German researcher Muriel Asseburg came under fire this week for suggesting in an interview that terror attacks against Israelis should be ignored while the Palestinians' right to "violent resistance" against the "Israeli occupation" supported.
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Asseburg is a senior fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs that advises the German federal parliament for Africa and the Middle East. She has a history of anti-Israel rhetoric, including calls for Israeli officials to be tried by the International Court of Justice and calling Israel an "apartheid" state.
And now in English.
Muriel Asseburg: Amnesty International and the Apartheid Claim Against Israel. Political and Legal Relevance. February 2022.
Dr. Asseburg recommendations to the Federal German Government:
- Support the (ongoing) investigation by the International Criminal…
— Botschaft Israel (@IsraelinGermany) July 5, 2023
The Israeli Embassy in Germany harshly criticized Asseburg, who spoke on a podcast of an anti-Israel journalist, for giving public legitimacy to Palestinian terrorism.
The embassy said in a statement, Two and a half hours of Israel-bashing and wild conspiracies, and not one iota of journalism or academic discussion. The interview reflects Asseburg's biased position rather than the reality in the Middle East. Such trivialization of Palestinian terrorism is disgusting.
Asseburg also equated Israel to Russia, which is waging a war in Ukraine, and said that the German parliament is controlled by Israel.
The embassy also published a list of Asseburg's recommendations to the Bundestag that target Israel, such as support for the ICC probe into alleged war crimes committed by the IDF, a re-examination of military cooperation between Berlin and Jerusalem, as well as declaring Israel an apartheid state.
In response, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs defended Asseburg saying she was a respected researcher and deserved "to be treated with respect.
The embassy, in turn, replied, We are sorry, but we will not show respect to someone who refers to Israel as an "apartheid" state or claims that it controls the Bundestag.
And we certainly will not apologize to someone who claims Israel is committing the same crimes that the Nazis perpetrated during the Holocaust. The time when the Jewish state is silent is over, it said.
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