German high court rules comparing Israel to Nazi Germany is protected speech

Germany's Higher Regional Court in Zweibrücken has ruled that comparing Israel to Nazi Germany falls under protected freedom of expression. This decision overturned a lower court's conviction of a woman who had been fined for using symbols of unconstitutional organizations on her Instagram story.

The woman had posted a table comparing the actions of the Nazi regime with those of Israel, alongside images of the Israeli flag and a Nazi flag with a swastika. She also shared a post with a Star of David containing a swastika, using hashtags like #FREEPALESTINE and #GAZAUNDERATTACK. The Ludwigshafen District Court had initially fined her €2,400 for using symbols of unconstitutional organizations.

However, the appeal court found that the German criminal offense was not fulfilled in this case. The court reasoned that the symbols were used to express sharp criticism of Israel's methods and included a clear distancing from Nazi wrongdoing. The court emphasized that the law is designed to prevent the revival of unconstitutional organizations and that displaying symbols does not automatically promote them, especially when accompanied by critical commentary.

The court further ruled that the offense of incitement to hatred was not established. It clarified that German law does not automatically prohibit all comparisons with the Holocaust. The threshold for incitement is crossed only when statements explicitly deny, trivialize, or minimize the Holocaust, or otherwise disturb public peace. Harsh criticism of another state, the court stated, does not inherently meet this threshold. Consequently, the defendant was acquitted of all charges.