German Media's Role in Dehumanization During Genocide

The coverage of the genocide in Gaza in much of the German media is incomplete, one-sided, and aligned with the doctrine of Germany's ”reason of state”. Not only are violations of international law insufficiently addressed, but so is the active support and facilitation of the genocide by the German government. This inadequate coverage raises questions about the independence of media outlets. Additionally, there is often biased reporting on protests against the genocide. The protests are portrayed as sites of violence, and the demonstrators are depicted as aggressive, while police violence and repression are largely ignored.

The event will begin with an analysis of various media reports: How is the figure of the Palestinian constructed both narratively and visually as a threat and potential perpetrator? How do anti-Palestinian tropes and racism manifest in language and images in the media? How does media coverage contribute to the dehumanization of an already marginalized community? And how do German media outlets contribute to the political persecution of activists?

Speakers Overview:

• Pary El-Qalqili: Pary El-Qalqili works as a filmmaker, lecturer and curator. She is the co-founder of the Palestinian Feminist Archive Berlin.

• Hebh Jamal: Hebh Jamal is a Palestinian journalist originally from New York and co-creator of the upcoming documentary film, The Reason of State.

• Nima Akram: Nima, originally from Kurdistan, Iraq, grew up in the UK and worked as a Data Scientist. Since the start of the Gaza genocide, he has leveraged his programming and AI expertise to challenge mainstream news narratives.

• Lara Laila: Lara is a Palestinian/ German moderator and activist.

• Abir Kopty: Abir Kopty is a Palestinian journalist and writer based in Berlin. Her political analysis and reporting appeared in several media outlets including Middle East Eye, TRT, Mondoweiss, The Nation and others. She has also hosted and produced podcasts with Sowt podcasting.

• Karim Natour: Karim Natour is a German-Palestinian journalist based in Berlin, where he works as a domestic affairs editor at the German daily junge Welt. He has written extensively on German and foreign affairs for junge Welt and other international outlets.

• NewsCord: NewsCord is a news platform using AI to aggregate and compare sources, highlighting coverage differences and media bias. Our goal is to expose Western media's complicity in Israel's genocide in Gaza and their long-term oppression of Palestinians.

Event will be conducted in English.