The news pouring out of Gaza through an unremitting barrage of videos, voice notes, UN statements, and statistics in recent days, are — Israeli genocide and Holocaust researcher Raz Segal writes — “a textbook case of genocide unfolding in front of our eyes.” Palestinians both inside and outside of Gaza have desperately tried to raise awareness of Israel’s “genocidal campaign” for days. Almost eight hundred scholars and practitioners of international law, conflict studies, and genocide studies have signed a letter warning of the possibility of a genocide in Gaza.

And yet, the German government and media landscape have stayed eerily silent on Israel’s merciless bombardment of Gaza’s populations. Germany is not just silent on Israel’s ever-growing list of war crimes, it is complicit. Under the guise of “Israel’s right to self-defense” (a concept that is in itself legally murky), German politicians from across the political spectrum and nearly all media outlets have advocated unqualified support for Israel, taking Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians for granted. Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared that Germany stands by Israel’s side, while members of the Bundestag unanimously pledged to give Israel “full solidarity and all support” without any mentions of conditions with regards to human rights or international law.

Germany’s unconditional support for Israel is engrained in its raison d’état: as the perpetrator of the Holocaust, Germany sees its role as the guarantor of Israel’s security. Wieland Hoban, chairman of Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East, views this critically: “The idea of taking responsibility for the Holocaust was intertwined with geopolitical concerns from the start. In more recent times, support for Israel — whether material or political — has been relentlessly promoted as a German obligation,” he tells Jacobin. As a result, the German government, including oppositional parties, consistently reaffirm “Israel’s right to self-defense.” A right that became especially pronounced following the October 7 attack by Hamas militants that left over fourteen hundred Israelis dead.