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Days of Palestine
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Days of Palestine
Germany Labels Infant 'Security Threat', Separating Him from His Palestinian Mother
DayofPal– Outrage among human rights advocates erupted after German authorities have separated a Palestinian-Jordanian mother from her one-year-old son, citing the infant as a 'security threat'. Critics say the move reflects a growing crackdown on Palestinian solidarity in Europe. Dima, a nurse with German residency who moved to the country from Jordan in 2017, gave birth to her son in 2023. A year later, she and her husband traveled to Jordan to introduce their newborn to extended family. When the family attempted to return to Germany in August 2024, border authorities denied re-entry to the baby, despite his German-issued residency documents, on the grounds of national security. The European Legal Support Centre (ELSC), which is supporting the family's case, described the decision as one of the most severe examples of Germany weaponizing its immigration system against pro-Palestinian voices. 'The German state systematically exploits residence, asylum, and citizenship laws to punish already marginalized communities,' an ELSC spokesperson said. 'To label a one-year-old a 'security threat' marks a grotesque new low.' Initially, German embassy officials in Amman assured the family that the issue was bureaucratic. However, months later, correspondence from Germany's migration office confirmed the refusal was linked to an ongoing investigation, bot into the child, but into Dima herself. She was informed that the Verfassungsschutz, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, had opened a probe over her alleged involvement in Palestinian advocacy, particularly activities connected to Samidoun Deutschland, a pro-Palestinian group banned by the German government in 2023. Dima maintains that she has always acted within the bounds of the law. 'I always went to authorized demonstrations. I always registered actions in advance,' she said. 'They just want to silence my voice.' Her lawyer, Ebru Akcan Asilturk, argues that German authorities used a technicality in the child's temporary residency status to trap the family in Jordan, and then used that as a pretext to separate mother and child. 'They engineered this,' Asilturk stated, 'not out of concern for security, but to punish lawful activism.' In February 2025, a Berlin court ruled that the baby's return to Germany was not urgent. The court suggested that the parents could either stay in Jordan with the child or travel back and forth, effectively forcing them to choose between their residency rights and their parental bond. For the past nine months, Dima and her husband have taken turns living with their son in Jordan, each alternating time with him while struggling to maintain their legal presence and livelihood in Germany. 'He started calling anyone in the street 'papa'… he lost the connection,' Dima said tearfully. The ELSC has since filed a case with Germany's Federal Constitutional Court, challenging the legality and proportionality of the state's actions. A higher administrative court is also reviewing the family's appeal. Dima, the first in her family born outside Palestine, comes from a lineage twice displaced, her mother's family in 1948, and her father's in 1967. Despite the challenges, she said her activism in Germany had made her feel spiritually closer to Palestine. 'Sometimes, during the chants, I felt like I was in Palestine,' she said. 'But this separation… this is the hardest part.' 'I know I'm not the only one,' Dima added. 'Others didn't have the support to fight this. I just happened to be the one who could.' Shortlink for this post:
Middle East Eye
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Mother in Germany separated from one-year-old son over Palestinian activism
A Palestinian-Jordanian woman with German residency was separated from her one-year-old after German authorities deemed the child a security threat, she and her lawyers say. The European Legal Support Centre, which is supporting her case, say the woman is the latest victim of the German state's weaponisation of residency issues to repress Palestinian solidarity. Since 2019, the Amsterdam-based legal advocacy group has documented at least 22 incidents in Germany in which residency status or restrictions to freedom of movement have been used to stifle such solidarity. 'The German state systematically exploits residence, asylum and citizenship law to punish already marginalised communities,' said an ELSC spokesperson. 'There is no justification for separating a newborn from his parents, yet to label the child a 'security threat' marks a grotesque new low, even by their own oppressive standards." New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters A trained nurse, Dima* moved from Jordan to Germany in 2017 for work, and was joined four years later by her husband. In 2023, they had their first child. In August 2024, when her child turned one, the family travelled to Jordan so that Dima and her husband's parents could meet their grandchild for the first time. As they tried to board a return flight two weeks later, Dima was told that her son lacked the necessary permit to re-enter Germany. At the time, her lawyers say, the German embassy in Jordan suggested it was a minor bureaucratic matter that could be solved in a few weeks. When Dima had applied for permanent residency back in October 2023, she and her husband had received green certificates that allow holders to exit and re-enter Germany while they wait for a permanent residency card. Their son was also given a green residency certificate which looked exactly the same as his parents, but did not allow for entry or exit. Security threat But the issue wasn't so simple: four months later, the embassy said in a letter that Dima's son was not allowed to go back to Germany because he had been deemed a security threat. Ebru Akcan Asilturk, Dima's Frankfurt-based immigration lawyer who became involved in the case around this time, said she assumed, when she read the letter, there had been a mistake. 'I thought, 'OK, this is obviously a misunderstanding we can solve directly',' she said. But in December 2024, Germany's migration office sent another letter clarifying that there was, in fact, an issue with Dima, not her son. Dima also learned through the letter for the first time that the Verfassungsschutz, Germany's domestic intelligence service, was investigating her. The probe is ongoing and would have been triggered by her permanent residency application nearly two years ago, her lawyers have said. 'I didn't say anything that is considered a red line. I always went to demonstrations that were accepted by the authorities in Germany' - Dima*, Palestinian-Jordanian mother Dima has been told by authorities that she is being investigated because of her alleged involvement with Palestinian solidarity groups, including Samidoun Deutschland, an organisation that Germany banned in November 2023. She contends that all of her Palestinian activism in Germany has been legal. 'I didn't say anything that is considered a red line. I always went to demonstrations that were accepted by the authorities in Germany. I always registered whatever action I wanted to do,' she said. Instead, she believes the case is an attempt to suppress her point of view and reflective of a wider crackdown on activists like her in Germany. 'They don't have freedom of speech. It's only there if you agree with what they say,' she said. Both Dima and Asilturk say they believe that authorities took advantage of the problem with Dima's son's certificate not allowing for his exit and re-entry into Germany as an excuse to put the family in an impossible position that would force them to give up their residency. Requests for comment from the German foreign ministry and domestic intelligence authorities were not answered. Hard choices The family has been left in a precarious position. This February, in response to an urgent appeal that Asilturk filed in November 2024, the administrative court in Berlin ruled that Dima's son's re-entry to Germany was not a matter of urgency. 'They said the son is in Jordan. He cannot come back to Germany, but the parents can go back to Germany and they can visit him,' Asilturk said. 'Or they can stay in Jordan with him and wait until the main proceedings.' But if Dima stayed in Jordan, she would lose her residence card, said Asilturk who has appealed the decision in the Higher Administrative Court Berlin-Brandenburg. Meanwhile, the family was separated for nine months in total, as Dima and her husband took turns leaving their son with family to try to maintain their lives in Germany. These were nine particularly crucial months, Dima said. Her son was still breastfeeding while also starting, at the age of one, to become less emotionally attached to her and having a closer relationship with his father. How Germany's former foreign minister failed Gaza - then got a top UN job Read More » 'My child started calling anyone in the street papa. Unfortunately, he will call anyone mama as well. He doesn't have the grasp. He lost it,' Dima said. A decision on Asilturk's appeal at the higher court is expected imminently. Meanwhile, the ELSC has filed a challenge with the Federal Constitutional Court challenging the administrative court's handling of Dima's case. The outcome could help protect other families from experiencing this in the future, something Dima said she is determined to see through. "I'm sure, if this has happened to me, this has happened to many families before. It doesn't matter if they are Palestinian or something else. I don't think they were able to fight it in court because they didn't have the support," she said. "But I don't believe that this has never happened. In the current situation, I don't believe it was a first. I just believe that I was the first one to have that support to fight it." Dima is the first generation of her family that was not born in Palestine, where her mother's family was forced to leave in 1948 and her father's in 1967. She hoped to move at some point to Palestine, but with only her Jordanian passport, she said she would probably not be able to do that. Still she said she felt the activism she has done in Germany, which was much more she said than she would have been allowed in Jordan, has made her feel like she already made it to Palestine somehow. "I felt in Palestine sometimes, with the atmosphere around me, by the chants we used to chant. I felt it was so close to Palestine in ways. It was never like that in Jordan," she said. "This is the hardest part to be honest." * A pseudonym has been used to protect the identity of the mother during the ongoing legal challenge.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
University colleges seek injunctions over protests
Two university colleges are seeking High Court injunctions against pro-Palestine demonstrations after an encampment on their land over the weekend. On Friday, activists camped on Newton Lawn outside Trinity College and then moved to a lawn outside St John's College, a lawyer for the University of Cambridge said. The protesters left after temporary injunctions were granted on Sunday and Monday, meaning further protests could result in activists being found to be in contempt of court. On Thursday, Kester Lees KC, for the colleges, asked for the injunctions to be made final and to last 12 months, as protests were disruptive to students taking exams. In written submissions, he said the university was "concerned about the environment of fear and intimidation created by masked protesters". He said the university did not wish to stop all protests but added that "some chanting was directly aimed at disrupting the examination season". Instead he suggested other options, such as a march or online and writing campaigns. Grant Kynaston, for the European Legal Support Centre, which supports the legal rights of pro-Palestine activists, said the court action had been rushed and that more time should be given, during which further evidence could be provided. Mr Kynaston asked the court to discontinue the injunction. He said if it were to be granted, it would be an "exceptionally wide-ranging and uncalibrated interference" with the protesters' human rights. He also said there was a trend of higher education institutions relying on court injunctions as a first rather than a last resort for enforcement against protests. Judge Andrew Twigger KC is expected to give his judgement in two to three weeks, during which time the temporary injunctions will remain in place. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. University college to stop arms company investment University granted four-month protest injunction University condemns Palestine Action paint protest Protesters barred from disrupting degree ceremony University of Cambridge
BBC News
06-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Cambridge University colleges seek injunctions over protests
Two university colleges are seeking High Court injunctions against pro-Palestine demonstrations after an encampment on their land over the Friday, activists camped on Newton Lawn outside Trinity College and then moved to a lawn outside St John's College, a lawyer for the University of Cambridge protesters left after temporary injunctions were granted on Sunday and Monday, meaning further protests could result in activists being found to be in contempt of Thursday, Kester Lees KC, for the colleges, asked for the injunctions to be made final and to last 12 months, as protests were disruptive to students taking exams. In written submissions, he said the university was "concerned about the environment of fear and intimidation created by masked protesters". He said the university did not wish to stop all protests but added that "some chanting was directly aimed at disrupting the examination season".Instead he suggested other options, such as a march or online and writing Kynaston, for the European Legal Support Centre, which supports the legal rights of pro-Palestine activists, said the court action had been rushed and that more time should be given, during which further evidence could be Kynaston asked the court to discontinue the said if it were to be granted, it would be an "exceptionally wide-ranging and uncalibrated interference" with the protesters' human also said there was a trend of higher education institutions relying on court injunctions as a first rather than a last resort for enforcement against Andrew Twigger KC is expected to give his judgement in two to three weeks, during which time the temporary injunctions will remain in place. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Middle East Eye
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
UK's St Andrews reinstates rector after dismissal for Israel criticism
The rector of St Andrews University in the UK has won her appeal after the institution removed her from its governing body for issuing a statement that condemned Israel's "genocidal attacks" on Gaza. Last year, the University of St Andrews removed Stella Maris from her position on the university court after its investigation concluded that she exercised "poor judgment" for sending an email to all students in November 2023 that called for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza. Maris, who is an alumnus of the prestigious Scottish university, also called on students to condemn "practices such as apartheid, siege, illegal occupation and collective punishment observed in the treatment of Palestinians". Following her statement, St Andrews launched an independent inquiry led by Morag Ross KC to "examine" whether Maris's actions and activities were compatible with her role as rector after the UK Lawyers for Israel group lodged a complaint against her. Ross submitted the findings from her internal inquiry to the university court, the highest governing body at St Andrews, in April 2024. She found that Maris's email had caused "anxiety and fear" among Jewish students. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Despite Ross concluding that firing Maris would be "disproportionate," the university court concluded that she should be removed from her position. But after a nine-month appeal, the university's chancellor, Menzies Campbell, ruled in Maris's favour and overturned her dismissal from the university court. Commenting on the ruling, Maris described her victory as a "surprise" as well as "vindication of my position [...] and a defence of the fundamental principles of free expression and democractic accountability within our universities. 'Universities must remain places where individuals are free to speak out against injustice, especially where that speech is grounded in humanitarian concern and moral conscience in line with the principles of international human rights," Maris said in a statement. '[Maris'] victory [is] a clear rebuke to the growing pattern of repression facing those who speak out for Palestinian freedom' - Tasnima Uddin, European Legal Support Centre 'I am grateful to the many students, academics, and members of the public who stood in solidarity with me over the past months. I intend to continue campaigning to ensure the right to political expression and academic freedom.' At St Andrews, the students elect the rector to represent and advocate for their interests. The position is unpaid and carried out voluntarily. Following her dismissal, Maris received support from students on campus and over 500 academics across 17 countries. Her supporters included the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the European Legal Support Centre (ELSC), which provided her with legal support and helped fundraise for her appeal against the decision to fire her. Tasnima Uddin from the ELSC described Maris' "victory as a clear rebuke to the growing pattern of repression facing those who speak out for Palestinian freedom". "For 570 days, Israel has carried out a genocide in Gaza, targeting universities, hospitals and civilians, yet St Andrews chose to punish its rector for calling for a ceasefire," Uddin told Middle East Eye. "The reinstatement of Stella Maris proves that the attempt to quash this mass movement will not succeed and legal means will continue to be used." A St Andrews University spokesperson said: 'As the body that made the decision to dismiss the rector, University Court is carefully considering the chancellor's decision and taking advice from counsel. 'This issue was never about free speech and only ever about governance. Ms Maris remains rector of the university and has done so throughout.'
