Germany and the Imperception of Palestine

This article argues that contemporary Germany’s unconditional positioning “by Israel’s side” is shaped by two main features. First, it stems from an understanding of German history as following a redemptive trajectory: Germany atones for the Shoah and safeguards the completion of its moral rehabilitation by siding with the State of Israel. This moral positioning then functions as a screen that hides from view Germany’s geopolitical and economic interests, its policing of racialized populations, and the longue durée of its racialist and colonialist violence that includes but cannot be reduced to National Socialism. Second, this positioning produces an “imperception of Palestine”: instead of being seen as political actors who could make legitimate demands, Palestinians enter contemporary Germany’s “frame of perceptibility” primarily as terrorists (who are a priori illegitimate) or victims (who deserve only humanitarian aid but have no political claims). The article concludes with a consideration of a different politics that would be based on the phrase “everyone for everyone.”