State party conference in Hamelin | 41 Greens want to recognize the genocide in Gaza and are met with a storm

Julia Willie Hamburg, Green Minister of Education in Lower Saxony and the designated top candidate for the state elections there, is not happy with criticism of Israel. Photo: dpa/Moritz Frankenberg A Green member, who until recently belonged to the Stade district association, has submitted an explosive application for the upcoming state delegates' conference in Hameln. It demands that the party recognize the Israeli military operation in Gaza as genocide. Lower Saxony's regional association should call on the federal Greens to join in. 41 members from district associations such as Hanover, Stade, Lüneburg, Göttingen and Oldenburg-Stadt support the request. There will be a vote on this at the weekend.

The application submitted a week ago is based on the report of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry dated September 16, 2025, which attributes genocidal acts to Israel in Gaza. The federal green party should work to ensure that Germany implements the report's recommendations. These include a stop to arms deliveries if there is reasonable suspicion of use in genocide, the prosecution of German participants, support for investigations and sanctions, and cooperation with the International Criminal Court, which is investigating the matter against Israel.

In their justification, the applicants refer to renowned scientists such as Omer Bartov and Amos Goldberg as well as organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem. The Greens are responsible because the then Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and the then Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had a decisive influence on Germany's positive attitude towards the Gaza War. This results in a special responsibility for the party.

It's not just the local press that's excited about the proposal. The "Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung" (HAZ) asks whether the Greens now have a "Gaza problem" and has Michael Fürst, President of the State Association of Jewish Communities in Lower Saxony, comment: "The proposal promotes anti-Semitism in Germany," said Fürst without explanation. An acceptance would “permanently” damage the relationship between the Jewish communities and the Greens. He could therefore not work with the Green Minister of Education Julia Willie Hamburg, who is to be named the top candidate in Hameln for the 2027 state elections. Rebecca Seidler, chairwoman of the regional association of Israelite religious communities in Lower Saxony, made a similar statement to the “HAZ”.

In the “HAZ” article, only critics of the application have their say. This bothers Espen Rechtsteiner from the Lüneburg district association, who supports the vote to recognize the genocide at the weekend. Jews are often generally held liable for Israel's actions, says Rechtsteiner to "nd". This equation also occurs in the “HAZ”.

The Hamburg Green Party told the “HAZ” in an interview that the district left’s decision had “actually disqualified them”. The designated top candidate also said: "At a time when Jewish people are considering leaving Germany because they are afraid here, political parties have a special responsibility for the signals they send."

The Green Party state chairwoman Greta Garlichs is also not happy with the proposal. The party shared "concern about the immense suffering of the people in the region," she said, without naming those affected. And: “However, a state party conference is not an international court of justice.”

Rechtsteiner, who is also a member of the Green Youth, contradicts this: "We have a clear stance on Russia's crimes under international law, but when it comes to the genocide in Gaza, things are very quiet."

In the application, the members of the district associations explain in detail why international politics should also be dealt with in Hamelin. The Greens have special responsibility because of their role in the federal government after October 7, 2023, the application states.

Germany is Israel's second-largest arms supplier after the USA: from 2020 to 2024, according to the International Peace Research Institute in Stockholm, 33 percent of Israel's conventional arms imports came from Germany. Frigates and torpedoes for the navy as well as motorized tanks from Germany were also used in Gaza.

Similar motions did not find a majority at previous Green party conferences, including at the federal level, or were modified in such a way that they ended up simply admonishing Israel to comply with international law.

Since Tuesday, there has also been a counterproposal to the Stade proposal from the state executive committee of the Greens with the title “For the strength of the law instead of the law of the stronger”. He emphasizes Israel's right to exist and Germany's historical responsibility for protecting Jewish life. At the same time, he describes the suffering of the Palestinian population in Gaza and the worsening situation in the West Bank. It goes on to say that the decision of the International Court of Justice should be awaited for a final legal assessment of the genocide allegation.

The state Greens also criticize the motion because it says “nothing about Israel’s right to exist and the terror of Hamas.” Consciously, counters the initiator Claas Goldenstein in response to nd's request: "The application refers exclusively to the recognition of the genocide in Gaza and the obligations that arise directly for us from it. Hamas is not included because it is not relevant to this assessment.

The Green Youth also regularly speaks of a genocide in Gaza. At the same time, Hamas' actions on October 7th are repeatedly described as terrorist.

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