Anniversary October 7th in Berlin: “The Jewish-Arab conversation has been lost”

When I think about where I can speak freely about Israel/Palestine, the first thing that comes to mind is our magazine. The title “Bridges גשרים Brücken لجسور” means exactly the same thing: We want to build bridges. Each issue is dedicated to organizations that work together, such as the Israeli-Palestinian organization Clean Shelter. But we meet here, in Berlin: our Israeli editor Josi Lampel, and Thaer Ayoub, a Palestinian-Syrian poet, and I, as an Arab-Jewish Israeli. Or now I’m actually from Berlin too.

We have an opportunity to meet in the diaspora, we are an international community based in Berlin. And we do not hide our Israelis and our Jews. We stand in solidarity. We want to use our networks to talk to each other and share our art, history, poetry, music and culture. It's not just Israeli-Palestinian, it's multilingual and for me it's a response to the catastrophe. The catastrophe of October 7th and after.

But when it comes to Berlin, I am – now – ambivalent. In the past, Berlin was a fruitful place where we could meet and exchange ideas, the Palestinian, the Israeli, but also the Arab diaspora. But in recent years, since October 7th, we have experienced different things. We experience that people are silent or have to remain silent, that they are not allowed to talk about the genocide, for example.

We see how at a screening of “No Other Land,” a film that attempts to show solidarity with how the people of the West Bank are suffering under the occupation, one side is allowed to clap and the other is not. We don't want division. We don't want clapping to be only for Jews and for us to have to remain silent about our partners in Palestine.

is an Arab-Jewish writer, poet, curator and creative writing teacher living in Berlin, originally from Haifa. He is a co-founder of the magazine Bridges גשרים Brücken لجسور

His new book “Fifteen Scars – Jewish-Arab Texts on Politics and Poetry” was recently published by AphorismA Verlag. His first volume of poetry written in German is scheduled to be published by Elif Verlag in 2027. He is also co-editor of the magazine Dagesh – Jewish Art in Germany. His texts, essays and projects can also be found on his website mati-s.com.

I've always had two identities. My mother spoke Iraqi Arabic with her mother, I am also part of the Arab world. My observation is: Some of the things I got to know and took for granted 13 years ago when I came to Berlin are changing. Freedom of expression was a value. But today it is often a question of “either – or”.

People are quick to boycott others because of their opinions. I don't even know who is now boycotting me because of my opinions. But I don't stop my work. I write. I am not silent. I feel the suffering of the families in southern Israel who lost loved ones in the October 7 massacre, and I feel the suffering of the thousands in Gaza in its wake.

The conversation is very important. I was a bit naive when I came to Berlin in 2013. Today I see the threat that comes from the fact that people are not allowed to say some things. When we started Poetic Hafla ten years ago, it was simply an idea to do a reading in German, Arabic and Hebrew, it was spontaneous and it was an opportunity for exchange.

Central memorial event for the victims of the Hamas massacre with Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) and Israel's Ambassador Ron Prosor, Bebelplatz, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m

Memorial and remembrance demonstration with the Israeli flag from June 17th via Hermannplatz and Kurfürstendamm to the Brandenburg Gate, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m

Commemorative rally by the German-Israeli Society of Berlin and Brandenburg and the Steglitz-Zehlendorf district office. The mayor of Sderot, Sderotplatz, 4 to 5:30 p.m. will be involved

Interreligious memorial service by EKBO and the Archdiocese of Berlin with Rabbi Andreas Nachama, Bishop Christian Stäblein and Imam Kadir Sanci, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, 6 p.m

Antifascist memorial rally for the victims of October 7th under the motto: "October 7th, 2023 and the consequences. Jewish life after a turning point." Karl-Marx-Allee 33, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m

Today I notice that many people who perform at Poetic Hafla on an evening don't even talk to each other anymore. There are so many divisions. At that time we shared the idea of ​​having an Arab-Jewish space. Today there are no longer any opportunities to read together like this. I also recently wrote this in an article for an exhibition: The Jewish-Arab conversation has been lost.

Our Mizrahi position as Arab-Jewish people is also in distress. The festivals and readings of “Anu: Jews and Arabs Write in Berlin” that we did were also about rebuilding a connection to the Middle East. We raised the question of how Middle Eastern culture influences Berlin. And what we all remember from our stories.

In 2021 we did the Middle East Union Festival, that was our idea to proclaim a “NU” parallel to the EU. That was the moment when I was able to implement my idea as an Arab Jew in Berlin. A utopia. A moment where we could imagine something together. And where there was also room for suffering. There is this suffering in Israel too, but they don't talk about it.

But the moment of 2021 is over. I also lost friendships. Some say they have “sobered up” after October 7th and no longer see any possibility for peace. They no longer trust, and they see their own identity threatened by displaying the Palestinian flag. There are people who have become radical right-wingers.

In 2021, the conflict was there, but the division was not as deep. There was trust, there was loyalty. Today there are voices that just ask: “What did you do about the genocide?” And there are Jewish people here who are against Israel. I don't know what they have in mind. For me, Free Palestine means an end to the occupation. For others it means an end to Israel.

Since October 7, 2023, Germans have also been very divided. It's also a win for the AfD that people are now convinced that they can't speak openly. It actually goes without saying: we could talk about the occupation in the West Bank with the same emotions with which we talk about the occupation of Ukraine.

This is also a loss for Berlin. I regret that. We have left the nation and the national framework; we have our own opportunity here. But people don't use them. The trust and friendship that this requires has been broken.