Pendants and jewelry that erase Israel are sold at a Berlin Christmas market. Why an extremism researcher sees this as a new stage.
Dec 2, 2025, 4:06 amDec 2, 2025, 4:06 am
Johannes Nuss / t-online
Directly at the entrance to the Christmas market on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, a stand is causing outrage: a dealer is selling jewelry, tableware and accessories on which the entire Israeli territory is depicted as part of Palestine. Israel does not exist on any of the products. The newspapers “BZ” and “Bild” drew attention to the offer.
Controversial souvenirs are sold at the Berlin Christmas market.Image: www.imago-images.de
When a reporter asked whether Israel was missing from the outline, a salesman replied: “No, no, that is Palestine, not Israel.” So does Israel not exist? The answer: no. A woman at the stand then became angry, filmed the journalist and threatened to call the police.
Berlin authorities see no violation of the law
However, the Berlin authorities see no violation of the law. Anyone who denies Israel or denies the country’s right to exist is not automatically committing a crime, the police said. The prerequisite is a connection to banned organizations such as Hamas.
Extremism researcher Hendrik Hansen assesses the case differently. He told Die Welt that such items were also sold in Jerusalem – but in the direct conflict area. The fact that this is now happening at a Berlin Christmas market shows that anti-Semitic anti-Zionism has reached the center of society. Anyone who denies Jews the right to their own state is clearly acting anti-Semitic – even if it is not punishable.
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