Luisa Neubauer on Gaza: The German government should stop sending weapons to Israel

Climate activist Luisa Neubauer delivered a highly critical speech about Israel's war in Gaza and the role of the German federal government. She spoke as part of the German Anti-Discrimination Days 2025. The two-day event at the Berlin House of World Cultures is themed "Summit of Diversity," and many renowned speakers and panelists are gathering there.

Neubauer says she finds it difficult to talk about a positive future in light of international law. This is due to Gaza and "what has been happening right now, right before our eyes, for far too long." Luisa Neubauer, the face and main organizer of the German Fridays for Future movement, thinks of the hundreds of thousands who are starving in Gaza today, "where there is no more bread or drinking water, where every second child suffers from malnutrition. Right now."

She was probably not the only one who had read the countless reports: "The analyses, the endless legal opinions that document for the world, for all to see, what inexcusable and intolerable crimes are and have been committed there by the Israeli government in violation of international law."

Many internationally are sharply criticizing Israel's actions: UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher recently warned of a "genocide" in Gaza. The focus is on plans for a possible forced resettlement of the starving population and Israel's blockade of humanitarian supplies and food for Gaza. "What more evidence do you need now?" Fletcher asked in New York. " International law prohibits depriving people of what they need to survive," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk also explained. The obligation to protect the civilian population and civilian objects also applies during attacks.

"... because hearts stop beating in Gaza"

Meanwhile, 60 years of diplomatic relations with Israel are being celebrated in Berlin. And it's right that Hamas hostages are being discussed in this context, says German climate activist and publicist Neubauer, but: "Where is the German government that defends international law when Netanyahu tramples on it? Where is the German government that uses every diplomatic power to fight for humanitarian aid and an end to the displacement? I ask myself, where is the German government that stops sending weapons when human rights are being ignored?"

The Fridays for Future school strikes initiated by Greta Thunberg have lost a lot of popularity, but Neubauer has established herself as an important voice in the political and social debate. Two years ago, she expressed her stance on the Middle East conflict much more cautiously, condemning Hamas's terror and expressing disappointment with Greta Thunberg's "Stand with Gaza" campaign, which the Swede has followed closely ever since. For Neubauer, the criticism and the clear departure from so-called German raison d'état are not without risk. But could this perhaps be interpreted as a sign of a shift in discourse in Germany? Politicians and German journalists still find it very difficult to criticize Israel.

Neubauer asks: "Who is protecting the rights of humanity and the humanity of everyone right now, as if everything were at stake? Because for the people of Gaza, it is. We all see that, we all know that, and every single day counts." She finds it difficult to look into a world "where hearts are breaking because hearts are stopping beating in Gaza."