The defense lawyer considers the $655 fine against a 22-year-old protester a “black day for freedom of expression”.
A German court fined a woman $655 (€600) for using the slogan – “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – during a protest last year, a decision her lawyer condemned as an attack the Liberty. speech.
Lawyer Alexander Gorski, who represented the 22-year-old woman in Berlin, said Tuesday’s ruling was “a dark day for freedom of expression.”
“My client just wanted to express her hope for a future of democratic coexistence for all people in the region,” he told the AFP news agency, adding that the woman, identified only as Ava M, would appeal the decision.
A court spokesman said the woman was found guilty of using the slogan during a demonstration in Berlin’s Neukoelln district on October 11, days after the war in Gaza began.
The court concluded that the use of the phrase “could only be understood as a denial of Israel’s right to exist and an endorsement” of the Hamas attack on October 7, the spokesman said.
As of October 11, Israel had killed 1,537 Palestinians, according to local authorities, more than the number of Israelis killed in the October 7 attack. At that time, anti-war activists were organizing protests calling for a ceasefire.
Palestinian rights advocates said “from the river to the sea” is an aspirational call for freedom and equality in historic Palestine.
Israel’s supporters argue that the slogan calls for the destruction of Israel. The phrase was banned by German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in November.
However, Israel controls the entire area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, where it imposes a system of apartheid on Palestinians, according to the main human rights groups.
Furthermore, Israeli politicians often show a map of the country that includes occupied Palestinian territory, effectively saying that Israel extends from the river to the sea.
Germany has been a staunch supporter of Israel and one of its main arms suppliers.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza killed at least 39,653 people, leveled large parts of the territory and brought its more than two million inhabitants to the brink of starvation.
Domestically, Berlin repressed Palestinian rights activism. Earlier this year, the country passed a law requiring immigrants seeking German citizenship to affirm Israel’s right to exist.
In April, German police canceled a pro-Palestinian conference in Berlin. Authorities also regularly dispersed anti-war protests in Gaza and assaulted and detained protesters.
Earlier this year, Germany banned British Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu Sittah, who worked in Gaza during the first months of the war, from entering the country.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
