We are witnessing a genocide in Gaza committed by the Israeli state and its security forces, with many Western countries complicit in the genocide through their active financial, military, and diplomatic support for Israel at this time.
There have been many protests around the world in support of Palestinians and for a permanent ceasefire, but with the resumption of hostilities by Israel, we need to take further action both to halt the slaughter and to act in solidarity with fellow creatives who have been killed and other creatives who have been victimized because of their public support for the Palestinian people or their criticism of the Israeli state.
Germany in particular is increasingly guilty in this regard.
Many creatives have had – and have – relationships with the Goethe Institute.
Please find below a letter directed at the Goethe Institute in your respective country for you to fill in the relevant details and to use as a basis for submission to the Institute, along with the signatures/support of at least five creatives and/or cultural organizations in your country.
Should you submit this letter, please let me know so that we can coordinate further responses as necessary.
In solidarity with Palestinian people, creatives, and all creatives, journalists, and truth-tellers who are being victimized at this time.
Mike van Graan
Playwright
South Africa
TEXT FOR THE LETTER
The Director of Goethe Institute
Country
Address
Dear (Name of the Director of Goethe Institute)
As creatives and cultural practitioners who have had some engagement with Goethe
Institute and/or German cultural organizations in the past, we are extremely alarmed by the
complicity of the German government in Israel’s brutal attacks on civilians and civilian
infrastructure in Gaza. This includes attacks on Gazan colleagues in the arts, their families and
their livelihoods.
Furthermore, we are deeply dismayed at the increasing number of creative colleagues around
the globe who are being victimized by German authorities and/or German cultural institutions
because of their public support for the human rights of Palestinians, or their criticism of the
impunity and brutality of the Israeli state and its security forces.
We have always respected Germany’s commitment to human rights generally and its
commitment to freedom of expression in particular, but its diplomatic, military, and financial
support for Israel when it is committing war crimes, and Germany’s suppression of
criticism of the Israelis has led many creatives in the Global South to reconsider our positions
and relationships with Germany and with its cultural institutions.
We note, among others,
1. the cancellation of the award ceremony for Palestinian writer, Adania Shibli, at the
Frankfurt Book Fair
2. the pressures on the respected Indian cultural theorist and curator Ranjit Hoskote who
was part of Documenta 16’s search committee, but resigned amidst a controversy
linked to his support for Palestinians
3. the cancellation of the fourth Photographic Biennial in Mannheim due to Facebook posts
sympathizing with Palestinians by one of the curators – the highly respected
Bangladeshi photographer, Shahidul Alam - which the organisers consider to be anti-
Semitic
4. the cancellation of the exhibition by the – Jewish – artist Candice Breitz by the
Saarlandmuseum because she expressed sympathy for the Palestinian people
5. the reconsideration of the Peter Weiss Prize for author Sharon Dodua Otoo because of
her support for the BDS position on a cultural boycott of Israel
We have also noted the silence of the German government in Israel’s deliberate targeting of
journalists and their families, medical personnel, and international aid workers in Gaza.
We understand that Germany believes itself to have a historical responsibility to the Jewish people
because of the Holocaust, but we do not at all understand why this should mean that Palestinian
women, children, youth, and civilians need to pay the price for Germany’s past crimes against
humanity, with Germany now complicit in new war crimes, this time, against the Palestinian
people. We also understand Germany’s sensitivity to anti-Semitism, but we believe that it is a
fundamental mistake to equate criticism of the Israeli state and its security forces with anti-
Semitism; on the contrary, we believe that the current brutality being committed by the Israeli
forces will lead to a rise in anti-Semitism around the world!
As creatives and as human beings with a conscience, we cannot abide by such impunity, such
inhumanity and suppression of human rights.
First, then, we ask that you convey these sentiments to your government.
But then, more specifically, to inform the position of creatives with a conscience
regarding current and future relationships with the Goethe Institute, could you please answer
the following questions – either as the representative of Goethe Institute in this country or a
public statement by Goethe Institute’s headquarters in Germany (and please could these
answers by provided soonest, but by 20 December 2023 at the latest):
1. Does the Goethe Institute – as an institution funded by the German government – have
an independent position regarding the war on Gaza, or is it obliged to abide by the
position of the German government?
2. If the Goethe Institute has an independent position, what is its position regarding
2.1 Israel’s Assault on Gaza and
2.2 the suppression of freedom of expression by creatives who are critical of the Israeli
state’s brutality towards Palestinians
3. Does the Goethe Institute support human rights and freedom of expression for ALL
people?
4. Are there limitations to freedom of expression that the Goethe Institute
supports/implements e.g. does the Goethe Institute support the right of creatives to
criticize and draw cartoons related to Islam, but do not support the right of creatives to
criticize Israel?
5. Given the cancellation of German cultural events linked to Palestinians and Palestinian
sympathizers, does the Goethe Institute scrutinize artists and potential partners now,
and/or will the Goethe Institute in future scrutinize potential partners to determine if they
have public or private sympathies towards Palestine and/or if they have criticized Israel?
6. Will the Goethe Institute continue to support projects that promote and defend freedom
of expression?
7. Will the Goethe Institute engage with partners in the respective countries in which it is
located to debate these and related issues, or are its positions non-negotiable?
We look forward to having clear positions from the Goethe Institute as soon as possible.
Yours in humanity and the assertion of human rights for all.
Names of at least 5 creative/s and/or organisation/s supporting this letter in the country
THANK YOU FOR SHARING
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