“Anti-Semitism has no place in Berlin, and this also applies to artists,” complained the city’s mayor, Kai Wegner.
The Berlin film festival, Berlinale, was at the center of controversy on Sunday, accused of being a platform for anti-Semitic statements by directors during the awards ceremony on Saturday.
“Anti-Semitism has no place in Berlin and this also applies to artists”the mayor of the city complained Kai Wegner on his X account.
“What happened yesterday at the Berlinale is an unacceptable relativization,” he added, asking the organizer of the festival to be held accountable and estimating that “Hamas bears full responsibility for the deep suffering in Israel and the Gaza Strip.”
The row began with statements by filmmakers on Saturday night during the awards ceremony, who accused Israel of genocide over its bombardment of the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 30,000 people, most of them civilians.
At the same time, these directors did not mention that the Israeli operation followed the attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7 in which at least 1,160 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
American director Ben Russell took to the Berlinale stage wearing a Palestinian headscarf and accused Israel of genocide while holding a banner with the words “truce now”.
Palestinian documentary filmmaker Basel Andra, who won an award for his film “No other land” which depicts the expulsion of Palestinians by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, also accused Israel of “slaughtering” Palestinians and criticized the sale of arms by Germany in Israel.
“It’s hard for me to celebrate when tens of thousands of my countrymen are being killed and massacred by Israel in Gaza,” Andra said.
For his part, the Israeli director based in Jerusalem, Yuval Abraham, condemned from the stage of the festival the “apartheid” conditions under which the Palestinians are forced to live.
Their speeches were applauded by those present in the hall.
Helge Lindh, a member of the Social Democrats (SPD), the party of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, called it “shocking” that these statements were applauded.
“I am ashamed to see people in my country today applauding the accusations of genocide against Israel”he said speaking to Die Welt newspaper.
An executive of the Greens, who participate in the government coalition, Constantin von Notch, spoke of “shame”.
The Berlin film festival is mainly funded by the German government, which has made the fight against anti-Semitism and the defense of the state of Israel its top priorities.
In a statement to AFP, the Berlinale assessed that the directors’ statements are “personal opinions, independent” of the festival and do not “in any way” represent those of the Berlinale. However, he added that they should “be accepted” as they “respect the framework of the law”.
At the same time, the management of the festival pointed out that it “understands the indignation” caused by the statements “which were considered too discriminatory”.
Further fueling the controversy, the festival’s Instagram account, “Berlinale.panorama”, posted photos and images with the slogan “Free Palestine from the River to the Sea” and “Stop the genocide in Gaza.”
The management of the Berlinale complained that this account became the target of “cyber-hacking”.
“Comments about the conflict in the Middle East have been published which do not come from the festival and do not represent its views”he said in a statement to AFP.
“It is unacceptable for people to use a Berlinale social media account to spread anti-Semitic propaganda”he added, explaining that he deleted the posts and took legal action for this “criminal act.”
Source :Skai
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