Statement from the Coordination Team of MERA25 and DiEM25 Germany

Germany 2025: Melanie Schweizer, a civil servant lawyer in the public sector and MERA25 candidate in Berlin in the 2025 federal elections, received her letter of dismissal from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs on 28 February 2025 during her candidacy for political office due to statements critical of Israel on social media. This came during her candidacy for political office, following critical comments about Israel on social media. She is losing her public service job for standing firmly against Israel’s apartheid system and the genocide in Palestine, a stance that aligns with the legal opinions of international law experts and courts. This is a scandal.

We fully support Melanie, who has always spoken for herself and, as an elected candidate, has represented MERA25’s political views. On behalf of DiEM25, the European movement to which our party belongs, we express our total solidarity and will support Melanie with every resource at our disposal. The violation of her right to free expression and political engagement is also an attack on our own political rights.

In the final weeks of the election campaign, Melanie’s LinkedIn account was inexplicably blocked. This is an example of election interference by a privately owned platform and is just one of many instances of censorship that hinder our work across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and others.

Melanie is not an isolated case

A dismissal in the public service is a drastic step, but Melanie’s case is not isolated. It is a symptom of the illiberal atmosphere currently prevailing in Germany.

Recently, left-wing climate activist Lisa Poettinger was denied admission to teacher training by the Bavarian Ministry of Education, effectively banning her from her career. Last year, the Oyoun cultural center in Berlin had its funding revoked. These are just a few examples of a much longer list. Our solidarity extends to them and to:

• Countless journalists who have lost their jobs for criticizing Israel’s policies, including those at the publicly funded Deutsche Welle
• Colleagues in international human rights work, such as UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who have faced threats from German authorities and had their events blocked
• Creators in science, arts, and culture who have had their funding cut due to unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism

Even our comrade Yanis Varoufakis, co-founder of DiEM25 and former Greek finance minister, was banned from entering Germany last year and prevented from participating online in the Berlin Palestine Congress. This severe restriction on his freedom of movement and expression has yet to be addressed by the authorities.

What can we do?
As a political party, MERA25 calls on everyone in Germany to confront the ongoing attacks on freedom of expression and the disturbing trend toward de facto professional bans for those who speak out against the narrow public opinion corridor. This environment poses a grave threat to freedom and democracy, even for those who may not yet feel directly impacted by such repression. As the German Federal Constitutional Court stated, “Freedom of expression is foundational to a free and democratic order, as it allows for the ongoing intellectual debate and the contest of ideas that are essential for its vitality.”

We also want to emphasize that serious accusations, such as anti-Semitism or incitement to hatred in relation to Israel (but not Jews as a whole), are often politicized and misused to silence dissenting voices, like Melanie Schweizer’s. These tactics manipulate public fear, pressuring individuals to stay silent to avoid being labeled as on the “wrong” side. If we fail to mobilize broad public opposition to these authoritarian tactics, the political left—and the democratic spectrum as a whole—will lose the ability to shape core values like peace, solidarity, and freedom. As we’ve seen in the United States, these values will be co-opted by the libertarian right.

As part of the political left, we see it as our responsibility to critically examine the increasing societal restrictions and stigmatization of recent years. We are a party with a clear vision for radical change towards grassroots democratic participation in all areas of life—economics, politics, and society. As a new government coalition is likely to form after the federal election, which will likely continue the authoritarian trend, we aim to collaborate with comrades from trade unions, movements, and other groups to offer the people of Germany and Europe a better alternative.

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