Berlin, Germany – Germany is being accused of silencing pro-Palestinian voices, having ordered the deportations of three European nationals and a United States citizen over their alleged actions at demonstrations.

None has been convicted of any crime.

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Critics said the decision is another chapter of German unease with the pro-Palestine movement. Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, tensions have flared as officials have moved to ban protests and cancel events while cultural institutes have distanced themselves from artists who raise awareness about the Palestinian cause.

Here’s what you should know:

What’s happening?

The four activists received initial letters in the post in January informing them they had lost the right of freedom of movement.

Two months later, their lawyers received deportation letters from Berlin’s state migration authority on behalf of their clients in which they were told to leave by April 21 or be forcibly removed.

The activists are: Cooper Longbottom, a 27-year-old US citizen and university student, and cultural workers Kasia Wlaszczyk, a 35-year-old Polish national; Shane O’Brien, 29; and Roberta Murray, 31. O’Brien and Murray are Irish citizens.

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All four allegedly participated in a sit-in at the Free University of Berlin.

On Friday in an emergency injunction, Berlin’s state administrative court ruled that O’Brien may remain until a full hearing is held. The temporary measure is one of interim relief when a court or legal authority acts to protect someone’s rights or interests while a case is still being decided.

The court said the migration authority failed to “fulfil sufficiently its official duty of investigation” when deciding to withdraw his European Union freedom of movement rights, according to The Irish Times.

What are the activists accused of?

In a police report seen by Al Jazeera, incidents are listed from October last year onwards. German authorities said the activists have spread “anti-Semitic hatred and incitement” as well as “anti-Israeli hatred”.

The four are accused of criminal acts such as resisting arrest, property damage and disturbing the peace.

The document also refers to insulting remarks, alleging that some of the activists called a police officer a “fascist”. In Germany, insulting someone is classified as a defamation of honour offence and can be subject to legal punishment. Two were initially accused of this. One – O’Brien – has since been acquitted.

In a statement provided to Al Jazeera, the Berlin Senate Department for the Interior and Sport referred to an incident in question.

“A group of masked individuals willing to use violence forced their way into a university building. This led to significant property damage inside the building, including graffiti related to the Israel-Palestine conflict, as well as other criminal offences. As far as we are aware, the legal proceedings are still ongoing. No further details can be provided due to data protection regulations,” it said.

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The Intercept first broke the story, triggering a round of condemnation towards Germany from critics.

How have the activists responded to the claims?

The activists’ legal team argued the charges are being used as a pretext to suppress political speech and assembly rights, particularly concerning Palestine.

“The decisions to deport our clients have no valid legal basis,” said lawyer Benjamin Dusberg, a member of the five-person legal team representing the activists. “This purely political justification is in no way compatible with the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. Not a word is mentioned that our clients protested against the genocide in Gaza and its support through German arms deliveries.”

Wlaszczyk said the allegations are unfounded.

“I refuse to engage in dishonest accusations of anti-Semitism and falling into the trap of defending myself against this gross abuse of the term being thrown around by police, journalists and the state to slander and criminalise the pro-Palestinian movement,” he told Al Jazeera. “By now, we all know that accusations of anti-Semitism have been turned by the German state into an authoritarian dog whistle and a racist tool which predominantly targets the Palestinian and Arab communities in Germany.”

What’s the context of the case? Why is it important?

The deportation orders were issued as Germany faces accusations of a broader national clampdown on pro-Palestinian activism.

These allegations have grown during Israel’s latest war on Gaza, but they have haunted Germany even before October 2023.

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Since the Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, during which 1,139 people were killed and more than 200 were taken captive, Israel has killed more than 50,983 people in Gaza, including tens of thousands of children.

In a statement, the four activists painted a bleak picture of Berlin over the past 18 months.

“Rampant unrestrained police violence goes hand in hand with this repressive use of immigration law to silence pro-Palestinian voices and political dissent. Arbitrary arrests made at protests, combined with false charges, are used as pretexts to justify extrajudicial deportation measures, circumventing any notion of independent judicial process and the rule of law,” they said.

In recent years, Berlin authorities have banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations and national symbols associated with Palestinian identity.

Germany said protests have been banned because of concerns about the potential for hate speech. Administrative courts have said they pose an “imminent danger to public safety and order”.

Berlin has given schools a green light to ban the wearing of Palestinian keffiyeh scarves on the grounds that they may threaten “school peace”.

Additionally, chanting slogans like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” has been banned in certain contexts because they are seen as denying Israel’s right to exist. In August, a protester was fined about $650 over the chant, which German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has described as a pro-Hamas slogan.

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Cultural institutions have lost public funding over ties to pro-Palestinian advocacy, raising concerns about artistic freedom and political repression in the country.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on November 8, 2023, called on Arab communities in Germany to distance themselves from Hamas, a comment that saw him accused of discrimination.

Furthermore, according to amendments to Germany’s citizenship laws, applicants seeking naturalisation will be required to affirm Israel’s right to exist.

Is Germany pro-Israel?

In the case of the activists, German authorities have cited the principle of “Staatsrason” – or reason of state – as a basis for the deportation orders.

Israel’s security is seen by Germany as its reason of state, given Nazi Germany’s role in systematically murdering six million Jews during the Holocaust.

“The immigration authorities themselves initially considered the deportation decisions to be illegal as none of our clients had a criminal record. But then they were instructed to do so by the Berlin Senate,” Dusberg said.

Internal emails reviewed by Al Jazeera confirm that Federal Foreign Office employees challenged the legality of the Berlin Senate’s deportation request, but their objections were unsuccessful.

“In the reasons for the decisions, direct reference is then made in the police report to the so-called Staatsrason. According to this report, our clients have acted in conflict with the reason of state,” Dusberg added.

While not codified into law, Staatsrason has shaped public discourse as a guiding state doctrine. Observers argued it fosters censorship, pitting democratic values like free speech and freedom of assembly against Germany’s unwavering solidarity with Israel.

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In March last year, the Financial Times’s Berlin bureau chief, Guy Chazan, wrote: “Any criticism of Israel is now seen by some people in power as antisemitic. It is an approach that is tying Germans up in knots, inflaming social tensions and undermining the country’s credibility in the Global South.”

Adding to the controversy surrounding Berlin’s foreign policy as Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza continues unabated, Friedrich Merz, the likely next German chancellor, recently invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Germany despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for the Israeli leader for alleged war crimes.