Elham Asaad Buaras
Germany’s leading human rights organisation has raised alarm over increasing anti-Muslim racism amid escalating Middle East tensions, urging leaders and the media to avoid harmful generalisations.
The German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR) issued a 32-page report analysing the Gaza conflict’s impact on democracy and human rights. While it primarily focused on rising anti-Semitism, the report, which was released on December 9, also highlighted growing concerns over anti-Muslim incidents.
DIMR Director, Beate Rudolf, criticised the prevalence of negative stereotypes about Muslims in political discourse and media coverage following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack. She underscored the adverse effects of such narratives on fundamental rights and freedoms.
“Anyone who criticises the Israeli government is not automatically acting anti-Semitic. Anyone who advocates for a separate state for the Palestinians is not automatically a Hamas sympathiser. Generalisations only promote anti-Semitism, as well as racism against Palestinians and Muslims,” Rudolf stated during a press conference in Berlin.
The report documented 1,926 anti-Muslim racist incidents across Germany in 2023—an average of more than five cases per day and a staggering 114 per cent increase from 898 incidents in 2022.
DIMR urged robust civic engagement to combat anti-Semitism, including the expansion of awareness programmes in schools and support for initiatives tackling misinformation and conspiracy theories.
Additionally, the Institute cautioned against overgeneralizations and negative stereotypes about Muslims. It stressed that restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly should only be imposed in exceptional, legally justified circumstances.
“The bans on demonstrations described as ‘pro-Palestinian’ in the months after 7 October 2023 made it difficult for people, especially those with Palestinian heritage, to publicly express their grief for the many civilian victims in the Gaza Strip, their solidarity with the civilian population there, and their demands for an end to the war and an independent Palestinian state,” the report stated.
DIMR experts highlighted that German media and political leaders frequently overlooked the participation of Israeli Jews in some protests advocating for the rights of both sides.
“The term ‘pro-Palestinian’ used in the bans and echoed by politicians and the media promoted a blanket equation of Palestinians with anti-Semitic, pro-violence Hamas supporters. This public perception and the focus of social debates on violent demonstrations reinforced existing racism against Palestinians and individuals perceived as Arab or Muslim,” the report noted.
