Reflexes & Reflections

The Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and Israel’s responding attack on the Gaza strip not only drive Palestinians and Israelis far apart, they also divide Germany. Hardened fronts have developed both in public and in private. Many people are silent, afraid of saying something that will be seen as wrong. Others are vociferous, particularly on social media, and demand that a stand must be taken. In recent months Jewish people have experienced a new level of physical and verbal attacks while at the same time Palestinians and Muslim people have been subject to blanket suspicion and anti-Islamic crimes are on the rise. In Germany, terrorism and war are reinforcing old prejudices and creating new ones.

In four days that focus on this topic, the Berliner Festspiele wishes to create a space for nuanced reflection without adopting reflex positions on one of what is assumed to be only two possible sides. The interdisciplinary programme is curated by the political scholar Saba-Nur Cheema and the historian and author Meron Mendel. Both of them have been engaged in Jewish-Muslim dialogue for many years, work to counter anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and paid particular attention to the effects of conflict in the Middle East on the way we live together in Germany.