there! You look official. Drive down to the airport when you get a minute and welcome him.”

Germany’s Steinmeier left waiting on tarmac in Qatar – Standing with arms folded at the doors of the airplane was probably not how German President Steinmeier thought he would spend almost 30 minutes of his official 3-hour visit to Doha...

In Germany, Doha’s influence on the Israel-Hamas war is seen as somewhat controversial as Qatar is home to Hamas’ political wing. That led some to wonder if Wednesday’s apparent snub was a response to statements made recently by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock prior to Al Thani’s long-planned visit to Berlin back in October.

“We do not accept support for terror,” Baerbock told public broadcaster ZDF at the time. “To put an end to this terrorism,” she added, “countries like Qatar have a special responsibility.”

Put a positive spin on it, I say. Maybe Germany’s Steinmeier was just being überpunktlich. German diplomat-types can often be that way. If they ever arrive at all. They’re not always so punctual when it comes to leaving, however.

Psychology of guilt?

November 18, 2023 By in Hard Facts, History, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

It’s just not our thing. In Turkey.

Germany has ‘psychology of guilt’ when it comes to Holocaust, Israel, Erdoğan says – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged the two countries’ very different perspectives on the Israel-Hamas war.

“Since we’re in a kind of psychology of guilt here, you can’t judge it that way, but we have no debt to Israel. If that were the case, then perhaps we wouldn’t be able to talk so easily. Nor have we gone through the history of the Holocaust,” the Turkish president said via an official German translator.