Kultur im Trafo and München ist bunt! Attempt to Cancel a Talk by Jewish Israeli Historian Ilan Pappé for Alleged Hatred against Jews

On November 25, 2023, the supporting association of the Munich community center Kultur im Trafo tried and failed to cancel a talk by Jewish Israeli historian Ilan Pappé on November 27. The event was organized by the Salam Shalom working group Palestine-Israel, the Jewish-Palestinian dialogue group, and Women in Black. Titled Palestine – Israel: What next?, the talk gave an overview of the political situation in Palestine-Israel 75 years after the founding of Israel and the Nakba, and Pappé discussed the ethnic cleansing of Palestine as well as European, and particularly German, policies regarding the State of Israel.

Two days before the event, Leo Agerer, vice chairman of the Kultur im Trafo sponsoring association and CSU city councilor, terminated Salam Shalom’s contract for the use of the space via email citing a “fear that the speaker (or participants of the event) would violate criminal law [...] incite hatred against Jews [... and] disseminate anti-Semitic stereotypes.” The next day, the association München ist bunt! called for a protest against the talk. In a social media post on November 26 with the headline “Protest against anti-Semitic conspiracy theories” they claimed that the event would “question or even deny Israel’s right to exist [...], make crude Nazi comparisons and propagate aggressive, Israel-related anti-Semitism.”

The organizers refuted these accusations and took the matter to court. On November 27, the district court ruled in their favor via a temporary injunction, stating that the termination of the contract was void and that the community center must make the hall available that same night. According to junge Welt, a handful of people showed up to protest in front of the packed community center.