Der Tagesspiegel reports about a Palestinian arts and culture festival in Berlin last month that used public funds to glorify terrorists and to call Israel an “apartheid regime.”
Approximately two weeks ago on Saturday, on the penultimate day of the festival, during an event about Palestinian prisoners in Israel not only was solidarity called for with the prisoners, but their violent acts were approved. It was a big priority of the festival organizers to raise awareness of the situation of Palestinian prisoners, said Nadija Samour, a lecturer of the event. “Almost every Palestinian family has a relative in prison – we want to remind people during our event also about the struggles that they have behind bars and to continue to fight for them.”
Not even armed attacks by Palestinians against Israelis did Samour condemn – on the contrary: “I do not care why these people are in prison, I don’t ask this question,” she said. The Palestinian resistance is a “legitimate response” to the Israeli “apartheid regime” against the Arab minority population for decades: In the creation of Israel, the Palestinians have suffered “ethnic cleansing” of their country and since then suffer from “Israel racism ” every day.
Samour’s incitement against the Jewish state was not anomalous during the festival. Already a few days before Israel was defamed during a panel discussion as an “apartheid state” and “colonialist entity.” The event was moderated by Anna-Esther Younes, one of the curators of the festival. Younes described a one-sided picture of the Middle East conflict – with Israel’s government as a colonialist racist regime, and Palestinian were the only “victims.” The terror of Islamist groups such as Hamas was out of bounds for discussion.
The event was made possible by public funds. The festival was financed with EUR 100,000 by the Capital Cultural Fund and 45 000 other euro came from the division for cross-promotion by the Senate Chancellery-Cultural Affairs,
(h/t Petra)
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