Israel accused of genocide, audience applauds

The evening of the Berlinale awards ceremony is likely to have political consequences. Several award winners have clearly criticized Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip, sometimes describing them as genocide. There was a lot of support for this in the room on Saturday, but the moderator was noticeably reserved. The first federal politicians are now calling for consequences.

The Berlinale is considered the most political of the major film festivals. At the awards ceremony at Potsdamer Platz, several people on stage carried a note that read “Ceasefire Now.”

Filmmaker Adra: Tens of thousands are being “slaughtered” in Gaza

Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra called on Germany to stop supplying weapons to Israel. Adra made the documentary “No Other Land” with three other filmmakers and won the documentary film award for it. The film is about the displacement of Palestinians in the villages of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron in the West Bank.

It was difficult for him to celebrate the award while “tens of thousands of people were being slaughtered in Gaza,” Adra said. There was then cheering in the hall, and there was also applause on stage.

During its premiere at the 74th Berlinale, the Palestinian-Israeli filmmaking collective of “No Other Land” took a stand against the directorate’s stance on the Middle East conflict and described Israel as an apartheid state. This was reported by the German Press Agency. The film was shot in October 2023 and the Hamas massacre against Israel is only mentioned in passing.

On October 7th, the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas attacked the state of Israel. Hamas terrorists murdered more than 1,200 people, raped women, killed infants and kidnapped 250 hostages. The Israeli government responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has risen to over 29,600 since the start of the war.

Green MP von Notz: “Simply disgusting”

The appearance of director Ben Russell, who, like others, appeared at the awards ceremony wearing a keffiyeh (known as a Palestinian scarf), was particularly criticized. In his acceptance speech, the award winner said on stage: “And of course we also stand for life here and we stand against genocide and for a ceasefire in solidarity with all our comrades.” There were also cheers and applause in the audience.

Criticism now comes from, among others, Green Party member of the Bundestag Konstantin von Notz. “It is simply disgusting and a perfidious perpetrator-victim reversal,” the domestic politician wrote on Platform X. “Such appearances are unbearable.”

The deputy chairman of the cultural committee in the Bundestag, Marco Wanderwitz (CDU), also wrote on Germany cannot be accepted. “That does not work like this; It has nothing to do with artistic freedom.”

Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) also criticized the statements made by some award winners on Sunday afternoon. “What happened yesterday at the Berlinale was an intolerable relativization,” wrote Wegner on X. “Anti-Semitism has no place in Berlin, and that also applies to the art scene. I expect the new management of the Berlinale to ensure that such incidents do not happen again.” Wegner wrote about the war in the Middle East: “The full responsibility for the deep suffering in Israel and the Gaza Strip lies with Hamas.”

The Berlinale’s leading duo described the film festival in mid-January as a platform for peaceful dialogue regarding the Middle East conflict. Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian emphasized that their condolences go out to all victims of the crises in the Middle East and beyond. “We want everyone’s suffering to be noticed and our program to open up different perspectives on the complexity of the world.”

On Saturday evening, Rissenbeek called on the terrorist organization to release the remaining hostages. The Israeli government asked them to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population and enable early peace. (with dpa)

Note: We have subsequently added the statement from Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner.