“Strike Germany”: That’s what the artists call for

Middle East conflict
“Strike Germany”: This is what lies behind the organized boycott of German cultural institutions

Because of Germany’s stance in the Middle East conflict, artists from all over the world are calling for a boycott of German cultural institutions as part of “Strike Germany”. What’s behind it.

A call to boycott events at German cultural institutions is currently making the rounds on social media and the internet. Among the supports of “Strike Germany”, as the campaign is called, features international artists, including big names in the industry such as the Parisian musician Yasmine Hamdan and Netflix actress Indya Moore. The campaign recently received a lot of media attention thanks to the support of the writer and Nobel Prize winner in literature Annie Ernaux: But what is behind “Strike Germany”?

“Strike Germany” campaign criticizes Germany’s stance in the Middle East conflict

It all started with a website that appeared a few days ago under the name “strikegermany.org” and is aimed at international artists. The campaign’s representatives accuse Germany of suppressing the right to freedom of expression and solidarity with Palestine. A good thousand artists have now signed the call. It is not yet known who started the call.

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Even if the exact background is still unclear, the campaign is already having its first consequences: performances for experimental and electronic music have been canceled in the Berlin techno club Berghain. The Bosnian writer Lana Bastašić separated from the German S.-Fischer publishing house and accused it of not speaking out against Israel’s alleged “genocide” in the Gaza Strip and thus contributing to “systematic censorship” in Germany. So far there has been little to no reaction from German politicians. The office of Claudia Roth, State Minister for Culture and Media, sent the “Rheinische Post” a statement in which it said that the Green politician did not think anything of the calls and that she “assessed the situation in German culture completely differently.”

With Ernaux’s support, the strike has reached a new level of attention. The 83-year-old has for some time been accused of being close to the anti-Semitic BDS movement, which primarily opposes cooperation with Israel in trade, culture and science.

Source: NDR, “Rheinische Post”