A Berlin court on Tuesday convicted a 22-year-old woman for chanting the controversial slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” just days after the October 7 attacks on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Tiergarten District Court handed the woman a €600 ($655) fine for “condoning a criminal act” by using the phrase at a demonstration in the Berlin neighbourhood of Neukölln on October 11.
The judge explained that the use of the slogan so soon after the October 7 attacks effectively constituted an endorsement of the atrocity and a denial of Israel’s right to exist.
The slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, where the state of Israel is located.
It has generally been interpreted by Jewish communities and others as a call for the elimination of the state of Israel. German police have sought to crack down on the use of the phrase, which Israel has described as anti-Semitic.
“It was intended to condone the massacre,” the judge added, calling the slogan an “incitement” likely to disturb the public peace.
The case came to trial after the defendant appealed against a penalty order she received on the day of the rally, which she attended along with around 60 other demonstrators.
The defendant said she was committed to fighting racism and anti-Semitism and in favour of “an end to violence.”
Her defence lawyers pleaded for an acquittal, arguing the slogan was “ambiguous” and denying its links with Hamas.
The public prosecutor had demanded a €900 fine.
