House of Religions in Hanover Cancels Human Rights Day Forum

On December 9, 2024, the House of Religions canceled the 12th Hanover Human Rights Day Forum that was planned for December 10. This was after “concern and dismay” had been expressed by the House’s Jewish members following a recently published statement on the war in Gaza by co-organizer Amnesty International. Amnesty International had planned to have a member of the organisation give a lecture on the topic of forgotten wars and human rights.

Amnesty International identified the statement in question as its report titled ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza, published internationally on December 5, 2024. The report, based on on-site research, evaluation of images, videos, and satellite footage, and analysis of public statements concluded that Israel’s government, army, and authorities committed and continued to commit genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip following October 7, 2023. However, Amnesty International denied that this report was intended to be the topic of the forum.

According to a press release by the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover, Michael Fürst, President of the State Association of Jewish Communities in Lower Saxony, had sent a letter to the House of Religions saying that Amnesty International was currently acting in an anti-Israeli way, and had, in his opinion, a long history of antisemitism. He added that the violation of human rights against people in Israel from Arab countries was not discussed at all by Amnesty International.
In a statement on Instagram, Sören Rekel-Bludau, Press and Public Relations Officer from the House of Religions, stated that they “take such concerns seriously” and would not hold an event against the will of one of the religions they engage with. Amnesty International, in their statement from December 11, claimed that they firmly reject these serious accusations, emphasizing that antisemitism is in clear contradiction to human rights.

The House of Religions is an organization established in 2008 by people from seven different religions, with the purpose of promoting dialogue among the religions in Hanover. They announced a plan to organise a replacement event in the following year “with the aim of bringing all discussion partners to the table." Amnesty International has expressed their willingness to participate and to provide information about their human rights work on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as on human rights violations and crimes against international law in other regions and countries. There has been no replacement event to date.