IAmid the debate surrounding the statements made at the Berlinale awards ceremony, a person allegedly unknown to the festival management is said to have published anti-Israel posts on the Instagram profile “Berlinale.Panorama”, one of the film festival’s official accounts. The contributions, marked with the Berlinale logo, were photographed by journalist Frederik Schindler and distributed on the X platform (formerly Twitter). Shortly afterwards they were deleted from the Berlinale's Instagram page. “Bild” and “BZ Berlin” first reported.
One of the pictures presumably showed Palestinian children. Underneath it was read: “Ceasefire now – Stop the genocide in Gaza” (German: “Ceasefire now – Stop the genocide in Gaza”). A second was labeled “Gaza, mon amour” (German: “Gaza, my love”). Underneath it was written: “End the German-funded state terror.”
The third post showed a man on a horse. Underneath it was written: “Free Palestine – From the river to the sea”. The latter is a slogan that is now banned in Germany. Geographically, it refers to the area between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. This is where the State of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip lie.
The political slogan “From the river to the sea” has long been considered a battle cry at pro-Palestinian demonstrations and is also used by the terrorist organization Hamas. The German public prosecutor's office now classifies the slogan as a criminal offense. There is an initial suspicion of sedition because it calls into question Israel's right to exist. The words therefore call for a Palestinian state on the territory of today's Israel.
The film festival published a statement about the incident on the affected account and the main Berlinale account on Sunday evening. Accordingly, the contributions did not come from the festival itself and “do not represent the attitude of the Berlinale”. The posts were “immediately deleted” and “an investigation was initiated into how this incident could have happened”. In addition, criminal charges will be filed against unknown persons.
The posts were published amid existing criticism of the Berlinale awards ceremony on Saturday evening. The appearance of filmmaker Ben Russell, co-director of “Direct Action,” is particularly criticized. He went on stage at the event with a Palestinian scarf and made allegations of genocide because of Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip. Hamas' terror was not mentioned. The audience applauded Russell. Basel Adra, Palestinian and co-director of “No Other Land,” called for no more arms to be delivered to Israel in his acceptance speech. His film had previously won the documentary film award.
“What happened yesterday at the Berlinale was an intolerable relativization,” Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) wrote about the incident on X. “Anti-Semitism has no place in Berlin, and that also applies to the art scene,” said he clear. “I expect the new management of the Berlinale to ensure that such incidents do not happen again,” continued Wegner.
“After the events of Saturday, we have to question whether it can stay that way and how we will deal with it in the future,” said the FDP chairwoman of the Bundestag culture committee, Anikó Glogowski-Merten, to the portal “The Pioneer”. CSU General Secretary Martin Huber spoke on X of a “disgrace”. He also criticized Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens) because she did not intervene.
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