The Ministry of Social Affairs in Schleswig-Holstein Prematurely Terminates the Position of the Secretary of State for Integration Marjam Samadzade Over Her Comment on Social Media

End of October 2023, the Ministry of Social Affairs in Schleswig-Holstein declared that they are prematurely letting go of the former State Secretary for Integration, Marjam Samadzade, due to her interaction with a post of the journalist and author Alice Hasters on Instagram, which criticized the Israeli government’s atrocities in Gaza.

In her post from October 17, Hasters among other things condemns Hamas’ killing of civilians and taking hostages, which she calls antisemitic. She continues by condemning the Israeli government and the unconditional support of its actions by international governments. “The Israeli government is right-wing and is breaking international law. [...] I’m disappointed and shocked at how this conflict is being dealt with in Germany. It seems as if Germany is only willing to fight antisemitism by spreading anti-muslim and anti-palestinian racism. Nothing is being solved here. Really nothing.” As a comment to this, Samadzade wrote, “Thank you for these clear words”, followed by a heart emoji.

Aminata Touré (Green), the Minister of Social Affairs in Schleswig-Holstein, claimed that the content of the post does not align with her personal stance nor that of the state government: “The post criticizes and condemns the Israeli government for its action after the terrorist attack by Hamas. [...] Our stance is clear: We stand with Israel, which has the right to self-defend. Israel’s right to exist must not be questioned at any given time.”

Earlier this summer, Samadzade had already announced that she will leave the position by the end of 2023. Yet, following October 17, after she left a comment on the aforementioned post, the Minister of Social Affairs in Schleswig-Holstein, Aminata Touré (Green), requested for Samadzade to leave immediately. The Prime Minister of the State, Daniel Günther (CDU), refused to personally hand Samadzade the certificate of discharge, which he would have normally done otherwise. Her position was replaced by a trained police officer Silke Schiller-Tobies (Green) on November 1. Until now, there hasn’t been an official statement from Samadzade on this matter.