Pro-Palestinian Activists Plan Buchenwald Protest

Pro-Palestinian and left-wing activists in Germany are planning a demonstration at the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial on April 11, the anniversary of the site's liberation by U.S. forces in 1945, to protest what they describe as the memorial's promotion of Israeli propaganda and insufficient criticism of Israel's policies.

The event, organized under the banner "Keffiyehs in Buchenwald," is set to occur near Weimar, where the former Nazi camp holds profound historical significance. Organizers, including the student wing of Germany's Left Party, the German Communist Party, and the group Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East, accuse the memorial's management of engaging in historical revisionism and denying what they call a genocide in Palestine. They specifically object to the site's policies restricting the wearing of keffiyehs, the traditional Palestinian scarf, and the exclusion of Israel critics from events. The protest aims to challenge these restrictions during the annual commemoration, which draws survivors, families, and officials to honor the victims.

The initiative follows a 2025 German court ruling that upheld the memorial's authority to deny entry to...