On-stage criticism of Israel's bombing of Gaza at Berlin's annual film festival sparked condemnation among German politicians over the weekend.
In an awards ceremony concluding the Berlinale, Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra accepted an award for his documentary about the West Bank and called on Germany to stop sending weapons to Israel, in remarks that were met with applause and cheers from the audience.
"It is very hard for me to celebrate when there is tens of thousands of my people being slaughtered and massacred by Israel in Gaza," said Adra, whose film "No Other Land" depicts the Israeli settler displacement of Palestinians in villages in the West Bank.
During the awards ceremony on Saturday evening, several other filmmakers criticized Israel over the bombing of Gaza, which has seen more than 29,600 people killed, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority in the strip.
Jerusalem-based Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham also condemned on stage what he said was "apartheid" conditions being endured by Palestinians in Israel.
Filmmaker Ben Russell used the word "genocide" to condemn Israel's bombardment of Gaza. Several people on stage meanwhile held up a sign with the words "ceasefire now" on it.
None of the filmmakers mentioned the 240 hostages which were kidnapped from Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas and others on October 7. The Hamas attack, which killed some 1,200 people in Israel, sparked the current war.
Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to Germany, strongly criticized "the so-called 'cultural elite.'"
"Once again, the German cultural scene showcases its bias by rolling out the red carpet exclusively for artists who promote the delegitimization of Israel," he wrote on X, adding that "anti-Semitic and anti-Israel discourse was met with applause."
Several politicians also took to social media to condemn the remarks as anti-Semitic, with Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner later saying he hopes Berlinale's future management will prevent "such incidents" from ever happening again.
"What happened yesterday at the Berlinale was an unacceptable relativization. There is no place for anti-Semitism in Berlin, and that also applies to the arts," Wegner said on Sunday in a post on X.
Volker Beck of Germany's Greens and president of the German-Israeli Society condemned the applause from the audience and said the awards ceremony was "a cultural, intellectual and ethical low point" of the Berlinale.
Berlin's Culture Minister Joe Chialo, from the same conservative Christian Democrats party as Wegner, meanwhile said the awards ceremony was "characterized by self-righteous anti-Israeli propaganda."
Criticism was also heard from within the Social Democrats of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and foreign affairs committee chairman Michael Roth condemned "the drivel about genocide, the applause [and] the fact that nobody really stood up and objected."
Wegner, who himself was in the audience on Saturday night, said "the full responsibility for the deep suffering in Israel and the Gaza Strip lies with Hamas."
The Berlinale distanced itself from the statements, which did not reflect the festival's position - but also pointed out that expressions of opinion at cultural events could and should not be prevented as a matter of principle.
Unlike the filmmakers, Berlinale Managing Director Mariette Rissenbeek also addressed the situation of the Israeli hostages at the gala.
Later on Sunday evening, Berlinale management also distanced the event from an anti-Israel Instagram post on the Middle East conflict that was briefly visible on one of its accounts.
"Panorama's Instagram channel was hacked today and statements were posted about the Middle East war that do not originate from the festival and do not represent the position of the Berlinale," a festival spokesperson told dpa on Sunday evening.
"The fact that someone is misusing a Berlinale social media channel for anti-Semitic hate speech is intolerable," the spokesperson said. The posts were deleted immediately and an investigation is underway into how the incident occurred.
"And we have filed criminal charges against unknown persons. We condemn this criminal act in the strongest possible terms."
Screenshots from the account of the Panorama section of the Berlinale circulated on social media platform X on Sunday. One photo showed the slogan "Free Palestine - From the River to the Sea."
The slogan suggests that there should be a free Palestine in an area from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea - which includes the area where Israel is located.
Germany is among Israel's staunchest allies and political leaders in Berlin have repeatedly stated that Israel has a right to self defence.
German arms exports to Israel peaked in 2023 with €326.5 million ($353 million) worth of weapons, including 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons and 500,000 rounds of ammunition for firearms, being approved - ten times as much as in the previous year.
