For decades, across Europe and the US, acts of solidarity with Palestine have been silenced by states, and by institutions. Since the genocide in Gaza escalated, from October 2023 onwards, incidents of repression have increased across civil society. The Index presents data collected by the ELSC, drawing patterns between hundreds of such incidents. The project’s first phase focuses on Germany.

Despite widespread recognition of the growing risk of genocide in Gaza, Germany continues to offer military support to Israel through the supply of arms. Our report on past, current, and potential future arms export licences and deliveries from Germany to Israel supports an urgent application filed by Berlin-based lawyers on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza to stop all such exports.

On 19 February 2020, nine people were murdered in a racist terror attack in Hanau, Germany. After the attack, the perpetrator went to his house, where he killed his mother, and himself. Police knew the perpetrator’s address early on but did not storm the house for almost five hours. We were asked by the victims’ families and the Initiative 19. Februar to examine how the police operation unfolded.

On 19 February 2020, in Hanau, Germany, a racist terror attack left nine people dead, six of them in or near the local Arena bar. There are reports that the bar’s emergency exit was routinely locked, and the victims of the attack didn’t run towards it for that reason. We examined whether, had they tried to do so, and it had been open, they could have survived the attack.