In a joint effort to resist deliberate repression and institutionalised racism targeting Palestinian and decolonial voices in Germany, scholar and consultant Anna Younes is legally challenging her unlawful surveillance by state-funded institutions.
If you want to support academic freedom and freedom of expression, please make a donation to help Dr. Younes cover the legal expenses.
Dr. Anna-Esther Younes is a decolonial scholar of race critical theories. In 2016, she received her PhD from the Graduate Institute in Geneva (IHEID) titled “Race, Colonialism, and the Figure of the Jew in a New Germany”. Her work can be found on academia.edu or else on her website.
Why is Dr. Younes going to Court?
In November 2019, after being disinvited from a panel discussion on right-wing extremism in Germany, Dr. Younes learned that a secret dossier framing her essentially as anti-Jewish racist, sexist and terrorist sympathiser, had been circulated by the two state-funded and anti-racist civil society organisations - Department for Research and Information on Antisemitism Berlin (RIAS Berlin) and Mobile Counsel against Right-wing Extremism in Berlin (MBR). According to the organisations’ mandates, both allegedly combat “Antisemitism”. MBR also deals with fighting “Right-wing extremism”.
In a serious violation of the right to privacy, RIAS Berlin and MBR selectively distorted online data including Anna’s personal information, her academic publications on Israel/Palestine, and her opposition to resolutions condemning the widely supported Palestinian movement BDS (Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions). The distortion and distribution of her data amounts to surveillance that seriously interferes with her right to privacy and, in turn, creates a chilling effect on her freedom of expression by instilling the fear that her every move is constantly monitored.
If you think the secret circulation of data with the aim to defame critical voices has no place in a democratic society, make sure you support this case by making a donation.
As RIAS Berlin denied Dr. Younes’ request to access her personal data, she filed a complaint before the Berlin Data Protection Authority (DPA) in June 2020, with the support of lawyer Armin Grimm and the European Legal Support Center (ELSC). Almost two years later, the DPA has still not issued a final decision, seemingly halting the finalisation of the investigation.
In order to seek justice and push back against such anti-democratic practices aimed at silencing critical voices, Dr. Younes filed two lawsuits in April 2022:
1. An administrative complaint against the DPA, since it has failed in issuing a final decision after more than one and a half years.
2. A civil lawsuit against the Association for a Democratic Culture in Berlin (VDK e.V. - the legal entity responsible for RIAS Berlin and MBR) requesting the release of her data.
Other individuals sent privacy-related requests to RIAS Berlin because they feared being observed and having their data included in secret dossiers by RIAS due to their critical stance on Israeli domestic and foreign policy. Following the same pattern, RIAS refused to give access to any of their data. Some are unconvinced by this response and now intend to join Dr. Younes' actions.
UPDATE: On 6 May 2022, the Berlin District Court upheld Dr. Younes’ claims and ordered VDK to give Anna Younes access to data that the two civil society organisations had gathered on her and passed on to others. The information released so far reveals that RIAS and MBR have been collecting people’s personal data based on their “positions on Israel and BDS.” Read more here.
The fight is not over. Anna Younes will now request damages in court, as RIAS/MBR prevented her from accessing her information for approximately two years. We will also challenge RIAS and MBR on their limitation of the review of Anna Younes' data to the dossier. Other activists could also join the civil lawsuit.
Although the DPA finally took action and warned RIAS, we are still waiting for a final decision from the DPA. The outcome of the administrative lawsuit will depend on this final decision.
Why is it important to support this case?
Dr Younes’ case is emblematic of the wider trend of disinformation campaigns launched against critical anti-racist and decolonial voices that expose systems of injustice. Many other scholars, journalists and activists have been facing a similar situation in Germany. Dr. Younes is thus not alone in an experience of illegitimate character assassinations and disinformation campaigns - yet her case exemplifies the architecture of silencing in Germany via methods of surveillance against researchers and academics. This anti-democratic trend is often pushed through the use of the “IHRA Definition of Antisemitism“ - that has been widely criticised by many scholars, civil society organisations, and experts on anti-Jewish racism - must be stopped.
The global solidarity Anna’s case attained, through the support of around 500 scholars, activists, journalists, artists and civil society organisations, reflects the urgency of our collective action against silencing tactics imposed on Palestinian rights advocates, especially in Germany. Many of the signatories have been victims of similar disinformation campaigns before. Only persistent challenging of such structures and the reiteration of public support can bring about change in the future, which is why this case is not only paradigmatic for anti-Palestinian sentiments in Germany, but also representative of many other cases.
Join our fight against all types of racism and support the case by donating and amplifying this call!
If you believe that transparency and accountability are core values in knowledge production and in a democratic society, please make a donation.
How will your donation be used?
All funds donated to this case will be used to cover the legal costs of this case:
- Court fees
- Lawyer fees
- Expert opinions and advocacy fees
The minimal costs to cover that are estimated between 5000 and 10.000 euros.
In case the donations amount to more than needed for this case, donations will be used for other projects challenging censorship of Palestinian rights advocates in Germany.
How much money should I donate?
It is essential that people give what they can. Whether you are able to donate 10, 50, or 100 Euros or more is up to you. We welcome every donation and we will make sure to amplify the voices for a democratic knowledge production in Germany and freedom of expression for Palestinian rights advocates.
Sign the letter of support to Dr. Younes and other scholars and activists
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