DGB is still practicing international law
Finally, after huge protests against the genocide of Palestinians in the last few weeks — at least 5,000 participants in Berlin, 14 June, at least 40,000 in Berlin on 21 June, more than 100,000 in Den Haag on 15 June, etc. — as well as the direct action by port workers in Marseille, Genoa, and Tanger, who stopped weapons deliveries to Israel, the DGB calls for solidarity with the Palestinian civilian population and an end to settler violence and displacement as well as sufficient aid deliveries to the people in Gaza. This is a small sign of humanity and has been long overdue.
After 21 months of genocide, however, this resolution is by far insufficient, not only because a genocide that has been recognized by both researchers [NRC, 14.05.2025] and international (non-governmental) organisations as such [Amnesty International Report 2024; UNHCR Report, 15.05.2024], is not named as such.
The board of the DGB recognizes Palestinians only as victims or terrorists not as agents. The repeated calls by Palestinian trade unions to the international labor organizations [e.g., Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions, 01.10.2024], for example, are not mentioned at all. Instead, the resolution advertises solidarity with Histadrut, whose president Arnon Bar-David “filled with appreciation and pride” on 23 November 2023 signed missiles that were designated for Gaza in the production halls of Elbit Systems [Histadrut, 23.11.2023]. He was joined by three other named Histadrut officials. In July 2025, the Facebook post reporting their visit is still freely accessible and not retracted. Criticism of Histadrut for the DGB-board is “unbearable,” despite the official Histadrut representatives’ continued backing and open support of the wars of the Israeli state. It is, therefore, completely dishonest to portray the conflict of interest of Histadrut and the zionist labor movement against the current fascist Israeli government as commitment for “peaceful coexistence”.
On top of that, the decades-long partnership between DGB and Histadrut is set to be celebrated in the fall of 2025. But the membership of the federated trade unions of DGB is not informed about the actual meaning of this partnership: becoming an accomplice to 100 years of ethnic segregation of the working class in Palestine.
The DGB resolution assumes that Israeli aggression began as a “military operation against Hamas” in a history-less space on 7 October 2023, without acknowledging that 2023 even before 7 October had already been the deadliest year for Palestinian children [UNHCR, 28.08.2023].
The history concealed by the DGB-board is one of settler-colonialism. The starting points of the “vicious cycle of violence” described in the resolution were first the British mandate period supported by the Balfour Declaration in 1917, then the ethnic cleansing of Palestine during the Nakba of 1947-48. None of these is mentioned in the resolution. Instead, the myth of the right to self defense according to Art. 51 of the UN Charter is repeated, although no occupier can claim this right against the illegaly occupied. The illegal occupation of Gaza has been recognized in the so-called “Wall Opinion” of the ICJ already in 2004 [ICJ, “Summary of the Advisory Opinion of 9 July 2004”].
Instead of dealing with international law, the DGB resolution celebrates the Oslo processes as a breakthrough of that same „vicious cycle of violence“. But despite Oslo there is de facto no right of return for displaced Palestinians as it was originally assured through UN Resolution No. 194. Israel had to agree to this resolution not only with Oslo but to even join the UN in 1949. Last year, the ICJ determined that Israel violates Art. 3 of the „International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination“ and thus maintains a system of apartheid [ICJ, 19.07.2024].
While the DGB demands the German government adheres to humanitarian law, further demands for an arms embargo on Israel are omitted — despite the urgent warning by over 40 UN human rights experts on 23 February 2024 [OΗCHR, “Arms Exports to Israel must stop immediately”].
The “unambiguous position” demanded is one that the German government can, therefore, choose as it pleases. Instead of holding the German governments accountable for their suppression of freedom of speech, the board of the DGB condemns “all kinds of violence”, but “especially [violence] against the [police union] GdP,” whose members are enforcing this repression.
We as Trade Unionists for Gaza will continue to participate in the countless protests and actions in solidarity with the Palestinian people and we call on all trade unionists to join us. We will continue to defend our humanity and our opinion.
It is time that the DGB and its member unions:
- deal with their own responsibility and the complicity of Histadrut with the ongoing ethnic cleansing and the genocide against the Palestinians.
- withdraw their support for all plans of millitarization and armament of the German state, beginning with an immediate stop to the weapons deliveries to Israel and any and all military cooperation with genocide.
We understand these measures as the rejection of “war, violence and all forms of racism”, and as “giving priority to negotiated solutions” against the backdrop of the ongoing colonial war of annihilation in Palestine.
Trade Unionists for Gaza
Gewerkschafter:innen für Gaza
- Datum: 13 July 2025