A new edition of Berlinale, with a special meaning among European film festivals, has been held in the German capital this past weekend, and after a few days, with a buzz in the networks, the festival management has issued a note saying that "the red line has crossed" and that they are "unhappy". A few hours later, the Berlin police report that they have launched an ex officio investigation. In fact, in the state city of Berlin, it is not the first time that the courts have criminalized the mere fact of saying "from sea to river"; the second part of the phrase, "free Palestine", is a crime in more places. According to the courts, these statements deny the "existence of the State of Israel."

Hong Kong filmmaker Jun Li, director of Queerpanorama. He presented his new work in the Berlinale’s Panorama section, which, while focusing on the queer world, is a film for all freedom of expression, according to the director. With that in mind, with the terrain prepared, the director Li began to read the text sent by the Iranian actor Erfan Shekarritz. In fact, the actor previously reported that he would not be in Berlinale because it is funded by German public institutions that support the Palestinian genocide.

This is what the sequence looks like, seen from an inter-public camera. Jun Li begins to read the words of Shekarriz: "At the time you were watching this film, millions of Palestinians are drowning in the clutches of the State of Israel in brutal colonialism. The German government, which guarantees the existence of Berlinale itself, in one way or another, is guaranteeing apartheid and genocide against the Palestinians in the Middle East." The audience heard the first scream: Is China a democracy? People’s screams interrupt Li’s speech for two seconds until he recovers: "I call on you Germans to continue to defend freedom of expression, in this case in the name of Palestine, which has been built by your rulers into an absolutely terrifying and fascist political climate."

"Our film is about freedom," Li continues, saying: “We will not be free until we are all free, whether queer or Palestinian.” One of the audience shouts: Or Jewish!. This person is applauded by some, but the director continues to speak: "I ask for honor for the murdered Palestinian children, their parents and relatives, in this context of an offensive not seen since 1948."

Between the applause of a few and the whistles of the majority, he concluded his speech by saying: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

See below:

Police believe that "the existence of Israel was put in the spotlight"

An investigation has been launched by the German capital’s rural police, apparently because the message read by filmmaker Jun Li breeds hatred against Israel. Simply saying "Palestine will be free" is a crime in Germany; and in the urban state of Berlin, even saying "from the river to the sea" has been punished on several occasions.

In a statement, the organization of the Berlinale film festival has sharply criticized the events, three days after the festival. "The red lines have passed," they say: "We clearly indicated to the participants where the limits were and we are very disappointed; there has been no care or respect for the public. We share people’s pain.”

Positioning of the media

The media has also moved in this direction. The German newspaper Bild, for example, has taken Israeli hatred to the headline on the Berlinale stage; and the newspaper Jüdische Allgemeine, which is widely reported in the German Jewish community, has called it the umpteenth episode of Anti-Semitism.

For this newspaper, the slogan of terror is "from the river to the sea", and on its website you can find at least half a dozen news related to the Berlinale incident. This Tuesday, which is not directly related to the topic, is significant:He points to and criticizes the newspaper Der Spiegel for a brief interview with an Indian essayist. In what appears to be an editorial, "Today is the day that German newspapers spread more messages against Israel than ever before."

Like the media, the Palestinian artist Ghayath Almadhoun, who lives in Germany, told LARA in issue 2,870 that public opinion revolves around this idea of anti-Semitism.