Statement on Hamas terror and the war in Gaza

The Hamas assault on Israeli civilians has shaken us to the core. We feel for our Jewish friends and all those whose lives are no longer the same because of the loss of loved ones, of integrity and of security. We refuse to accept any form of relativization or even support of the attack.
We are shocked by the developments in the consequence of the massacre: Israel's war against Hamas which threatens Palestinian civilians with death and displacement on a terrible scale, the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, the threat to the state of Israel, and the danger of the war expanding in the region.

We are also very concerned to see how the situation is exacerbating on our own doorstep and how thought patterns of war seem to be spreading throughout our society. We are appalled by the rise of anti-Semitism in Germany and call on institutions and civil society to confront this in all clarity. At the same time, we oppose the stigmatization and sanctioning of statements that acknowledge the suffering and disenfranchisement of the Palestinian population.

We are seeing "blind spots in empathy" (Carolin Emcke) that promote fatal patterns of thought: White-Black, Friend-Enemy, Man-Mass. Ultimately, these patterns lead to a simplified perspective on the world, a perspective which not only opposes what we as artists advocate in our work but also contradicts everything we consider to be central values of this society: community, plurality, democracy, freedom.

Our compassion goes out to all victims and their families, and to all people affected by the consequences of the war in Gaza and Israel.