By: Ali Odebat

While it may be difficult to accept any country setting conditions for a ceasefire in Gaza—such as disarming Gaza or dictating who governs it—such demands might be understandable within the logic of interests and alliances. However, when these demands come from Germany, they become far more troubling and unacceptable.

How can Germany, which has yet to fully reckon with its colonial massacres in Africa, the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews, its aggression toward its European neighbors, and its supremacist belief in the Germanic race, presume to impose conditions on the Palestinian people? Does Germany now seek to atone for its past sins by enabling the slaughter of Palestinians and stripping them of their right to choose their own leadership—whoever that may be—so long as it is the will of the Palestinian people?

Despite decades of suffering under occupation and its crimes, the Palestinian people remain among the most educated and culturally vibrant nations on Earth, with exceptional capabilities across various fields. It is a shame for Germany—a country with a rich cultural legacy and pioneering technological achievements—to take political positions that violate basic human principles and appear to revive the darkest chapters of its past.

Germany must break free from the heavy burden of its Nazi legacy and seize this historic opportunity to cleanse itself of the moral stains left by that era. Now is the moment. Those committing atrocities in Gaza have surpassed even the horrors of the past in their brutality. This is Germany’s chance to stand on the side of justice and humanity, and to expose the crimes of Zionism with clarity and courage.