Antisemitism in parts of Berlin’s queer community has intensified since October 7, leaving many Jewish LGBTQ+ people feeling excluded, intimidated, and unsafe, according to a new report commissioned by Berlin’s Department for Justice and Anti-Discrimination.
The report opens by saying that “antisemitism in Berlin’s queer scenes is not a new phenomenon,” but it has become “increasingly visible since October 7, 2023.”
“Queer activists have mobilized for anti-Israel demonstrations, and there have been attacks on Jews. Those who want to be part of the scene are expected to adopt an anti-Zionist position.”
The report states that antisemitism in queer communities is closely linked to the BDS campaign.
Despite the fact that in 2019, the German Bundestag adopted a resolution “Resolutely Opposing the BDS Movement” and declaring “The arguments and methods of the BDS movement are antisemitic,” the movement is active in Germany.
Ari Elbert, a board member of Keshet Deutschland, the Jewish LGBTQI community in Germany, said his organization has been invited to participate in far fewer events since October 7.
“It’s not always driven exclusively by antisemitic motives,” he told the report. “Allies are attacked, especially in queer-feminist contexts, because people are forced to make a radical decision about which side they are on. Anyone who does not want to take a position comes under enormous pressure. Others are afraid of hostility or boycott campaigns and therefore no longer offer us platforms or spaces.”
A dramatic shift in Berlin's LGBTQ+ community
One interviewee, identified as A.M., described a dramatic shift in Berlin’s LGBTQ+ community following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023:
“The atmosphere has changed dramatically. Conversations about Israel and Palestine have become highly polarized, and being Jewish in queer spaces now often means that people see you as a political position before they see you as a person.”
A.M. said they had personally witnessed openly antisemitic slogans at queer protests and heard people justify violence against Jews in the name of solidarity. A.M. also spoke of the pain of the silence of friends and organizations that normally speak out against discrimination.
“Queer friends and organizations that speak loudly about every other form of injustice suddenly have nothing to say when it comes to antisemitism,” said A.M. “That silence can feel like abandonment.”
As a result, A.M. said they now avoid certain events and venues because they fear becoming a target if they wear a Star of David or openly express their Jewish identity.
One key case study was Berlin’s 2024 Dyke March controversy.
The Dyke March originated in Washington, DC, in 1993 as an explicitly anti-fascist, non-commercial alternative to traditional Pride events centered on lesbians and women. Berlin has hosted its own version since 2013.
Ahead of the 2024 march, organizers held a fundraising event at the Kreuzberg queer bar Möbel Olfe. One promotional flyer displayed two red inverted triangles surrounding the venue’s logo, a symbol widely associated with Hamas.
Concerned by increasing BDS rhetoric, a group of Jewish and non-Jewish queer women attended the fundraiser to ask organizers whether Jews could safely participate in the upcoming march.
They set up a table displaying a sign reading “Safe table for Jews and Israelis” alongside a rainbow flag featuring the Star of David. The report says that other attendees and even the bartender demanded they leave. The atmosphere reportedly became hostile, and police protection was required for the group to leave safely.
The organizers later blamed the Jewish group’s attendance as “an attempt to create division.”
Despite the controversy, the 2024 Dyke March went ahead as planned, and featured chants of “Yallah Intifada,” and several violent arrests of pro-Palestinian activists.
The report also presents Berlin’s club scene as one of the main arenas where conflicts over Israel and Palestine play out.
It says the BDS movement has achieved significant influence within parts of the international electronic music and queer club scene.
This started before October 7: In 2018, the campaign #DJsForPalestine, organized by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (now part of the BDS movement), encouraged DJs not to perform in Israel. The campaign was backed by the Berlin queer collective Room4Resitance.
Immediately after October 7, Room4Resistance promoted an anti-Israel demonstration that was co-organized by Palastina Spricht and Samidoun, which is considered a front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The report also discusses the case of HOR Berlin, an online music streaming platform founded by two Israelis. Beginning in November 2023, the founders were subjected to boycotts and online harassment after asking DJs on two occasions to remove political imagery from broadcasts. Photos of the founders were circulated online alongside claims that they were former Israeli soldiers. The report says numerous artists subsequently requested that their performances be removed from HOR, causing significant financial losses for the company.
'I face antisemitism every day in Berlin'
The report concludes by describing what it says are the real-world consequences of antisemitism within parts of Berlin’s queer community.
“I face antisemitism every day in Berlin,” said A.M. “That is why I am leaving the city, and the country.”
Elbert, a board member of Keshet Deutschland, said, “In Berlin we have reached an extreme point within queer communities. Many Jewish people are fleeing this situation, leaving the city or even moving to Israel despite the war.”
A spokesperson for Dykes, Women and Queers Against Antisemitism said: “Many of us no longer want to express our political views at all; we simply want to be left in peace.”
“Jewish queer people are only allowed to participate if they submit to the prevailing ideology, which clearly dictates which positions are acceptable.”