Some people - mostly anti-woke Americans - think that there is reduced freedom of speech in Germany because you can go to jail for denying the holocaust or Nazi slogans.
Not sure if OP meant that but I saw that opinion around.
Not sure if OP meant that but I saw that opinion around.
For the record, supporting Palestine's right to exist doesn't mean support of Hamas, and many Germans are totally able to express one without the other.
That is absolutely bullshit. Netanyahu showed maps with Gaza included in Israel even at the UN, and his coalition including many far right fringe figures actively and publicly advocate for the genocide / ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, encourage settlement in the West Bank and even go as far as publicly saying Gaza should be nuked. Many in Israel would be happy if Palestine stopped existing all together.
> whether they support Israel's right to exist.
That's where I differentiate between supporting Palestine's right to exist, and supporting Hamas which denies Israel's right to exist. Although you're right, one can dislike Hamas for religious or whatever reasons, but still agree with their mission and not support Israel's right to exist. But merely saying Palestine has the right to exist shouldn't elicit a response of "this is antisemitic and denying Israel has a right to exist" which it way too often does.
In any case, there are far more people supporting Palestine than Hamas. But sadly, there are people (like the crazies in Essen yesterday) who absolutely do support Hamas and hate everything Jewish and Israeli. They should be restricted severely (if refugees/migrants - expelled immediately; if citizens, arrested for hate speech and sent to mandatory education courses).
> I know you think that everybody agrees with you
Of course not. Many people don't see the issues with hate speech of these types and proportions. Some think any type of speech is acceptable, and I disagree with that.
> those who don't also needs to be sent to the camps
Getting a little cartoonish, aren't we?
Not in the slightest. This is a democracy, and there is rule of law. Criminal codes, including punishments and educational programs are decided by elected lawmakers.
I recommend this documentary for you to see what paths your thoughts lead down. Note that the methods were invented in Germany.
You really need to think why did you jump to fucking Guantanamo when talking about educating prisoners. You might be American and simply not know better humanity with your inhumane prison industrial complex, but not every country is the same. Most criminals deserve a second chance, and helping them get educated is probably giving them the best shot at that, while also benefiting the wider society by reducing recidivism.
Also, neither torture nor concentration camps were invented in Germany.
Voluntary theatre courses and university studies was not the first thing I thought about when you were talking about "mandatory education courses", especially given that the reason why you want to put these people in prison or camps in the first place is for their opinions.
> Also, neither torture nor concentration camps were invented in Germany.
The documentary is about a specific form of brainwashing that they call "re-patterning", which was invented in Germany and then later widely spread throughout the world in the 20th century.
The key point is that with forceful re-education you will achieve two things:
1. You will destroy innocent people's minds and their lives. 2. The bad guys will become even more strengthened in their resolve after they've been released.
There is a long list here of people who were subject to US torture and brainwashing, who then probably returned to terrorist activity:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_former_Guantanamo_Bay...
That's the results of re-education, and that's one more reason why mandatory re-education shouldn't be put in practice.
Germany probably has the least free speech of the developed world.
Not sure what other "opinions" you are alluding to.
Who has been jailed for that in Germany? Genuinely curious.
I mean, as long as you are aware of how autoritarian this is...
I think some laws in the US are also super authoritarian, just in a different direction.
Does the US have a 10 times higher rate of incarceration per capita as Germany?
Yes it does.
I think that's more authoritarian than making holocaust denial illegal.
As long as you are fine with that ok I guess...