MEMORANDUM
TO: HIS EXCELLENCY THE CHANCELLOR OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, HERR OLAF SCHOLZ
FROM: BOYCOTT DIVESTMENT SANCTIONS MALAYSIA (BDS MALAYSIA)
A Call on Germany to Stop Its Complicity with Israeli Genocide
A. How Germany has been complicit and collaborating with Israel
- Germany supplied 47% of Israel’s total imports of conventional arms in 2023.
- In 2023 Germany exported arms to Israel worth $363.5 million, including military equipment and war weapons, a 10-fold increase from 2022.
- Germany’s arms exports to Israel have been worth US$101 million since August 2024 alone.
- To date in 2024, Germany has provided 30% of Israel’s weapons supply.
(Data from SIPRI and Germany’s Economic Ministry)
- Crackdown on pro-Palestine movements, protest rallies and individuals
- Violent physical suppression by German police of pro-Palestine protests and demonstrations.
- Free expression and academic freedom in Germany are being repressed. Students and university staff say that their right to free expression has come under assault from hostile media coverage, and repressive legal measures taken by universities and politicians.
- Blatant denial of the right to speak of prominent pro-Palestine individuals such as Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah and Greta Thunberg.
B. What Germany’s complicity and collaboration have enabled Israel to inflict on the people of Gaza (numbers up to 25 October 2024 from the Gaza Media Office, after 385 days of the genocide):
- 3,738 massacres committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)
- 52,885 killed by the IOF including 10,000 missing presumed dead.
- 17,210 children killed by the IOF.
- 171 infants killed.
- 786 children killed were under one year of age.
- 1,206 Palestinian families entirely erased from civil records.
- 37 deaths due to man-made famine.
- 11,742 of those killed by the IOF were women.
- 69% of victims are children and women
- 35,055 children living without one or both parents.
- 1,047 medical personnel (Ministry of Health) killed.
- 85 civil defence personnel killed.
- 177 journalists killed
- 520 bodies recovered from 7 mass graves inside hospitals which were occupied by the IOF.
- 100,544 injured and wounded individuals received by hospitals (Ministry of Health).
- 3,500 children at risk of death from malnutrition and lack of food.
- 5,280 Palestinian hostages from Gaza in Israeli captivity.
- 310 hostages from among healthcare staff (3 doctors were murdered).
- 2 million people displaced in the Gaza Strip.
- 150,000 housing units completely destroyed.
- 80,000 housing units made uninhabitable by the occupation.
- 200,000 housing units partially destroyed.
- 34 hospitals taken out of service by the IOF.
- 80 health centres taken out of service by the IOF.
- 162 healthcare institutions targeted by the IOF.
- 126 schools and universities completely destroyed.
- 339 schools and universities partially destroyed.
- 12,700 students killed by the Israeli occupation during the war.
- 785,000 students deprived of education by the Israeli occupation.
- 750 teachers and educational employees killed during the war.
- 130 scholars, academics, university professors, and researchers executed by the IOF.
- 814 mosques completely destroyed.
- 148 mosques heavily damaged, in need of restoration.
- 3 churches targeted and destroyed by the IOF.
- 85,500 tons of explosives dropped by Israel on Gaza.
- 86% of Gaza Strip destruction rate.
- 36 billion US$ estimated initial direct losses from the genocide.
C. International law and UN resolutions that Germany is ignoring
- 26 January 2024: the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rules that Israel is conducting ‘plausible genocide’ and orders it to take measures to cease and desist.
- 20 May 2024: the International Criminal Court (ICC) applies for arrest warrants for war crimes against the prime minister and the defence minister of Israel
- 10 June 2024: UN Security Council adopts Resolution 2735 which calls on Israel to implement a ceasefire immediately.
- 20 June 2024: the UN Human Rights Council issues call on all member states and corporate bodies to stop supplying Israel with weapons because of Israel’s war crimes and human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
- 30 July 2024: the ICJ declares that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal.
- 18 September 2024: the UN General Assembly adopts a resolution demanding Israel bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Germany has chosen to align itself with a state committing international crimes. This is a political decision that carries significant legal consequences on Germany and its governmental leaders.
In view of all the above, we strongly call on Germany
- to stop supplying arms to Israel
- to revise its foreign policy towards Israel to be aligned with the goals of the UN charter, international law and fundamental human rights of all parties, not just Israelis. ‘Never Again’ means ‘Never Again’ for anyone, no matter the nationality or ethnicity or creed or religion.
