Buchenwald can refuse entry to people wearing Palestinian keffiyeh, German court rules
www.theguardian.com
Court in Thuringia rejected woman’s request to enter concentration camp memorial while wearing the scarf

A German court has ruled that a Nazi concentration camp memorial has the right to refuse entry to those wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf.

The higher administrative court in the eastern state of Thuringia on Wednesday rejected a request from a woman to be allowed entry to the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial while wearing a keffiyeh.

“It is unquestionable that this would endanger the sense of security of many Jews, especially at this site,” the court said.

  • Pup Biru@aussie.zoneEnglish
    43·
    7 days ago

    i think the director of the memorial has a more valid and nuanced point:

    On the question of the keffiyeh, he told the NDR broadcaster last month that it was not per se “a forbidden symbol” at the memorial.

    “However, when it is used together with other symbols … to relativise Nazi crimes, then we would ask people to remove those symbols,” he said.

    • acargitz@lemmy.ca
      13·
      7 days ago

      I am sorry but the rhetorical door to the relativisation of Nazi crimes has been opened by the various Israeli top politicians and assorted right wingers who have been repeating ad nauseam that Hamas is the new Nazis or even worse than the Nazis.

      If an Israeli top official is claiming that what Hamas is doing is WORSE than the Nazis, then, I’m very sorry but what Israel has been doing to Gaza the last couple of years is objectively worse than what Hamas is doing, and “worse” is a transitive word.

      Can’t have the cake and eat it too.

      • Pup Biru@aussie.zoneEnglish
        25·
        7 days ago

        i agree in general, but this is a holocaust memorial so the context is completely different

        • acargitz@lemmy.ca
          8·
          7 days ago

          If the director had been acting perplexed as to why the keffiyeh is relevant, and if their take was a bit more nuanced and humanizing of the Palestinians and recognizing the shared humanity, I would agree. But this specifically is about excluding this particular ethnic group from sharing in the memory of the Holocaust. Which is kind of fucked up.

          The Buchenwald memorial faced criticism last month when an internal document was leaked that described the keffiyeh as “closely associated with efforts to destroy the state of Israel”.

          • Pup Biru@aussie.zoneEnglish
            21·
            7 days ago

            but in the very next sentence he’s quoted as saying

            The director of the memorial, Jens-Christian Wagner, said subsequently that the document contained “mistakes” and would have to be reworked.

            and also, it’s not just about the keffiyeh… as the article also says

            The court found that the memorial was within its rights to deny her entry, pointing to the woman’s declared aim of “sending a political message against what she saw as the [memorial’s] one-sided support for the policies of the Israeli government”.

            if she hadn’t have been trying to make a political statement, perhaps there’d have been a different outcome

            at the very least, it’s not like a burqa where they’re not allowed to take it off, and thus couldn’t enter. she could have come in if she was willing to take the single item of clothing off… i’d expect the same treatment of someone wearing a hoodie saying “the nazis did some bad shit but have you heard what israel is doing?”: take it off or leave

            • acargitz@lemmy.ca
              4·
              6 days ago

              Yes and Wagner’s admission actually aligns with the protestor’s intent pretty well, doesn’t it?