#StopWar
The brutal war in Palestine and the war crimes associated with it must be stopped immediately! As the antimilitarist alliance „Rheinmetall Entwaffnen“, we have developed a current state of discussion as a basis for our cooperation, which we would like to make transparent. For our practice in Germany, this means in particular
– We are fighting to end arms deliveries from Germany to Israel. German arms companies earn millions in profits from the suffering of the Palestinians. For example, rocket-propelled grenades and ammunition were used in the war in Gaza, being delivered from Germany to Israel at the end of 2023.
– Our resistance is also directed against the devastating complicity of Germany with Israel’s war policy. We oppose German foreign policy, which claims to be based on values but is driven by strategic political interests. Thereby the german state militarily and politically supports and ultimately enables war crimes for the sake of power politics.
– On the streets and at events, we stand together with Palestinians, Jews and many opponents of the war against the inhumane state of war. We are committed to developing solidarity-based responses to state repression. As the alliance „Rheinmetall Entwaffnen“, we clearly stand by our fundamental understandings: Our answers to the destructive war in the capitalist and patriarchal system are international solidarity from below, feminism, anti-fascism and the fight for the preservation of the earth.
#StopArmingIsrael
As the alliance „Rheinmetall Entwaffnen“, we are primarily fighting against conditions in our own country. We are committed to stopping arms exports from Germany to Israel and take the same clear line as a building block of international solidarity, as we do in other wars. Our protests are directed against the profiteers of the war industry here on the ground, because we will not remain silent about the business of death, which always follows the same logic: Profits are raked in here as a result of a thousandfold suffering and destruction elsewhere in the world. The states in the global North react to the subsequent refugee movements with a racist policy of isolationism, from which the arms industry profits a second time.
Whether exports are approved is a political decision that follows the power interests of those in power. While a few years ago at least it was still claimed that no arms exports to war and crisis zones outside the EU and NATO would be approved, this no longer has any meaning in times of war in Ukraine and Gaza. The German government is clearly taking sides by supplying weapons, tanks and artillery ammunition to Israel, while reports of massive war crimes against Palestinians are a daily occurrence.
At the same time, the demand for an immediate stop to arms deliveries to Israel is widely supported: more than 80 NGOs are calling on the German government to take this step. Even officials from German ministries have now communicated this demand internally, while lawsuits from South Africa and Nicaragua, for example, are aiming to achieve this through legal action, addressing the war crimes and their supporters. Parts of the pro-Palestinian movement and the radical left are now increasingly protesting against the arms deliveries from Germany. The breadth of the different actors and forms of action that are coming together on this issue give us some hope – despite the plight of the civilian population in Gaza. This common approach can develop political pressure to break the German government’s line of „unconditional solidarity with Israel“.
History and the present
We reject the narrative, according to which the conflict began on an October day in 2023. This narrative justifies Israel’s brutal response and the more than 37,000 deaths, including over 13,000 children, in Gaza. The situation in Palestine was already tense long before the war. The current Gaza war is the escalation of a conflict that has existed for around 100 years and can only be explained in a colonial context. This is because the power interests of capitalist states – especially NATO – have always blocked solutions in the region. If we want to classify the war correctly, we have to talk about this context.
Settler colonialism and Zionism, which want to enforce an exclusive Jewish state against other population groups, lead to expulsion, oppression and resistance. Nevertheless, our partisanship and solidarity against the war, against the expulsion, occupation and siege and our solidarity towards those affected by the violence perpetrated by Israel makes it necessary to talk about October 7. The atrocities in Gaza must not lead to a situation in which the crimes committed by Palestinian actors such as Hamas are made invisible.
We will not remain silent about massacres, hostage-taking and imprisonment in torture prisons, attacks against the civilian population and sexualized violence against women*. We acknowledge the suffering of those affected on all sides.
Even though we are aware of the asymmetry, the unequal power and violence relations in Palestine/Israel, we believe that recognizing the reality and suffering of others is a necessary step on the way to a just peace. A peace that can only come with justice and liberation from oppression, and with an end to the occupation.
International solidarity
For us, internationalism is inextricably linked to a political struggle for liberation from oppression. We are an alliance that organizes protest and resistance against the global war regime and wants to stand on the side of the working class against the capitalist and patriachal divisions. In this sense, we stand together with all those who are affected by war and violence and who are fighting for another world.
We do not deny anyone the fundamental right to armed resistance against occupation. Inparticular not from the perspective of Germany, as we are aware that the capitalist German state uses (military) force to secure global exploitation. We are not a pacifist alliance, but are guided by common political visions and values. A good example of this is our solidarity with the Kurdish freedom movement, which cannot be separated from its armed self-defense forces.
Their political thrust with the three-part agenda of grassroots democracy, women’s liberation and ecology is tangible and is reflected in practice. For example, according to their analysis, the (imagined) homogeneity in nation states effects the expulsion and eradication of the Other. This is why the Kurdish freedom movement around the PKK explicitly aims for equality and equal rights for different ethnicities, religions and languages, instead of competition and domination of one people over another. That is groundbreaking.
In contrast, Hamas embodies religious reactionism and cannot be an ally for us in the struggle for liberation. So both the extreme right-wing Israeli government and Hamas are part of the problem, part of the system of oppression.
Since the resistance against the Israeli oppression of Palestinians is not led by a powerful left-wing organization, we need to get to know and understand different actors in practice. For us, there are both Palestinian and Israeli activists who are fighting for an end to the war, an end to the occupation and a free life without displacement through a variety of means, such as grassroots movements, feminist groups or conscientious objectors who risk prison or repression. They are our allies. They decide for themselves how and by what means they conduct their resistance. We will continue on this path with an open attitude and forge new links. In our view, the amended and expanded slogan can advance the discussion about visions: „From the river to the sea – everyone should be safe, equal and free. „1
Learning to understand each other
We want to use clear language against the war to make diverse aspects visible and understandable – and not to separate ourselves from one another. That is why we do not participate in a culture of discussion that uses the use or non-use of individual terms to marginalize or exclude people.
In the alliance, we use different terms to describe the state of suffering, oppression and war in Palestine. When some of us speak of „genocide“, for example, we explain what we mean by this in concrete terms. At the same time, we think it is of little use to measure statements solely on the basis of whether they distance themselves from Hamas in the very first paragraph. We think it is much more important to understand why terms such as „apartheid“ on the one hand or „massacre“ on the other are important to some and what meaning they ascribe to them. For some of us, the term „apartheid“, for example, aptly describes the everyday structural racist experience of Palestinians. At the same time, there are reasons why others of us understand this but do not use certain terms ourselves.
In view of the urgent need to build alliances against war and oppression, we are in favor of dialogues (even if they are exhausting) instead of closing off discussion spaces with calls for boycotts. We need movements against the warlike system, in Palestine/Israel as well as all over the world.
In Germany, a mostly secular and inclusive pro-Palestinian (solidarity) movement has established itself in many cities. In various places, joint protests against arms exports are a good starting point for cooperation against war and the military.
Anti-Semitism and racism
While Gaza is under attack and the catastrophic situation for the civilian population continues to worsen, we are noticing that attacks on Jewish people and institutions are increasing in Germany. When Jews are used as projection screens for the crimes of the Israeli government and are marked and attacked as enemies, then this is anti-semitism, which we must fight unconditionally.
At the same time, we want to emphasize that anti-semitism is first and foremost a Christian-European, and therefore also a German, phenomenon. It is widespread and anchored in all societies worldwide, especially in the German majority society, and must be combated accordingly. In this context, we resolutely oppose the racist discourse that redefines protests against the Gaza war and Israeli occupation policy as anti-semitic and at the same time seeks to absolve itself of historical guilt and the accusation of its own anti-semitism.
In the course of this discourse, anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism is intensifying in the form of stigmatization, political oppression and violent attacks on the streets as an expression of Germany’s unconditional support for Israel. We stand with those affected by this and oppose these developments.
Our demonstrations and actions should reflect all of this. Only together will we be able to lead the fight for peace and justice in Israel and Palestine.
Repression and resistance
We fundamentally criticize the hegemonic violence emanating from capitalist nation states. We criticize the Israeli state for the war against Palestinians, just as we criticize the Turkish state for the war against Kurds. We do not accept when this criticism is devalued as „anti-Semitic“, as is done by the state and many media outlets. The past months have once again shown that many Jews see the crimes and suffering in Palestine and are active against it and are resisting being instrumentalized by the german goverment and the Israeli state for the brutal war.
The ban on the Palestine Congress in Berlin in April, as well as the evictions of the university occupations and the media agitation against the protesters are well-known examples of state repression. The fact that this repression results in a broadening of the movement and not to its isolation and marginalization is a sign of strength and diversity.
This repression is state-initiated racism that takes place in the wider context of the authoritarian transformation of society. If drastic decisions on freedom of assembly, for example by the Berlin Senator of the Interior, are now being taken without outcry and enforced by the police, this is an expression of society’s ongoing shift to the right. If we do nothing to counter this progression, we need not be surprised if an AfD interior minister soon decides how we are allowed to demonstrate tomorrow. With this in mind, we also want to show solidarity against repression, even if we cannot and do not want to share everything that was said or should have been said at events prevented by the state.
Together against war and the military
As in previous years, our camp and the days of action in Kiel in September will focus on a wide range of anti-militarist issues. As in the past, the interaction and cooperation at our camp will be characterized by dealing with contradictions in a spirit of solidarity. In this sense, the resistance against the Gaza war will also find a powerful expression at the camp and on the streets – in discussion as well as in action. On the basis outlined here, we invite all those on the streets against the war and in solidarity with Palestine to actively participate in the Rheinmetall Entwaffnen Camp and the actions and demonstrations around it.
Come to the Rheinmetall Entwaffnen Camp in Kiel in September 2024!
Rheinmetall Entwaffnen, July 2024
- Here we refer to a suggestion offered by Osama Elewat in a talk to Rotem Levin, both from the palestinian-israeli peace movement „Combatans for Peace“, which took place on 24 January 2024 in Frankfurt/ Main. ↩︎