The Contentious Politics of Palestine and Israel Solidarity in Germany

Taking October 7, the Gaza-war and their associated suffering as focal lenses, this contribution explores the complexities of transnational solidarity in response to violence. Specifically, our project interrogates in which ways transregional patterns of solidarity are influenced by both the conflict dynamics in Israel and Palestine as well as localized discursive and political contexts, contentious legacies and community relations. Investigating Germany as a national context in which responses to October 7 have been particularly polarized, the project draws on an original protest event catalogue of contentious collective actions in solidarity with Palestine and Israel in the four largest cities in Germany (Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne). This data allows for a systematic mapping of protest dynamics and factors explaining common trends and cross-local variation. Several project tracks thus focus varyingly on national variations, transnational linkages, student mobilization, or the interplay between social mobilization and the restriction and repression of Palestine solidarity. Protest event data coded from news media as well as alternative activist outlets are complemented by narrative interviews with activists involved in these mobilizations as well as brokers of contentious alliances, offering insights into the motivations, strategies, and contextual factors shaping these mobilizations.