The Bundesrat, the upper chamber of Germany's parliament, is pressing for a statutory ban on slogans that members say deny Israel's right to exist.
During their final session before the summer recess, the representatives approved a bill put forward by the state of Hesse. "We are introducing this bill now deliberately because the time has come to move beyond discussion and take legislative action."
According to the Bundesrat's proposal, "anyone who publicly, or at a public assembly, denies the State of Israel's right to exist or calls for its destruction" would be subject to criminal penalties. However, the offense would be punishable only where the conduct in question is capable of encouraging antisemitic acts of violence or other forms of discriminatory treatment. According to the explanatory memorandum accompanying the bill, the existing provisions of German criminal law — including those addressing incitement to hatred and the use of symbols associated with terrorist organizations — are insufficient.Antisemitic attacks in Germany rise sharply amid Gaza warTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Freedom of expression
