Hillary Clinton, Film Market Hit by Protests in Berlin as Pro-Palestinian Group Calls for Boycott of German Cultural Institutions

Ed Meza
·6 min read
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Ongoing protests in Berlin against the war in Gaza — a conflict triggered by the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 — reached former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and attendees of the Berlin Film Festival’s European Film Market this week following concerted efforts by some international cultural workers to boycott and target German cultural institutions.

Clinton, in town for the Feb. 19 World Forum event organized by Cinema for Peace, was met by loud protests, criticizing U.S. support for Israel, as she began speaking on stage. Cinema for Peace organizers dismissed the action, saying: “Seven out of 1,000 guests expressed a different opinion, not a special occurrence to comment on in a democracy with free speech.”

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The event followed a Feb. 18 protest at the EFM, where activists laid down on the front steps of the Gropius Bau drenched in mock blood with a sign reading, “Welcome to the Red Carpet.” Inside the building others unfurled pro-Palestinian banners from the upper floor.

In a statement, outgoing EFM director Dennis Ruh said the 20 people that took part in the action were all accredited and legally in the building. EFM attendees expressed “sympathy by spontaneously chanting along with the protesters,” he added.

“The organizers alerted the security service’s mobile team and they were on site within about eight minutes. No criminal acts on the part of the protesters could be determined.” The rally, which broke up after about 15 minutes, took place in accordance with the officially approved security concept and there was no danger to the exhibitors, Ruh stressed. “We respect democratic values and the right to freedom of expression and speech, provided these do not violate our code of conduct.”

Later in the week a large poster from promotional organization German Films outside the EFM was covered in Pro-Palestinian signs.

January saw the launch of the Strike Germany initiative in response to the country’s alleged restrictions on expressions of solidarity with Palestine, which has led to limitations on demonstrations, canceled exhibitions and events, and firings and resignations at cultural and scientific institutions.

The Strike Germany movement calls on cultural workers to strike and pressure institutions to commit to a number of demands, foremost among them the protection of artistic freedom and the adoption of a different definition of anti-Semitism to the one currently used in Germany, which the movement alleges conflates criticism of the state of Israel with anti-Semitism.

In January, Canadian director and video artist John Greyson, Indian-American helmer Suneil Sanzgiri and Ayo Tsalithaba, a Canada-based visual artist from Ghana and Lesotho, withdrew their works from the Berlinale’s Forum Expanded section, all citing solidarity with Strike Germany.

That same month a symposium on the work of Black filmmaker Skip Norman organized by the German Film Office at the Goethe Institute in New York City was canceled after a Strike Germany protest disrupted the event.

A group of young people crashed the event shortly after it began chanting their support of Palestine and Gaza, says German Films managing director Simone Baumann.

They passed out flyers that included the text: “Would Skip Norman approve of what’s happening in Germany today? We say no to co-opting revolutionary art and ideology, especially when your funder is silencing solidarity with Palestine.”

After some participants tried unsuccessfully to engage in discussion with the protesters the event was canceled.

Like the Goethe Institute, German Films strives to be independent, open to all voices and sides and “to be a place of discussion and dialogue,” says Baumann, who rejects the notion that German cultural organizations promote only one political view or opinion.

Baumann expressed understanding for the concerns of filmmakers, Palestinian and others, who see their work and livelihood threatened.

“We understand that there is a problem,” she says, adding that despite Germany’s general support for Israel, there was disagreement with many Israeli policies. “It doesn’t mean that there is no dialogue, no criticism and no understanding for Palestinian artists.”

While German Films has not had filmmakers refuse to work with the promotional organization out of protest, if the situation arose, it would seek discussion in the hope of finding a solution, Baumann adds.

Yasemin Acar, a member of the Berlin-based group Palestinians and Allies (PA_Allies), welcomes greater discussion and interaction. “It’s so important to be in dialogue, to speak and find ways if we want to have a sustainable change.”

She adds however: “Of course, right now, the disruptions are very important.”

Describing herself as a humanitarian, Acar says she has made it her mission to target women in power who support Israel in her efforts to raise awareness about the situation in Gaza. In addition to Clinton, Acar and her colleagues also protested a recent talk by Israeli Supreme Court judge Daphne Barak Erez at Berlin’s Humboldt University.

A German of Turkish-Kurdish descent, Acar says her family was forced to flee from the Khorasan region in Iran to Turkey before coming to Germany. “I know what oppression means,” she adds. “We are all raised with the Palestinian struggle as Middle Eastern people, as Muslim people. Palestine has always been part of our upbringing.”

Acar’s humanitarian activism isn’t limited to Palestine, however. Two years ago she was lauded by Berlin city officials when she led volunteer efforts to house thousands of Ukrainian refugees following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While her motivation in both instances has been the same – to help people in need and spread awareness – she is now treated like a criminal for her efforts to help Palestinians, she says.

The perceived double standard was also underscored by several people at the Berlinale, where the situation in Gaza was far less discussed than the Ukraine war last year, when it dominated the festival.

“People see the double standards,” says Berlin-based Palestinian director and artist Kamal Aljafari, whose work focuses largely on the occupation of Palestine and the destruction of Palestinian culture.

“Of course there are calculations that are being made by cultural workers, because any engagement with Palestine will lead to their events being canceled,” he alleges. “There is a very long list of events canceled in Germany – for example the Biennale for Contemporary Photography [that was to take place in March in Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg in March] was canceled after the curator condemned the Israeli military’s campaign in Gaza on social media.”

Aljafari expresses concern about his future work in the country, claiming that censorship and suppression of Palestinian voices in Germany has escalated and become “unbearable after these recent events.”

“As a Palestinian living in Germany for a long time, I started to realize there is no space left for any form of expression regarding Palestine. I won’t be able anymore to work as a filmmaker, as an artist in this country; it doesn’t matter if my work is openly political or not.”

The protests in Berlin followed similar actions at last month’s Sundance Film Festival.

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