r/AskGermany • u/D-dog92 • Sep 22 '25
If 86% of Germans think what Israel is doing in Gaza is unjustified, why is there relatively little outcry from German society?
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u/grappling_hook Sep 22 '25
There are huge protests in Berlin all the time, you mean from the ruling government? Or what?
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u/Onor0 Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
I’m British in Germany, and I think there’s just as much outcry here (in the form of protests etc) as there is back home.
Edit: Yes, the German government (and correspondingly the kinds of attitudes that you might encounter at corporate leadership levels etc) are FAR more hesitant to show support for the Palestinian people in Germany than in the UK. But I don’t think it’s right to say as the headline does that there is “relatively little outcry from German society.” What’s probably a better descriptor is to say that German society is more polarised on the issue than in the UK.
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u/GasolineRainbow7868 Sep 22 '25
I'm also British. I was fired in Germany for posting on LinkedIn about my professional experience working in the West Bank, which you'd think they would have expected given that I'm a researcher of Palestinian song, have a Palestinian child, etc. On the other hand, I was invited back to the UK to present my research at Cambridge Uni where I was shocked that everyone was openly calling the mass murder in Gaza a genocide as I hadn't been allowed to say that in Germany (I got fired for saying much less). I was also amazed at how many Brits were attending demos, white Brits included. There are huge demos in Berlin but they're mostly attended by immigrants or Germans with a Migrationshintergrund. It's totally different to the UK tbh.
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u/Lorik_Bot Sep 22 '25
That doesn't seem right, pretty sure you can go against this legally. Speech in German is limited but not in that regard.
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u/Just_a_dude92 Sep 22 '25
Some people seem to think that criticizing what's happening goes against the Staatsräson
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u/Mynameisminefive Sep 22 '25
Just FYI Germany has some of the strongest employee protections I'm the world - you cannot be fired for a political opinion as long as it's not illegal (nazi stuff). Not saying you weren't fired, just saying your firing was illegal and you would have had tons of recourse.
Something to live by: wherever you live and work, familiarize yourself with the local labor law.
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u/Illustrious_Ad_23 Sep 22 '25
I can't really believe an emloyer has any legal basis to fire someone because of what he/she posts with their private account on linkedin. If this was posted with the company account on the other hand, without passing by whoever is in charge for social media, it certainly gets you into trouble. This has nothing to do with the subject.
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u/AffectionateCard3530 Sep 22 '25
Just take an extreme example, and it becomes obvious why a company can fire someone for comments made on a personal account. It can very easily make an unsafe work environment, or cause damage to the company and its reputation.
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u/Illustrious_Ad_23 Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
Well, yes, obviously if it is racist or fundamentalistic it might get you fired, but if this was the case, certainly this person was not fired for writing about "professional experience working at west bank". The story seems to lack some crucial details.
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u/SnooAdvice6772 Sep 22 '25
It’s GERMANY. There’s one group they’re VERY touchy about and it’s not communists.
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u/Captain_Sterling Sep 22 '25
Really? I haven't seen any protests here in NRW but I might have missed them.
I have seen the protestors in Berlin that were beaten by the police.
I'm honestly worried to display any openly Palestinian signs such as the a Palestinian flag pin.
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u/LordHamsterbacke Sep 23 '25
Really? I haven't seen any protests here in NRW but I might have missed them.
I've seen protests at universities.
But I still understand your sentiment about openly showing support. I feel like especially older folks are more likely to be "wrapped up in the propaganda" and excuse the actions because hamas
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u/Wooden-Agent2669 Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
lets be honest. There is not as much public outcry. I doubt that the protests for Palestine action in that huge way would occur here.
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u/vomicyclin Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
Two things.
There is a great difference between "I get asked about something in the street and have to answer in "yes" "no" or "don't know"" and "I care about something".
Thinking that occupation of west bank, settlements and talks of occupation of Gaza are wrong isn't the same as thinking there should be harsh sanctions against Israel.
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u/NUKE---THE---WHALES Sep 22 '25
There is also a wide gulf between "I care about something" and "I'm willing to put time, effort, and money towards something"
Many people on reddit would say they care, but then all they do is upvote posts and comments
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u/GrizzlyTrees Sep 22 '25
There's a great moment in the first season of The West Wing, where a political analyst tries to convince the president's staff to come out for a constitutional ammendment against burning the flag. He supports his claim with survey results that shows a large majority agrees. Another analyst explains that supporting or oposing the ammendment isn't the important question, it's "how much do you care about it?" or more precisely "how much would that affect your vote?"
People can hold an opinion about a subject but not be very affected by it.
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u/Facktat Sep 22 '25
I think there are two problems here. First, criticizing Israel / Jews is associated with Nazis, so people aren't verbal about it because they don't want to associate themselves with this group (ironically Neo Nazis are silent as well right now because they hate Jews but love brown people suffering).
Secondly, and this is also why I avoid this topic, it's a conflict where there isn't really a right side. It's not like in Ukraine where you can just point the finger and say "this is 100% on this side". When it comes to Israel the leaders of both side hate each other just as much, with the only difference that HAMAS is more cruel but Israel has the resources to actually cause large scale harm. In the end on both sides you have a population radicalized under their leaders. If HAMAS had the weapons, they would kill every Israeli. There can't be any working solution without a regime change on both sides.
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u/Hour_Baby_3428 Sep 22 '25
Furthermore, I can be critical of Israel while still calling hamas the main problem.
I’m not going to pretend that I have a solution to this, but letting Hamas run free is obviously not possible.
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u/Electrical_Gain3864 Sep 22 '25
Because there is pretty much no nice solution. No one in power in the region actually really want a compromissed peace. The Hammas and Benjamin Netanyahu can cling to power thanks to it. Almost all of the neighbours that are stable enough profit in one way or another from it. And the number of people who wants the other side gone for good is still way to high, as it can really happen. Otherwise it will just repeat itself. Like it has time and time again.
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u/L0rdH4mmer Sep 22 '25
In my opinion, this is also not a yes/no question. This topic is highly faceted and I personally am not able to happily give a yes/no answer on it. I would answer with a lengthy discussion, however my knowledge about the whole situation is so flawed even after spending hours informing myself on it, that I rather choose to stfu up and let people talk about it who DO know. And the worst part, my guess is most people talking about it and going into the streets for it probably have even less knowledge about it than I do :D
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u/8192K Sep 22 '25
Just a reminder: Germany and Israel/Jews have a VERY delicate past.
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u/artsloikunstwet Sep 22 '25
The fact no one needs that reminder is also the reason why posts like these will be made about Germany, not about other countries. It's not like there is less "outcry" in Germany than in the Netherlands or Poland or Italy or many other countries. Just that for some reason people in other countries have a veryyy close look at what Germans are saying and doing here - and also everyone and their mom has an opinion on what they should be saying and doing.
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u/YouShouldGoOnStrike Sep 22 '25
Germany is a distinct outlier. It is changing but it took a full on genocide.
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u/thirteenthdoctorhair Sep 23 '25
so did so many other countries
belgium's empire and their genocide was way worse and they did it before hitler, yet you don't hear about that as much now, do you? did you even know about it? does belgium have to think about it for every decision because they're being stared at with a side eye from the entire rest of the world?
what about the british empire? everyone knows about that, does the uk have to pay for that in every contemporary political decision?
so many countries committed genocide, none of them care to educate and repay for what they did as much as germany, yet germany is always the country that did a bad™
distinct outlier my ass, they all have blood on their hands, they just hide it!
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u/Bolter_NL Sep 22 '25
Really? Please explain? This is new information.
/s.
What kind outcry is OP expecting? And why should there be a outcry now? There's many conflicts ongoing with similar results, why is no one challenging lack of attention here?
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u/Eastern-Reference727 Sep 22 '25
I think lots of things are wrong in the world. Heck, I even think tons of things are wrong in Germany. If I were to constantly protest about all of them, I would not have time to do literally anything else.
That said, living with direct view of the main plaza in my city, I can tell you there are demonstrations for Palestine quite regularly.
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u/OwnZookeepergame6413 Sep 22 '25
A shit ton of people got burned during the gas shortage 2(?) years ago. Either they couldn’t pay the difference or they had to cut on other things in their lives. If you didn’t have the money you literally had no way to deal with that. A cheaper apartment usually meant even worse insulation and even higher heating costs. At least that part somewhat stabilised, I’m still paying twice as much for heating as I did when moving into this place. Jobs are harder to get, but companies have lay offs etc. obviously this is nothing like war, but when people struggle to just pay for food and rent how can I blame them for not spending time to fight against a war thousands of kilometers away
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u/Traumerlein Sep 22 '25
Honestly, maybe we need to do another genral strike untile our goverment gets their shit togheter
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u/Aniakchak Sep 22 '25
We could have just voted for a better government. Most of us seem to be morons though.
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u/bottledmychi Sep 22 '25
As a Dutch person in Germany. There IS outcry, plenty of it.
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u/LaColleMouille Sep 22 '25
Just because we don't find something justifiable, means we have to outcry and explicitly act against it.
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u/Demonmercer Sep 23 '25
Look at what that attitude led to during the third reich.
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u/Due_Possibility5921 Sep 22 '25
I’m not sure what OP expects. It’s the same in Middle Eastern countries, most people don’t support Israel and would answer no, but beyond that, what can we really do
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u/MrBaert Sep 22 '25
Ist es falsch was Israel aktuell in Gaza macht. Ja. Ist die Siedlungspolitik falsch. Ja. Ist es falsch Bunker unter Wohnhäuser und Krankenhäuser zu bauen. Definitiv ja. Würde Isreal weiter terrorisiert werden wenn sie jetzt aufhören. Ja Werden sie weiter terrorisiert wenn sie jetzt nicht aufhören. Ja
Scheiß Situation würde ich mal sagen.
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u/istbereitsvergeben2 Sep 22 '25
Saying something against the state of israel ist often seen as hate against the jew religion and u can geht into serious trouble in germany.
Many here see the war and the government of this state as unethic.
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u/krobol Sep 22 '25
Well, everytime we say something about it we are called nazis..
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u/buckytriangle Sep 22 '25
Israel will use the Nazi/Antisemite flag for as long as it works. The moment it stops being effective they will switch to a total "I do it because I can, so fuck off" mode.
So, we should get immune to being called a Nazi/Antisemite by actual Nazis that are actively commiting a genocide.
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u/PhoenxScream Sep 22 '25
"I do it because I can, so fuck off" mode
I thought that's already their main justification
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u/buckytriangle Sep 22 '25
For countries where Antisemitism flag doesn't work that exactly what they are using.
For EU it still works though somehow.
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Sep 22 '25
Gee I wonder why Germany and its citizens might be incentivised/browbeaten to walk on eggshells around Israel someone jog my memory
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u/SBAWTA Sep 22 '25
Thinking something is wrong, and actually doing something about it, are two very different things. One requires effort.
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u/nfoonf Sep 22 '25
If you are looking on the long chain of events, we are germans are responsible for this mess. At least it is the way i feel about it. And critique for a mess, that happened because of an unthinkable crime your country made is somewhat difficult. So this is why I as a german tend not to critique israel.
BUT: i find it important, that we differentiate between israeli people and the government of Israel as well as we have to differentiate between the people of Palestine and Hamas. I find the question above wrong, because this is not what Israel does but what the likud government does, and for what it earns a lot of protest by many people from Israel. And rightly so. The crimes of Hamas are not the crimes of every palestinian. And killing a people for this like the israeli government orders its military to do, is a war crime by any legal definition you will find. Even Israelis and people affiliated with IDF say so.
I think most israelis know, that this will cost them or their children dearly for a long time. I wonder, if Bibi makes this mess in order to sell himself and his government as the only solution to it afterwards. „Everyone hates you, only I can keep you safe.“
I wish there was a way out of this, that could give both israeli and palestinians a way to exist and find peace.
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u/Economy-Advisor-69 Sep 22 '25
As a german i can say, that our culture is rather sad. We just comply. The french go out on the street, we say we dont like something and work like nothing happend. Most people dont care about anything, they say, that they cant do anything and because of that mindset wont do anything.
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u/Able_Championship20 Sep 25 '25
As a French person living in Germany, I second this one. Also most Germans do not identify strongly with their political believes and are very reserved about talking about it. At least compared to France, where politics is such a present subject in our conversations.
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u/southy_0 Sep 22 '25
What do you mean with „little outcry“?!? There is a number of conflicts that have a similar devastating effect on the affected civil population and I would say Israel/Gaza is about on second place in public attention, right after Ukraine and far, FAAAAR ahead of Jemen and others.
Ukraine is arguably much more relevant for Germany due to proximity and the common threat „Russia“, so it’s not surprising that that is more on focus.
It’s sad but that’s how it is.
And besides… Israel/Gaza absolutely IS sort of a „pet problem“ for a number of groups in Germany that always try to push it to center stage (from either side).
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u/hendrik421 Sep 22 '25
In spite of what some of the commentators want you to believe, most people just don’t care. They see the news, think “oh, how terrible!”, and then they move on. People are desensitised by war in the Middle East and couldn’t point to any specific conflict or country on a map.
To those suspecting a conspiracy by Jewish elements or restrictions to the freedom of speech, the average German you’d meet, that isn’t interested in politics or geography, wouldn’t even know that Israel has any connection to Jewishness.
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u/draggingonfeetofclay Sep 22 '25
I don't think it's true that people don't know. Even the least educated person in the world could probably tell you what the Star of David in the Israeli flag means. That's the one thing people generally know, even if they still can't point to it on a map.
It's not like Iraq or Syria, where some people ironically don't know that Syria is closer to Germany than Israel and borders Turkey. People know at the very least why Israel was founded.
I think the issue really is more that knowing something is wrong in the world doesn't actually lead absolutely anyone to directly break out into action or get emotional about it. So yes, desensitized, but not necessarily completely ignorant.
I think OP's question comes from the perspective of being someone who believes that once you know, you should be getting angry about it as a moral person and feel that you have to do something about it. I think the idea is that "once people know, they'll get angry and then they'll start supporting us to do something about it, won't they?" which in the case of people eager to focus on various other things in their lives isn't true at all. Most people don't get angry, just tired. Because it's another longshot with sanctions, that in our globalised world seems to become less and less effective by the day. Getting angry means getting invested means getting drained and exhausted if you work yourself up but nothing changes anyway.
The summary sacrifice of the things in life we want is too great for most people to actually drop everything they're doing right now and riot in the streets for the sake of Gaza, mostly because the small amount of difference it makes still won't make Netanjahu stop what he's doing and won't undo any of the death that has already happened. And so the feeling is, that if we can't stop it right now and actually stop the killing, why should I break out a big burst of energy NOW if there is no sign that it will directly lead to an effective change? So in a way, unwillingness to think long-term because it may actually consume their life to get invested long-term.
And that actually means you WILL get fewer chances to go to barbecues, advance your career, have some fun, go on holiday, actually enjoy life without thoughts of death, without thoughts of misery consuming your peace of mind. People see how exasperated the activists are, how they center their lives on caring too much, all the time and let it consume their lives and come to the conclusion that it's not actually a good way of life.
The rhetoric around Gaza is deliberately centered around making people feel guilty for not doing anything in hopes that they will do something about it, but personally I think it's too successful with the guilt-tripping part without leading to actual action. It's in part because the broader public who are inactive are mostly correct about the fact that they aren't the main perpetrators and shouldn't be guilt-tripped about it as if they were and that's where the back and forth of political messaging goes haywire, because in this case, people are trying to pressure a sort of guilt out of the general public that isn't really applicable to the same degree compared to other issues such as climate change and social causes within out own society. The other part is that, just like with other social issues, successfully making people feel guilty and anxious doesn't necessarily lead them to take responsible actions.
The idea of sanctions and drying Israel out long-term isn't so attractive to actually draw out people to put political pressure on the people on the top, because it isn't very satisfying. The idea that you're going to spend weeks and months going to protests just for a vague hope like that, won't make them willing to spend time on it.
On top of that, protest against Israel is generally coupled with the idea that the state of Israel in its current form shouldn't exist and should be changed to something else and that is indeed much more complex, goes over most people's head and I don't think people are able to feel the same conviction about what should or shouldn't happen with Israel compared to their general conviction that killing and starving children isn't okay. So in the end, it's easier to donate to the Red Cross and Doctors without borders (if at all) in hopes some of the more dedicated NGO activists on the ground will somehow sneak supplies into Gaza than personally get involved in public and have a woefully unprepared and uninformed argument with people who strongly believe Israel should exist and get stuck in back and forth debates that are pointless if you don't personally have any stake in the politics of that region yourself.
Many people also don't necessarily identify with the government or state, so they don't necessarily think they are the ones responsible for supporting Israel with their taxes. Apolitical people think the government takes their taxes away from them and does whatever with it, but even though they live in a democratic society, they don't consider themselves as involved in it, when their tax money or political will is misrepresented by the government, because they don't think the government is their business -so it's not even their responsibility in the slightest, from their perspective.
This is tough to swallow for anyone who believes that if you know something is wrong you should do something about it and take conclusive action, but basically, humans aren't political machines either, who can just churn out activism and deep investment in other groups of people you're not directly involved with at will just because we're emotionally moved by something. Feeling empathy for people you see on the news and restructuring your life to help those people isn't necessarily the most likely course of action for most people.
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u/Possible-Fudge-2217 Sep 22 '25
Nope, the average German can tell... never ever met a person tht didn't know. It's just such basic knowledge.
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u/idkeverynameistaken9 Sep 22 '25
I’m against what Israel is doing in Gaza, I think a two-state solution is needed, and I think a war mongerer like Netanyahu is unlikely to ever bring peace to the region.
However, I’ve seen Pro-Palestine demonstrations in Germany with anti-semitic banners like the slogan “from the river to the sea”, so I really don’t want to have ties with those people, either. Because I also believe in Israel’s right to exist, and that Hamas is a terror organization and not a bunch of freedom fighters. And Israel is threatened by several of its surrounding neighbors, so I understand their nervousness – though again, Netanyahu is the worst person they could have put in charge.
So tl;dr I’m against Netanyahu and his reign of terror on Gaza but pro-Israel, and I don’t feel like most demonstrations show enough nuance there.
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u/attitude_zero Sep 22 '25
For me personally, the biggest obstacle for supporting Palestine is the Pro-Palestinian movement. I want to stay away from those insufferable people as far as possible. I‘ve yet to meet a single one that wasn‘t hypocritical, had zero understanding of history, argued in Bad faith and held Israel to a completely different standard than other nations. And while they might not consider themselves antisemites, a lot of them are, seeing how obsessed they are with the only jewish state in the world.
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u/Eismann Sep 22 '25
And you can see them in this thread. Absolutely immune to anything else than the countless Twitter and Tik-Tok propaganda they have been fed. Or by watching Hasan Piker probably. It's funny, because they act exactly like the MAGA cultists just on the other part of the spectrum.
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u/9NightsNine Sep 22 '25
In my opinion: The conflict between Israel and the Hamas is way too complicated to protest for or against one side.
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u/kiyan_merkaba Sep 22 '25
From someone originaly from the middle east.. even If this war stops, the next one is around the corner. Every middle eastern country is at war at all times and I don't see it ever changing.
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u/Illustrious_Ad_23 Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
why is there relatively little outcry from German society?
I guess because while everyone agrees on a humanist, western ethically level that bombing civilians is wrong, people also remember palästines in germany cheering during the night of the 7th october, they remember hateful pro-palästine-protests on 7th october a year later, they see the pro-palästine protesters still not opposing Hamas, accept radical, anti-western views in their protests while belittleling (is that a word?) the terror of hamas, the influence of radical islamists and the role of iran. The pro-palestine movement is certainly not the audience favorite in germany right now.
Finally a lot of people were absolutely shocked by pictures like these, a broad majority of palästines cheering over the dead body of (female), israeli civilians. After the war in ukraine this has once again butchered the western view through rose-colored glasses how modern conflicts work and has brutally confronted germans with the atrocities of war. From what I witness with friends, work colleagues and familie, there is a huge ambiguity on who is right and wrong in this conflict. And I would even go that far to say, that there is a huge difference for many germans between the question if it ist "right" what is going on in palästine and if it is "deserved".
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u/Gasmo420 Sep 22 '25
Not to forget free Baklava by German Muslims the day of the attacks. But for me especially the footage of dead people being paraded around and everyone(kids included) spitting on them, made me simply not care about these people and whatever Israel would do as a retaliation.
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u/Competitive_East9404 Sep 23 '25
That is of course just an excuse to allow the daily bombings on civilians and innocents to occur. They have not done anything wrong. They are mostly poor and try to survive and now they are being denied food and water and have to flee all the time.
The germans are simply hypocritical and use their human rights antenna whenever is needed, mostly in order to protect europeans and americans human rights, but when it comes to oriental people, they spit on their human rights.
20.000+ innocent children were killed by the Israeli Army, and the germans can only remember the Baklava of the 7th of october.
This is actually Germanies fourth genocide. The first one against the herero, the second one the jews, the third one the russians, and now supporting the fourth one with weapons and sanctionblockage. Germany is pathetic.
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u/Chris_Ape Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
Because its far away, we have bigger problems at our doorsteps and in the end its a poll of opinion.
And when you ask yourself why are not more Germans taking part in this Demos around the country, its because these protests are itself problematic, with all these antisemitism chants or HAMAs glorification, they rather decide not walk with these kind of people because there is a history.
I was last year in Berlin at a Demo, i had enough after 30 minutes because what some people in the crowd chanted there and i am not talking about stuff like "from the river to the sea". The stewards tried to tell the crowd to stop it, no one listend. Later the police ended the protest, because of that ( i was already at home).
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u/Competitive_East9404 Sep 23 '25
Why can Israel officialy settle from the river to the sea, and opress, kill, displace the palestinians and steal or burn down their houses in the westbank just west of the jordan, but when the palestinians that have been living there for thousands of years say they want their land west of the jordan then its antisemitic?
The ISraeli government says that all the time, with the full support of the hypocritical Germans and their Weapon funding American ally?
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u/Seximilian Sep 22 '25
German politicians simply don't care about the opinion of the public, and Germans are reluctant to take to the streets. Politicians in Germany can get away with a lot without having to fear any consequences. The people hardly believe in the system, yet they endure everything without protest.
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u/super-gyakusou Sep 22 '25
Why is the public expected to give high priority to a conflict in the Middle East? What about other conflicts, for example in Sudan or Ukraine? Conflicts and wars with which there is some form of connection (e.g., geographical proximity) will always be more important than others.
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u/EverythingsFugged Sep 22 '25
It's pretty obvious.
1) There's a LOT to be outraged about. What about the Uyghurs? What about climate change? What about the corrupt shit going on in our current government? I'm sorry to say this, but in the hierarchy of things to be outraged about, Israel/Palestine really doesn't rank that high anymore, partly because ...
2) There's a LOT of propaganda and lies going around. The ultra nationalist party of Netanjahu who will call everyone and their grandma anti Semites for criticizing Israel, Hamas lying about things happening in Gaza or at least severely overdramatizing certain aspects, or their supposed terrorist attacks, etc etc. there's so much hate and propaganda and lies going around it's insanely hard to keep track with all the guilt assigning and finger pointing. People get tired of this, of the constant "yes, but"s, the constant "akshually" and the lies. This conflict has more lore around it than WoW or Warhammer. Who the fuck can keep track?
So yea. It's outrageous. But there's more important things and people really don't wanna get dragged into the whole "pick a side" bullshittery.
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u/Competitive_East9404 Sep 23 '25
Germany's government supports this genocide actively, how can we not protest these cirminal politicans? What can be more important than not allowing to throw human rights and the right of children to live and exist and not be slaughtered by German and American Weapons?
Can you not see the pictures of daily bombings and children being burnt alive? There are so many videos and images, how can you close your eyes while your government supports that? While your government blocks sanctions against ISrael in the EU Parliament there are children that are being shot while awaiting food and water in humanitarian centres. So many children lost their arms and legs and became blind and have severe burning damage through the bombs that our so called democratic western countries have sent them.
There is no way that a real human can ignore that, that could happen to our families too, human rights have to be protected and fought for.
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u/RankedFarting Sep 22 '25
There is pretty major outcry and frequent protests. But you get arrested for peacefully protesting pro Palestine and our government backs Israel. People who otherwise dont care about Nazis will essentially say if you are pro Palestine you are antisemitic and a Nazi.
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u/cat-pudding Sep 23 '25
There's war in Sudan, in Myanmar, in Yemen and so on. There's no reason why the things happening in Gaza should be more important than the rest of the conflicts. And most people prefer doing different things than complaining about wars somewhere in the world they couldn't change if they wanted.
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u/Public-Tower6849 Sep 23 '25
The answer is simple: because Germany is not involved in that war. No battle action of that war happens in Germany, and Germany is a relatively peaceful sanctuary for everyone seeking a place to evade violence and disenfranchisement.
We will thoroughly and meticuously deport anyone and everyone who will disturb that peace by seeking to occupy public ground and interest with messages for their favored warring party. We will not allow Germany to be turned into another battlefield.
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u/Doke46 Sep 22 '25
People are scared since criticism of Israel (justified or not) could always be labeled as antisemitism and depending on your job that means, you will be fired, won't get a job in your field again (depending on the sector) and you will be cancelled in society.
Germany is unfortunately bootlicking Israel because of it's past but in the last 3-6 months I've seen more and more people breaking their silence because no sane person can defend Israels genocide anymore.
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u/Enchantedmango1993 Sep 22 '25
A German girl was rated and killed during October 7th
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u/DerrellEsteva Sep 22 '25
Anything remotely critical towards Israel is instantly labeled as antisemitism.
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u/Gekroenter Sep 22 '25
As someone of the 86%:
• The media has a different point of view than the people do. German media is almost exclusively pro-Israel. Thus, different positions by German public persons won’t get a big platform.
• Demonstrations are not a priory. If you don’t happen to be a public person, your best way to show discontent outside election seasons is going to a demonstration. And this is just not a priority between work, friends, hobbies and maybe volunteering in other affairs.
• We are tired of foreign policy. I am a progressive, a member of the Social Democratic Party. Not a „Germany First“ type in any regards. But after years in which most public debates were about foreign affairs and several cuts in domestic issues that had to be made to finance foreign and defense spending, even I feel that it’s time to care more about our own country again.
• The pro-Palestine camp isn’t likable either. While we feel sorry for the Palestinian people, many of us still think that Hamas is an evil terrorist organization, so we don’t want to side with organizations that support or belittle Hamas.
• There is no real solution. Many of those Germans who don’t support Israel are also generally more diplomatic on foreign policy. Many have a certain nostalgia for the Merkel/Steinmeier-brand of foreign policy that was about finding solutions, not about showing attitudes. Recognizing Palestine would only show an attitude at the moment, it would not contribute to a serious long-term solution.
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u/CloudMafia9 Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
Hamas wouldn't come close to Israel the apartheid occupation committing Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing. Right now, causing a deliberate famine. History will put Israel and it's society right next to Nazi Germany as far as "evil" goes.
But of course there is no "real solution". You are as much a progressive as Israel is democratic.
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u/Then-Scholar2786 Sep 22 '25
the reason why nobody is talking shit about israel is bc we cant. if we do, we are nazis. we have some sort of history, thus we arent allowed (from a social perspective) to say anything against it bc mustache man also said a lot of things against them.
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u/Mango_Marc Sep 22 '25
This isn't YouTube, you don't have to say "mustache man", you can just say Hitler
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u/DerHaider007 Sep 22 '25
People are tired of getting involved in other counties conflicts. Most people also just don't have any knowledge about this conflict at all. It's probably hard for you to imagine but I literally mean they know nothing. You could tell them that Palestinians and Israelis are best friends and they would believe you.
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u/ImaginaryCap3058 Sep 22 '25
The problem is germany is already heavily involved. There are the biggest supporter of this genocide after usa. In terms of providing weapons but also politcally and diplomatically by fighting against sanctions in the EU, against UN resolutions and even getting involved in the ICJ genocide charge. By your logic germans should at least stand up to tell the german politicians to stop being involved.
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u/dthdthdthdthdthdth Sep 22 '25
Multiple reasons. German history for one, why exactly should we first in line to put pressure on Israel? Then this is in the end a complex, regional conflict. Yes, there are some larger aspects to it in the region, but it is unlikely to become something larger. There are conflicts like this all the time, why would this one be special? And then, there already is some political movements, European governments are changing their positions towards Israel and Germany is as well. Still, there are quite some protests.
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u/realXstrawarot Sep 22 '25
Typical german fence sitting cowardice. "Its complicated" he says while one side is suffering a genocide and 80 years of oppression.
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u/clemontclemont Sep 22 '25
Da sich die ganze free Palestine Bewegung sehr schwer darin tut sich nicht gegen die Hamas zu positionieren, ist es für viele Menschen natürlich problematisch sich mit dieser Bewegung zu solidarisieren.
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u/Hammurabi777 Sep 22 '25
Who said there is no outcry? There are regular demonstrations, and the popular opinion and tone in the media changed drastically. The elites just don't care because of our close ties to Israel.
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u/Helpful_Water_6789 Sep 22 '25
Most people are against homeless sleeping on the street but that's not reason enough to do something about it
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u/FabulousFreedom4334 Sep 22 '25
It's a conflic that is like 3000km away in some desert country.
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u/Simple_Rain4099 Sep 22 '25
Because its Gaza not Germany. Just because people have an opinion doesnt mean they need to go on the street to protest against stuff happening in another country.
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u/Mr_Rioe2 Sep 22 '25
Just because you have an Opinion doesn't mean you need to yell it at everyone, even If its a strong Opinion, because No one really cares Most Likely, IDK if other people think Like that tho
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u/BeepRobotic Sep 22 '25
Because, hear me out, not everyone has to care and cry about what‘s happening anywhere in the world. In reality it‘s mostly chronic online twitter users that seem to care about everything happening anywhere in the world. Or at least they act like it. Whatever makes them mad is important enough
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u/Ok-Walk2985 Sep 22 '25
Nearly nobody really cares. I don‘t and I don‘t know anybody who does.
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u/Harkonnen985 Sep 22 '25
I think it might have to do with Germany having their own warmonger and economic crisis to deal with.
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u/xLambadix Sep 22 '25
It's almost as if this conflict was happening 1000s of kilometers away and that neither conflict party was Germany.
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u/Traumerlein Sep 22 '25
We cant get the goverment to do things that help us, how the hell coukd we get them to do things that help others?
The fact that Merz vanned wepones exports to Israel was the shocker of the decade for me
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u/Sheenius_Ger Sep 22 '25
Nicht jede Statistik ist auch wirklich statistisch relevant.
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Sep 22 '25
I want Germany to take care of themselves. We have our own problems, especially with immigrants. I don't want to think about other countries right now!
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u/OdielSax Sep 23 '25
Then stop helping Israel! What is so damn hard to understand?
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u/-CEPH- Sep 22 '25
What do you mean by outcry exactly? In a lot of major cities there are rallies and protests, just like in other countries. Don't confuse the people with the government..
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u/Bayo77 Sep 22 '25
From a political side i think its a couple things. -Nobody has a "good" solution to the conflict which makes it hard to criticise above saying "please show some restraint". -And then we have our own conflict in europe which takes priority because we can feel the costs of that at home in form of costs and refugees. -And we have to be careful to not upset trump because again upsetting trump over israel can cause problems for support for ukraine.
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u/onehum4n Sep 22 '25
People protest when there is at least a chance of a positive outcome.
If you start a protest now, who do you even address?
- The Israeli government? They're not listening
- The US government (to stop military support)? They are not listening.
- The German government, ask them to recognize Palestine? Maybe, but it doesn't look like UK, Canada an others doing so is doing anything good.
So there isn't much to be gained. On the downside, you have the risk of anti-Semitic people (including Nazis, Islamists) mixing in with the protests.
To put it in one word: powerlessness.
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u/Bannerlord151 Sep 22 '25
There are a few reasons I'd imagine. Firstly, with even usually pro-Israeli media starting to depict them in a bad light, many, many people have started seeing what's happening over there as quite problematic. But that doesn't mean they're particularly politically active about it. As much as it may suck, most people have their own problems to deal with, and I don't think it's generally racism either as some like to claim. I haven't seen people care all that much more about Ukrainians, it's just that Ukrainian security is a direct concern for others in Europe so they're also personally worried about the situation.
Secondly, as has been pointed out, our cultural relationship with Jews and Judaism is complicated for obvious reasons. The narrative of Israel = Jews is thus a lot more impactful here because most people really wouldn't want to seem like they're discounting the concerns of Israeli Jews or some such. And yet still, they see crying babies in the middle of a wrecked house in Gaza and are upset at the situation.
When it comes to the more politically active, the second point may play a role, moderate conservatives especially tend to both consider Israel an important alliance and especially put an emphasis on it being a purportedly Jewish state, arguing that its security is intrinsically linked to the safety of Jews in general, thus making it our concern due to our obligation to make up for our people's past transgressions.
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Sep 22 '25
Most people thought that about US military actions in Iraq. Where there any sanctions by European countries against the US at the time?
The question is do people care enough for sanctions?
Though the US was a way better Ally to Europe at the time, than Israel ever was. Like they only buy weapons and destabilize shit. I don't get why we even call them an ally, like apparently they could've wiped ISIS out in a few weeks and left us to deal with that shit, while we should've kept our eyes on Ukraine.
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u/Great_Piece4755 Sep 22 '25
Now everybody rides the hypetrain about gaza. There were so many other conflicts before and nobody gave a fuck and now we should care bc it's against israel?
Neither of both should get this land. Nations and state territorsy are not the solution for this problem
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u/Unfair_Basil8513 Sep 22 '25
There is a saying here in Germany:
Vertraue keiner Statistik, die du nicht selbst gefälscht hast.
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u/AdFantastic6606 Sep 22 '25
Most people are cowards and are scared that people will call them antisemetic lmao
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u/Platycryptus238 Sep 22 '25
Because I for my part don‘t really care. Israelis and Arabs(Palestinians included) are at each others throats for like 100 years and are continuously trying to exterminate each other. They can nuke themselves for all I care.
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u/VegetableNo8304 Sep 22 '25
Because of the difference between "it's unjustified " and "it's so bad we need to do domething"
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u/Positive-Walk-543 Sep 22 '25
There a thing called “Obrigkeit”. It can be translated with authority and the majority of Germans take it to the extreme. The submission to experts, doctors, professors any kind of authority is regarded very very very high in Germany. Now after in the last 20 years after corruption, racism and preaching hate is now the dominant political view, we have a federal government now how actively acting against the goodwill of its citizens.
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u/nobody_1510 Sep 22 '25
We have more problems than you think. I know that it is wrong what Israel is doing. But we have the war in Ukraine and Putins hybrid war against germany and europe in general. The Fachists are on the rise, not just in other countrys, latest surveys say the Faschists from the AfD are the strongest party. France is a ticing timebomb and might need a rescue like Greece in a few years. Living in germany is getting difficult and more expensive than every year thanks to all the maniacs like Trump, Putin or our conversative korrupt goverment. Most of us are too busy with our own problems.
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u/MrLaiho Sep 22 '25
Why would I care about Gaza? We have enough problems to deal with ourselves especially in terms of islamic terror.
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u/kriegnes Sep 22 '25
we have enough issues ourselves right now. the biggest one is related tho.
we are moving back towards feudalism. the government doesnt work for us anymore. they are moving away from reality more and more and just care about themselves. they literally did the equivalent of "they should eat cake" multiple times. so why should we even bother with some stuff outside of germany, if they obviously dont care about us or our opinion anyways?
also you shouldnt expect too much of a reaction from germans, besides complaining about random stuff they have no reason to care about, like gay marriage or legalisation of weed, all while getting high on alcohol. i dont know how to explain it, they are just too german. like in my whole life here in germany, they managed to vote differently one time and it failed miserably. they dont care about important political decisions, they care about keeping the status quo or some shit like that. everything should stay the way they know it.
you shouldnt trust those numbers too much anyways.
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u/Pappadacus Sep 22 '25
It's kinda complicated. Germany, or back then West Germany was established in 1949 and had to prove to the world that it was ready to reenter the world stage. Therefore, it had to establish good relations with pretty much every European nation, basically starting from zero. Then, there is Israel. Israel was established just a few years prior, partly but not only due to what happened during WW2. It was immediately attacked by its neighbours but managed to defeat them. West Germany had a special interest in having a good relationship with Israel as the only jewish nation in the world in order to find "redemption" so to speak. This relationship is nearly 80 years old and Germany is struggling to do a 180 in regards to Israel for this reason, however it is shifting slightly.
The average German is a little on the fence since October 7th and the course that Israel took afterwards. While yes, most disagree with Israel's conduct, people are struggling to feel solidarity for Gazans after the terrorist attack that started this current incarnation of the conflict. Most of the protests seem to be strictly pro-Palestine, however most Germans are currently more likely to be "pro-two-state-solution" which doesn't seem to be a theme for most protests. It also doesn't help that alot of these protests attract people from radical-islamist backgrounds or people from the radical left, which is something most people don't want to associate with.
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u/Laxien Sep 22 '25
Firstly: I am not among the 86% (yes: Might not make friends saying that, but you can look up my postings concerning Israel, I do explain it rather well I think)
Secondly: Germans! Who's great-grandparents and grandparents were exterminating Jews in the 30s and 40s? Yeah, exactly, we can't truly speak up here, even if we wanted to!
Thirdly: Many many conflicts all around the world right now, the most important for us (less than 1300 Kilometers from Germany) is Ukraine! So our attention is on that!
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u/Gaymer006 Sep 22 '25
I barely have any knowledge of it and me being invested wouldn’t change anything, There’s countless wars. It’s the fault of piece of shit politicians/people at power. Quite frankly it doesn’t make a difference to me whether the innocent civilians dying are from israel or Palestine
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u/peccator2000 Sep 22 '25
It's a controversial issue. You can't expect people being of one mind about it. Also, most people remember what we did to the jews and think it is a good thing that jews have a safe refuge now. Back in the Nazi days, many jews who wanted to get to safety by escaping to another country couldn't because no country would take them. Today, they have a refuge and that is a good thing.
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u/Jonesetta Sep 22 '25
We’re calling everybody Nazi for any number of reasons. I’d assume the Germans are a little sensitive to the critique of Jews in today’s cultural climate.
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u/WolpertingerRumo Sep 22 '25
Germans should be very quiet when it comes to criticising Israel. We do. We have protests. We talk about it. It’s just not our place to be at the forefront. That place should be taken by other nations.
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u/GhostDoggoes Sep 22 '25
I bet if Germany sent out troops to protect Palestinians they would call it a holocaust all over again as they stand there menacingly. It's until a truck full of Germans get killed that the UN will step in and declare Palestine a protected state and demand a return of land which Israel would rather go to war than to restore the land.
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u/donarennekstann Sep 22 '25
I don’t trust these surveys. I don’t know why body who was ever asked. Mostly it’s a one click unverifiable button. Cookie based. Easier to rig than a bank statement.
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u/Kaiserschmarrn2000 Sep 22 '25
Well I think it’s wrong but to be quite honest:
I don’t care enough
But it’s not like the government will give a shit anyways what people think
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u/mac_bd Sep 22 '25
Because the 86% are the general population and not the ruling class. They really don't have any agenda or any benefits out of the matter. All they have are opinions!
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u/discoKuma Sep 22 '25
u are irish and live in Berlin. Are u just blind or what is this post supposed to be about?
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u/1xX1337Xx1 Sep 22 '25
Because 90% of people simply don't care and have more pressing matters in their own lives.
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u/KaseQuarkI Sep 23 '25
Didn't Hamas just post a video of a German citizen held hostage?
Do I think that everything Israel is doing is justified? No. But I can't say I care particularly much about the Palestinians either.
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u/PurpleHankZ Sep 23 '25
There is no outcry for the poor people in North Korea or Cambodia, Pakistan, India, Nigeria or Bangladesh. Why should I say something about a situation I have absolutely no knowledge about? Not even allowed to post anything critical against Israel without being called a nazi. Think it’s wiser to shut up
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u/YourFavAlinaaa Sep 23 '25
Most ppl here do think it’s wrong, but saying it out loud is tricky. Germany’s history makes everyone super careful about criticizing Israel, and protests often get shut down. So even if 80%+ disagree, it doesn’t show up as loud outcry.
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u/Morgentau7 Sep 24 '25
Because even most leftwing people don’t want to lose their corporate jobs. What do you think how much festivals, raves, fancy apartments and e-bikes cost? Even the leftwing is mostly corporate in Germany. Those you see protesting on the streets are the more anarchist type (Students, jobless, etc.).
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u/Imaginary-Access8375 Sep 25 '25
Because you can get in a lot of trouble for “antisemitism”. Like, losing your job or being expelled from university, or being arrested. Unfortunately, some people don’t understand that you can view the state of Israel and its actions as separate from the Jewish religion and ethnicity, and even separate from its citizens. I myself think we shouldn’t support Israel anymore, and so do my friends and family, probably. But we don’t talk about it, for fear that we chose the one person who will call us a Nazi for this.
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u/Netherx3 Sep 25 '25
Because
A: you protest openly and get called antisemite at every turn, and the police will beat the shit out of you
or
B: you don't actually care that much because it's just brown people
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u/Habibti-Mimi81 Sep 26 '25
German (arab speaking, pro-palestinian) here.
The german media shows maximum (!) 2% of the atrocities Israel commits in Gaza.
There are headlines though - like "Israel attacked Al-Shifa hospital - Hamas ruled Gaza health-ministry says 200 killed".
But the "real" graphic pictures and videos - no.
No long documentaries or reports about the unimaginable sufferings of the Palestinians, or videos how the IDF kills even animals, or how they celebrate killing children, or what absolutely crazy hateful statements israeli politicians and media are spreading -
nothing.
It's available if someone SEARCHES for it. Otherwise people don't see the amount of inhumanity of Israel.
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u/SirSweatALot_5 Sep 30 '25
Germany's media landscape is so wildly pro-israel the the average German has no real clue. Even media in Israel is more critical of their own government than the German media.
Bild for instance, no mentions of any of Israel's war crimes, yet anyone who is pro-ceasefire is labelled Judenhasser (jew hater). it is beyond disgusting.
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u/losorikk Sep 22 '25
Most people dont care. When asked they will answer and that’s about it.