Germany is deporting EU citizens for pro-Palestine protests.
and as per usual, the Irish are right in the middle.
Good day, spectators,
And today, we're diving into some chilling developments from the heart of Europe, where Germany's mask of ‘liberal democracy’ has seemingly slipped off entirely. Berlin authorities are moving to deport four young foreign residents for the crime of—wait for it—participating in protests against Israel's war on Gaza. This unprecedented move should send shivers down the spine of anyone who still believes in the right to speak freely.
The targets? Four individuals who dared to stand for Palestinian lives: Shane O'Brien and Roberta Murray from Ireland, Kasia Wlaszczyk from Poland, and Cooper Longbottom, an American. Their ‘crimes’? Dangerously chanting slogans like ‘Free Palestine’ and I think one of them even dared to call a police officer a ‘fascist’.
Truly evil monsters.
None have been convicted of any actual crimes, but that is seemingly irrelevant in Berlin's new political purity test.
—> I first read this story in The Intercept, from the great Hanno Hauenstein, so I urge you to go and read it there before I offer my own thoughts.
unprecedented deportations.
What really gets me is the stark naked political motivation behind these deportations. The orders explicitly cite Germany's ‘Staatsräson’— this is the country's pledge to defend Israel—as some kind of justification. Let that sink in: a foreign policy position is now grounds for expulsion. Not criminal behaviour, but simple political alignment.
This isn't law enforcement; it's just blatant ideological purging. But nothing new from a country that brutalises all kinds of protestors regularly, especially those pesky anti-genocide protestors:
The legal absurdity would be kind of funny if it weren't so terrifying. Three of the four hold EU citizenship, which should theoretically guarantee them freedom of movement and residence within any EU country. Yet, Berlin seems to be 100% ready to set fire to those fundamental rights over…some peaceful protesting? What is this, the US?
Meanwhile, Longbottom, a student with just six months left to complete their master's degree, is faced with being banned from all 29 Schengen countries for years—basically an academic death sentence.
Perhaps most damning are the internal emails obtained by The Intercept showing that Berlin's own immigration chief, Engelhard Mazanke, called these deportation orders ‘unlawful’ and warned they lacked sufficient legal basis. His objections were quickly overruled by political appointees and that’s depressing.
When a system's own bureaucrats are raising alarm bells about legality, you know you've entered dangerous territory. It really seems Germany is following in the footsteps of the US here.
Ireland to Berlin: a shared history of resistance.
Perhaps I am biased as an Irish person but I’d like to say I don’t think it’s a coincidence that two of the four targeted individuals are Irish citizens. Ireland's legacy of anti-colonial struggle mirrors Palestine's—making Irish protesters particularly inconvenient for German authorities desperate to silence any critique of Israel's actions in Gaza.
This is an apt time for me to share one of my first ever articles, from many moons ago:
As O'Brien poignantly told reporters: ‘My illusion of Berlin shattered when I saw police drag away Arabs for waving flags. Now they're coming for us.’
O’Brien is not exaggerating. This isn't hyperbole. It’s just sad.
The escalation of state repression in Germany's capital has been swift and jarring. Every single demonstration in the name of Palestine is cracked down on and even the ones for other causes end up looking similar as the police in Germany increases its oppressive tactics:
One long time Berlin resident painted a disturbing picture: ‘After six years here, I've watched Berlin morph into a police state over the Palestine topic. Protests are flooded with cops in militaristic riot gear, while German media smears attendees as terrorist sympathisers. If you're not there, you'd swear this was 1933, not 2025.’
The historical parallel isn't subtle, but it's apt. A German state once again deciding which political opinions are acceptable, which communities deserve protection, and which foreign residents must demonstrate ideological compliance or face expulsion. It’s not repeating, but it certainly is rhyming.
Germany's authoritarian playbook.
These deportations don't exist in a vacuum of course. They're part of a broader authoritarian shift in German politics regarding Palestine. The new chancellor has vowed to increase arms shipments to Israel despite International Court of Justice rulings on genocide, and promised to host Netanyahu—a man wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes—with full state honours. I wrote about it.
The crackdown touches every aspect of public life. Arabic chants are now criminalised, with phrases like ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ treated as criminal offenses. German citizenship increasingly requires pledging loyalty to Israel—a political litmus test not applied to any other international conflict or country.
And if you don't fall in line then these guys come and beat you up:
Watch: German police beat up a protestor in the back of a truck, covering the window when someone tries to film.
The parallels to America's tactics are striking. Just as Columbia University's Mahmoud Khalil was deported for pro-Palestine activism, Germany is using immigration law as a weapon to punish political dissent while bypassing normal judicial procedures. The blueprint is clear: when you can't win the argument, remove the arguers. It’s sickening.
silencing the Global South in the West.
What we're witnessing is the stunning hypocrisy of a Western power that lectures the Global South on ‘rule of law’ while violating fundamental EU principles of free movement and political expression. Germany has funded Israel's military campaign with €326 million in arms since 2023 while criminalising anyone who dares criticise the resulting humanitarian catastrophe.
This cognitive dissonance reveals the true nature of Western ‘values’—flexible principles that bend to power rather than standing on moral consistency. When Berlin deports people for supporting Palestinian human rights while arming a government accused of genocide by international courts, the contradiction becomes impossible to ignore.
I know I am always waffling on about this but I am disillusioned. The so-called ‘rules-based order’ has always been selectively enforced when it benefits Western interests. But these deportation orders strip away the pretence entirely. You're either with the program, or you're out—but this time quite literally, expelled from the country. Auf Wiedersehen.
For those watching this unfold, there are things we can do. Everyone, not just my readers in Germany, should Pressure Berlin's Senate and Mayor Kai Wegner to drop these despicable deportation orders immediately. Find and support legal funds for the four protesters fighting this injustice (I will be on the lookout and update this post if I find one). And most importantly, refuse to be silent in the face of this authoritarian drift.
Because if we've learned anything from history, it’s this: they may start with foreign residents, but citizenship offers no permanent protection against ideological purges once they begin.
The time to speak is now, in fact, it was actually yesterday or last week but…
I am not sure how much we can expect much from Germany. It seems to be a country that likes to pretend to be left wing, but in reality, they’re it’s just aggressively neoliberal, beholden to Israel and terrified to speak up whilst it loses any credibility it built up in the past 80 years.
What do you think? Comment below, I love to chat,
(And as always, thanks for reading, and please give this post a ❤️ and restack below.)
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Read more from the spectacle:
This is deplorable, unacceptable in a so-called ‘democracy. The Irish government should object very strongly that is, if they have the guts and there is a semblance of fairness that remains within their conscience
"These deportations don't exist in a vacuum of course." The wholesale takeover of Western governments by Israel has been a stunning thing to watch. Germany is no different from the U.S., the UK and the rest of them.