A Palestinian will have his newly acquired German citizenship revoked after posting a photo showing support for Hamas, writes The Telegraph.
A day after celebrating the arrival of his German passport, the man, referred to only as Abdallah, uploaded a photo to Instagram showing Hamas fighters with the caption “heroes of Palestine.”
Shortly afterwards, he received a letter from Germany’s Interior Ministry stating that his citizenship had been revoked, according to local newspaper Bild.
Germany has gone further than most European countries to punish support for Hamas and curb pro-Palestinian support, out of what it sees as a historic obligation to Israel and to right the injustices of its N*zi past, the Telegraph reports.
In 2024, it reformed its citizenship laws to require applicants to respect “its free democratic order and Germany’s special historical responsibility” towards Jewish life.
New questions were also added to the German citizenship test regarding Jewish life and Israel’s “right to exist.”
Two eastern German states have forced applicants to write clearly that they believe in “Israel’s right to exist as a place of refuge for all people of Jewish faith.”
At least ten people in the state of Saxony-Anhalt had their applications rejected after failing to complete that section.
While Germany has blocked the path to citizenship based on an applicant’s refusal to recognize Israel as a state, Abdallah’s case is believed to be one of the few cases where citizenship has been revoked.
It is not clear whether he will be deported, given that Germany does not recognize Palestine as a state.
