Debatte

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    • Tag: German Staatsräson

    • Countering intimidation

      Benjamin Schütze, “Deutsche Israelpolitik: Die Truppen der Staatsräson” [German policy on Israel. The troops of raison d’état], guest commentary, taz January 20, 2026, https://taz.de/Deutsche-Israelpolitik/!6146623/.

      Benjamin Schütze experienced an attempt at censorship by the antisemitism commissioner at the University of Erlangen. The commissioner had informed the Bavarian chief public prosecutor that Schütze had used the term “genocide” in a lecture at the 35th German Orientalists’ Day. The title of his lecture was “Supporting (plausible) acts of genocide: Red lines and the failure of German Middle Eastern Studies,” and the anti-Semitism commissioner demanded that it be “adjusted.”

      Although this attempt at censorship was successfully repelled, it did not fail to have an intimidating effect. Schütze therefore takes this experience as the starting point for his article on the increasingly authoritarian anti-antisemitism in Germany and the “troops of raison d’état” who established it and continue to expand it. This anti-antisemitism, he argues, does not serve to combat antisemitism at all, but rather aims to institutionalize German support for genocide in Gaza, normalize anti-Arab racism, and defame researchers who show solidarity with Palestine. Respect for international law and freedom of science and assembly has become collateral damage of raison d’état. While the government is thus opposing the Basic Law and international law, society must now ask itself whether it wants to continue to support or submit to this decision, or whether it will fight back.

      ↗ https://taz.de/Deutsche-Israelpolitik/!6146623/

    • “Never again” must apply universally

      Schwarz, Alexander: “Scheitern in Gaza” [Failure in Gaza], südlink 213, 6-7.

      “Anyone who says ‘never again’ must mean ‘for everyone’ […],” writes Alexander Schwarz in his article. However, according to Schwarz, the German government insists on a raison d’état (Staatsräson) that is limited to unconditional solidarity with Israel. He points to the loss of credibility in view of the double standards that can be observed in the (lack of) application of international law, for example with regard to Ukraine – and the consequences for a rule-based world order and the principle of equality before the law: “Anyone who deliberately breaks with these principles places themselves outside the community of values to which they belong.” Domestically, too, the damage to the democratic framework is evident in the state repression of pro-Palestinian protests and the accompanying violation of rights guaranteed by the constitution.

      For Schwarz, “Staatsräson” must be framed by legal principles and doctrine, provided that one considers it a legitimate doctrine at all (cf. e.g. Andreas Engelmann, Über die erstaunliche Rückkehr der Staatsräson im Gewand der Moral y, Etos, August 22, 2024, for whom “[t]he concept of raison d’état […] only makes sense if it stands for interests that legitimize disregard for law and order. Otherwise, the state could simply abide by law and order.”): “It is not a question of ‘Staaträson’ or international law’, but of a ‘Staatsräson’ in conformity with international law.” Meanwhile Germany’s silence on crimes under international law and its supply of weapons to Israel damage the fundamental principles of the international legal order.

      In his article in the magazine südlink, Schwarz emphasizes the urgency of universal application of the law – “Now is the time to defend the principles of Nuremberg.”

      In this context, the repeated refusal of German courts to provide legal protection against German arms deliveries, with fatal consequences for the Palestinian civilian population, should also be pointed out; as well as the expert paper presented by Schwarz, among others, at the Federal Press Conference on October 2, 2025 “Beyond ‘Staatsräson’: How to reconcile historical responsibility, strategic interests, and international law. Expert paper for a change in Middle East policy.”

      ↗ https://www.ecchr.eu/publikation/scheitern-in-gaza