Berlin’s immigration authorities are moving to deport four young foreign residents on allegations related to participation in protests against Israel’s war on Gaza, an unprecedented move that raises serious concerns over civil liberties in Germany.

The deportation orders, issued under German migration law, were made amid political pressure and over internal objections from the head of the state of Berlin’s immigration agency.

The internal strife arose because three of those targeted for deportation are citizens of European Union member states who normally enjoy freedom of movement between E.U. countries. None of the four has been convicted of any crimes.

“What we’re seeing here is straight out of the far right’s playbook,” said Alexander Gorski, a lawyer representing two of the protesters. “You can see it in the U.S. and Germany, too: Political dissent is silenced by targeting the migration status of protesters.”

  • truthfultemporarily@feddit.org
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    13 days ago

    If you search for it, its only reported by two outlets. There is not a single German newspaper reporting this, including left wing or Berlin regional ones. Searching for the names in the articles returns no results linked to Berlin or Free Palestine at all. The name of the public official also turns up nothing.

    Could be misinformation.

    • IndustryStandard@lemmy.worldOP
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      13 days ago

      Already addressed this elsewhere so pasting the same comment; It is possible the American student contacted TheIntercept first. If TheIntercept is the first source then German media will likely pick up the story soon.

      I also searched for the lawyer

      “What we’re seeing here is straight out of the far right’s playbook,” said Alexander Gorski, a lawyer representing two of the protesters. “You can see it in the U.S. and Germany, too: Political dissent is silenced by targeting the migration status of protesters.”

      Alexander Gorski is the same person who overturned Ghassan Abu-Sittah’s ban from Germany which does lend a lot of credibility unless TheIntercept is straight up making up quotes from people out of thin air.

      The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) announced in a social media post on Tuesday that it, along with lawyer Alexander Gorski and the European Legal Support Centre, had successfully challenged the travel ban imposed on Abu Sitta by Germany.

        • fantasty@programming.dev
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          12 days ago

          So will you redact now that it "could be misinformation“ or are you just gonna leave it there as alternative facts, Fox News style?

          • Kalysta@lemm.ee
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            12 days ago

            Or they can leave it alone and people with brains can realize that OP is older than the posts stating that the story is picked up by other outlets now.

            God forbid The Intercept gets a scoop.

    • shaserlark@sh.itjust.works
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      13 days ago

      At this point it’s equally likely that the mainstream media just don’t care because of their reason of state. Idk how their reporting is on other Palestine related content but in my country it’s mostly silence, I learn about what’s happening mostly from The Guardian and Al Jazeera because most media outlets simply don’t give a fuck about Palestinian life.

      • 404UsernameNotFound@lemmy.wtf
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        12 days ago

        The account in the linked article presents a completely different version of events compared to the original narrative by TheIntercept.com. According to the Tagesspiegel article, individuals armed with axes reportedly forced their way into the Free University of Berlin, where they threatened staff members and caused damage to the premises.

        • Yareckt@lemmynsfw.com
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          12 days ago

          It’s not a different version. Just a different spin on the same story. It changes nothing. Notice how the Tagesspiegel only says that some of the protesters used axes to break into a building, then threatened employees but not if they used the axes for it. It does not say they used them as arms. It also does not say if the protesters that threatened people and vandalised the building are the ones that are now about to be deported just that they also broke in. It implies it though. The wonderful thing about implications is that you can imply stuff about someone that isn’t falsifiedable. So it does not add relevant details about the four people threatened by deportation. Just spin. You are being toyed with.

          • 404UsernameNotFound@lemmy.wtf
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            11 days ago

            In Germany, breaking and entering can lead to deportation if it’s considered a serious crime and affects public safety. Authorities review each case individually based on the person’s situation and the severity of the offense(Aufenthaltsgesetz). However, none of the four have been convicted of any crimes which is odd. Overall, the case is not as The Intercept portrays it. It was not merely a peaceful protest leading to an unjust deportation, nor is it in any way comparable to the situation unfolding in the United States.