Germany shuts down Palestinian conference and censors academics

Since the Hamas attack in Israel on Oct. 7, Germany has struggled to balance democratic rights and freedom of speech enshrined in its constitution. Last weekend those tensions came to a head in Berlin, as police shut down a conference about Palestine being organized by Arab, Jewish and German organizations. German officials say they are acting on their historic responsibility to protect Israel and Jewish people, activists say the lesson Germany should be taking from its history is the importance of allowing political dissent.

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