Berlinale, one of the world’s largest film festivals, announced on X on Sunday that they were launching an investigation into how pro-Palestinian content had been shared on their Instagram account.
“Today, image-text posts about the war in the Middle East, which included the Berlinale logo were posted on Panorama’s Instagram channel,” Berlinale posted online. “These posts did not originate from the festival and do not represent the Berlinale’s position. We immediately deleted them and initiated an investigation into how this incident occurred. We will file criminal charges against unknown persons.
— Berlinale (@berlinale) February 25, 2024
While the post has been deleted from Berlinale’s Instagram account, screenshots of the post circulated on X. The image depicts a man on a horse with the Berlinale logo featured on the bottom corner above the text “FREE PALESTINE” and “From the River to the Sea.”
“From the River to the Sea” is a popular chant used in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, thought to be referencing the land from the Jordanian River to the Mediterranean Sea which encompasses the entire state of Israel. It is based on this understanding that many consider the controversial slogan’s meaning as advocating for the destruction of the state of Israel in favor of a singular Palestinian state.
Berlinale’s other social media controversy
While Berlinale has only publicly commented on an unauthorized Instagram post, the President of the German-Israeli Society posted on X that he had been blocked, and later unblocked, by Berlinale.
“There is still good news. The @berlinale has come to its senses: secretly unblocked it. I can see the Twitter account again,” Volker Beck posted on X on Monday, while sharing a previous post with evidence of being blocked.
Es gibt sie noch die guten Nachrichten. Die @berlinale hat sich besonnen: klammheimlich entblockt. Ich kann ihren twitter-Account wieder sehen. https://t.co/jhiwRvuOOl
— Volker Beck (@Volker_Beck) February 26, 2024
The blocking came as Beck reposted criticism of Berlinale in the form of an article by Judische Algeimeine. The article highlighted criticisms of Berlinale by Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth, who said the festival had been overly critical of Israel.
“The statements at the Berlinale Bear Awards on Saturday evening were shockingly one-sided and characterized by a deep hatred of Israel,” Roth is cited by the paper as having said. “It is not acceptable if, on an evening like this, international filmmakers do not mention the brutal terrorist attack by Hamas on over a thousand people living peacefully and celebrating at a festival and their cruel murder, nor do they say a word about the more than 130 hostages those who are still in the power of Hamas."
Kulturstaatsministerin Claudia Roth will die Skandale um die Berlinale aufarbeiten. Die Erklärungen bei der Verleihung seien »erschreckend einseitig und von einem tiefgehenden Israel-Hass geprägt«, so Roth. https://t.co/kdEYKM0Kmw
— Jüdische Allgemeine (@JuedischeOnline) February 26, 2024