‘From the river to the sea’: six words that are testing freedom of speech in Germany | Peter Kuras

The recent conviction of an activist who used the phrase at a rally in Berlin has widened a rift in German society

Is it legal to say the words From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" in Germany? The answer appears to be yes: you can shout them from the rooftops in German, English, Arabic or Hebrew, so long as a court accepts that you are not doing so to indicate support for Hamas or its murderous assault of 7 October.

This distinction came to bear on the activist Ava Moayeri last week, when she was convicted of condoning a crime" for leading a chant of the slogan at a Berlin rally on 11 October. If the speaker of the phrase is understood to mean, for instance, that they support the peaceful liberation of Palestinians, then the utterance would be protected. But the presiding judge, Birgit Balzer, didn't think that was possible in this case, citing the date of the protest in her decision. Moayeri is expected to challenge the verdict in a higher court.

Peter Kuras is a writer and translator based in Berlin

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