After one Berlinale event, The state criminal office is investigated by genocide against the Palestinians. The process is being examined, said a spokesman for the Berlin police. The state security is responsible for political crimes. Several media had previously reported.
The director Jun Li had read a speech by the actor Erfan Shekarriz in the educational institution Urania, who played along in his film “Queer Panorama”. It was shown on Saturday as part of the festival program, as a Berlinale spokeswoman said.
A video recording with parts of the speech was seen on social media. The speech stated that millions of Palestinians suffocated under Israel’s brutal settler colonial state.
Sharp criticism of German federal government
The German government and its cultural institutions, including the Berlinale, made their contribution to apartheid, genocide and the brutal deployment of the Palestinian people. In response from the audience, there were approving, but also significantly critical interjections.
In the article, the controversial propalestinian slogan “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” was also heard. The sentence means that there should be a free Palestine in an area from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean – where Israel is now.
The director of the Film Festival, Tricia Tuttle said that the Berlinale regretted the incident. “We pointed out our guests in advance which political statements are particularly sensitive and which may be punishable.”