A leading Jewish organization in Germany slammed a ruling by an administrative court that the city of Munich cannot ban the renting of rooms for BDS events.
The court concluded that the city of Munich could not prevent public facilities from being rented for events promoting the BDS movement as municipalities did not have the right to abrogate freedom of expression on the basis of content, Jüdische Allgemeine reported.
“Freedom of opinion is a great public good. But antisemitism is not an opinion. The decision of the city of Munich not to lend public spaces to such events in the literal sense of the word was therefore very welcome,” Central Council of Jews President Dr. Josef Schuster said.
The Central Council denounced the court decision for not taking into account the antisemitic nature of BDS and anti-Israel boycotts.
“People who spread antisemitism with their hostility towards Israel should not be given a platform. The ruling is a setback in the fight against antisemitism and for the cohesion of society,” Schuster said.
He urged German federal and state governments to enact regulations dealing with BDS events so that municipalities can have tools to ensure such events do not make use of rented public spaces, noting that such legislation would be consistent with a previous parliamentary resolution on BDS from 2019.