'Germany's cancel culture vilifies, dehumanizes Palestinians'
Policemen stand at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Frankfurt am Main, on Nov. 3, 2023. (AFP Photo)


Palestine's ambassador to Germany, Laith Arafeh, criticized the country for lacking sympathy for Palestinian civilian victims of Israel's relentless attacks in the Gaza Strip.

"Our victims continue to be met with apathy," Arafeh said on Friday.

Israeli airstrikes killed more than 9,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children and hundreds of thousands are homeless due to the destruction of buildings, he said.

He also criticized a narrowing of the political debate in Germany.

"A growing cancel culture in Germany continues to vilify and dehumanize the Palestinian people," Arafeh said.

"The same cancel culture is distorting the discourse, silencing debate, threatening careers, all the while inflaming racism, bigotry, and division," he added.

"No moral, legal or humanitarian pretext can justify these crimes or the inaction that ensues. We urge everyone to reconsider and live up to the calling of humanity before history passes its verdict," said the Palestinian ambassador in Berlin.

Israel declared its plans to wipe out Hamas after the group's attacks on Oct. 7, which killed 1,400 people.

Israel subsequently launched a heavy air bombardment of the coastal strip and ramped up its ground campaign, destroying civilian infrastructure, targeting civilians and imposing an inhumane blockade that restricts the delivery of humanitarian aid into the blockaded enclave.

About 1.5 million of the approximately 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip have been internally displaced by the war, according to U.N. relief agencies.

Like other Western countries, Germany expressed full support for Israel and refrained from condemning attacks on civilians. Authorities in Germany's capital Berlin imposed a ban on the Palestinian keffiyeh scarves in schools, claiming that it could "pose a threat to peace."

The resolution, which calls for an "immediate permanent and sustainable humanitarian ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip, was approved by 120 countries.

Germany was among the 45 countries that abstained during a U.N. vote on the resolution, which calls for an "immediate permanent and sustainable humanitarian ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip. The U.S. and 13 other countries voted against it.