The hypocrisy of "Staatsräson"
How Germany became UNRWA and Palestinians' biggest state donor, and the campaign to challenge that.
Show Notes
Germany is the biggest donor of Palestinian support organization UNRWA, a UN organization that supports healthcare, education, and infrastructure for Palestinians. Yet increasingly, this position has come under attack. Why?
Our guest this episode is researcher, filmmaker, and strategist Alon Sahar, who recently published the report “The Campaign against UNRWA and the Palestinian Right of Return in Germany; Israel-aligned Actors, Narratives, and Policy Uptake” with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.
HEIST founding editor Peter Matthews and Alon talk about the historical 20th century geopolitical context here, and then hone in on Germany’s role, the evolution of the term Staatsräson, and then finally bring it home to Berlin, where we see the implications of this campaign in local political scandals.
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Links & Resources:
- Alon's report on the RLS page
- The report PDF
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- Support worker-owned Berlin journalism and subscribe to HEIST.
Music and sound by Patrick Nininger.