Tunisia: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung's 'silence on Gaza' sets off mass resignation in youth program

In the wake of the Israeli war on Gaza, several pro-Palestine people from the region and beyond resigned from their positions in Western intuitions and companies that have yet to acknowledge ongoing crimes Israel is committing in Gaza.

MENA

2 min read

Basma El Atti

Rabat

02 November, 2023

The former participants in the youth academy program GAV deemed Stiftung's actions a violation of the contract they signed with the institution. [Getty]

In Tunisia, over ten participants in German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung's (FES) GAV Youth Academie program withdrew their participation over the institution's silence on the crimes committed against the Palestinian people by Israel.

"We inform public opinion that this decision was the expected result of the failure of the dialogue with Friedrich Ebert’s office in Tunisia," reads the statements published on 31 October and signed by 15 participants.

The statement says that the Tunis-based institution previously shared a post in solidarity with Palestine, but it removed it a day later following "restrictions from the headquarters" in Berlin.

The former participants in the youth academy program GAV deemed Stiftung's actions a violation of the contract they signed with the institution, which reportedly states FES' commitment to human rights and working for a society of equality and democracy.

"Considering the Zionist entity is an occupation entity that violates international law under the protection of several powers, being neutral vis-a-vis the crimes committed in Gaza is a crime itself," added the participants, vowing to boycott all the institution's future activities.

"The FES office in Tunisia openly expressed its support for the Palestinian people in the face of the Israeli crimes committed in Gaza and the West Bank, but unfortunately, our statement was withdrawn," wrote a spokesperson from FES Tunis when contacted by The New Arab.

"The decision of the young leaders was the consequence," they added.

Asking about the reasons behind the withdrawal of the solidarity statement, the Tunis FES office said, "It has no answer to that."

In the wake of the Israeli war on Gaza, several pro-Palestine people from the Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) region and beyond resigned from their positions in Western intuitions and companies that have yet to acknowledge what many legal and historical experts are exceedingly describing as the ongoing genocide Israel is committing in Gaza, killing over 8000 people - mostly children and women.