Watch journalists confront German government over ban on Yanis Varoufakis and Palestine Congress

The consistent intervention of the Berlin police and the subsequent dissolution of the so-called Palestine Congress in Berlin was right and necessary. We do not tolerate anti-Semitic and Islamist crimes. A crime also includes propaganda speeches for Hamas. There were numerous journalists, colleagues from established media, at this congress. None of them reported that there had been any anti-Semitic or Islamist contributions when the event was banned. Why was the Congress...why does the Federal Ministry of the Interior still say it was right to cancel this Congress and impose entry bans? I have nothing to add to what I have said so far. The Minister of the Interior says that Jews belong to the Islamist scene here in Germany. Mr Jung, I have nothing to add to the Minister's words at this point. And then another question about the definition of the Islamist scene. Up until now, this has been used for jihadists, for IS, for Hamas. But now it is actually being used for a predominantly left-wing group. So there is a group of Jewish, Palestinian and German leftists, some of them radical, some of them revolutionary leftists. But there can be no talk of Islamists, or at least that's how it looks. How does the Federal Minister of the Interior define this term Islamist scene? You can read how the term Islamist scene is defined in the report of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. These are fixed definitions and terms. So it is unclear why this is being applied here. The ban on Varoufakis and the two Abu Sittas was also extended to the fact that they are not allowed to participate via Zoom or play video messages there. There is a precedent in the Berlin Administrative Court that clearly stated that German bans on video messages cannot apply here, it was very clear. Are you not aware of this decision? I can't tell you anything about these cases either, because this is a theory that you are putting forward here, which I can neither deny nor confirm. Former finance minister Varoufakis [MERA25 Greece Secretary] was not, or rather... according to his statements, an entry ban was imposed on Varoufakis. Why is that? As I said, I cannot tell you more about the individual cases that are currently circulating here. But it is true that Mr. Varoufakis, who was not allowed to enter the country, did not want to enter from a third country. Is that right? I can only repeat myself on that too. I will not comment on Mr. Varoufakis in individual cases. But of course Mr. Hebestreiter [government official] is right that criticism of Israel or Israeli policy can also be expressed here in Germany and that there are no restrictions on freedom of expression.

Channel: DiEM25

Views: 95,787

Keywords: yanis varoufakis, politics, human rights, palestine, gaza, free speech, democracy, Europe, EU, freedom, peace

Id: vHYGTPisW0k

Length: 3min 13sec (193 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 17 2024