Last week, Berlin-based lawyers filed an “urgent appeal” on behalf of Palestinians against the German government in a German court, according to a statement by the European Legal Support Center, a nonprofit aligned with the Palestinian solidarity movement.
The suit alleges that German “weapons are being used to commit grave violations of international law, such as the crime of genocide and war crimes.” The plaintiffs are calling on the courts to order a halt to these deliveries.
The case goes hand-in-hand with criminal charges filed on behalf of Palestinians in February, which specifically targeted high-ranking members of the German government, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, and Economy Minister Robert Habeck, whose cabinet portfolios are most responsible for approving weapons export licenses.
Other countries, such as Canada and the Netherlands, have taken steps to review their military support for Israel.
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The case goes hand-in-hand with criminal charges filed on behalf of Palestinians in February, which specifically targeted high-ranking members of the German government, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, and Economy Minister Robert Habeck, whose cabinet portfolios are most responsible for approving weapons export licenses.
Forensis is aligned with those filing the suit, but its report is based on open-source data from the German government and other public sources, such as SIPRI, a conflict research institute.
Naval vessels, armored vehicles, explosive ordnance, and tank and aircraft parts are among some of the equipment Germany approved for Israel over the two-decade period, the kinds of “war weapons” that the latest suit goes after.
“The picture presented by Nicaragua is at best inaccurate; and at worst, it is a deliberate misrepresentation of the actual situation,” Christian Tams, a professor of international law at the University of Glasgow, told the panel of ICJ judges on Tuesday.
Ahead of the ICJ case, several hundred civil servants allegedly submitted an anonymous letter of protest, according to reports in left-wing domestic media that followed one in Al Jazeera English.
No further details were provided, other than a reiteration of the German government’s rejection of accusations that its support for Israel violates either national or international law.
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