Palestine Solidarity | Ibrahim Ibrahim: Well-founded criticism instead of general suspicion

Pro-Palestinian activist Ibrahim Ibrahim at a rally in October. Photo: dpa/Carsten Koall At the special party conference of the Berlin Left, it became clear that top candidate Elif Erap was strengthened, at least within the party, by the indiscretions of “Spiegel”. As is well known, the news magazine did not make public comments on an interview intended for the general public. In it, Eralp asked that a question about the pro-Palestinian activist Ibrahim Ibrahim be deleted because the LKA had advised her not to mention the names of terrorist sympathizers. The impression that the questionable methods were intended to create was that the future mayor was afraid of a Hamas sympathizer who also had contacts in the Neukölln "clan milieu."

Much has already been said about the transgression that this approach represents to Eralp's concern for her family. But you also have to ask who the man is who is presented by “Spiegel” as a “Hamas supporter”. Hardly any newspaper mentions that Ibrahim himself commented on the allegations in a press release in October and spoke of a "general suspicion" against him.

In fact, that's not wrong - regardless of how you feel about your political positions. Ibrahim is a supporter of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), as he stated in an election advertisement for the Maoist-oriented political sect MLPD in 2019. The PFLP sees itself as Marxist. Since the 1970s it has been an often romanticized reference point in international left-wing Palestine solidarity. Not only since their participation in the murderous Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 should the question arise as to what is left of the commitment to humanistic Marxism.

But this does not require a campaign that accuses Ibrahim of being a member of Hamas or that places him in the so-called clan milieu without any evidence. These are the methods of the Springer press. They have a racist overtone: Because Ibrahim is of Palestinian origin, more detailed research seems unnecessary. The shock word “Hamas” is enough.

For years there has been well-founded left-wing criticism of the positions of Palestinian groups such as the PFLP, whose regressive hostility to Israel has led to alliances with Islamists from Hamas and Co. The discussion in the Left Party should currently build on this. At the same time, you should also openly identify your own mistakes. If there is concrete evidence, the judiciary should clarify it. This applies to Ibrahim Ibrahim as to any other person.

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