UNREST RADIO

February 19, 2020. Hanau, Germany. Nine people murdered at two shisha bars by a white supremacist terrorist. Six years later, on January 10, 2026—just five weeks ago—İbrahim Akkuş became the tenth victim, dying at age 70 from injuries sustained that night.

This chapter examines Hanau as part of a pattern: the National Socialist Underground—NSU murders (10 killed, 2000-2007), Halle (2019), Walter Lübcke (2019), and ongoing racist violence. We look at how warnings were ignored, how the emergency exit was locked (Forensic Architecture investigation showed five people could have survived), how emergency calls went unanswered, and how police initially detained Turkish, Kurdish, and Arab people—not looking for a white supremacist. In 2021, it emerged that 20 elite police officers suspended for being right-wing extremists were the ones who responded in Hanau.

When white Germans kill, they're called "mentally ill" or "lone actors." Tabloids like BILD speculated about "gang wars" and "Muslim milieus." White German society responds to being called racist with more outrage than to the racism itself.

The families formed Initiative 19. Februar Hanau. They demand four things: Remembrance, Justice, Clarification, Consequences. Six years later, Germany gave them monuments and nothing else.

This isn't new. The logic that decides who belongs and who is expendable has roots in Germany's genocidal colonialism in Namibia (1904-1908). Until that's confronted—not just commemorated—the pattern continues.

İbrahim Akkuş's death barely made news. Germany has moved on. The conditions that enabled Hanau remain.

unneutral — from unrest radio

research & commentary: saad shahriar

"Don't make everything political."

You've heard it. But what does that phrase actually do? And who benefits when we accept it?

This first chapter of Unneutral starts with integration courses in Germany—where migrants learn "German values" like gender equality (while Germany has an 18% pay gap) and punctuality (while trains run 63% on time). Then we trace a line through Namibia, where 1% of the population still owns 70% of the land, 30 years after independence. And we look at right now: Germany increasing arms to Israel tenfold since October 2023, while the death toll of Palestinians reaches 680,000 during the ongoing genocide, while classrooms still teach "never again."

Politics doesn't start in parliament. It starts wherever power touches life.

unneutral — a new series of commentary from unrest radio.

Germany vowed “Never Again.”

Yet today, it arms genocide, criminalizes Palestinian and Jewish dissent, and disappears humanitarian witnesses.

In this explosive episode:

• We expose the interception of the Madleen—a ship carrying 12 humanitarian workers intercepted in international waters while trying to deliver aid to Gaza. Those aboard include:

Baptiste Andre, Greta Thunberg, Mark van Rennes, Omar Faiad, Pascal Maurieras, Reva Viard, Rima Hassan, Sergio Toribio, Suayb Ordu, Thiago Avila, Yanis Mhamdi, Yasemin Acar.

• We revisit Iris Hefets, a senior Jewish activist with Jewish Voice for Just Peace, brutally detained five times in Berlin and injured for protesting this genocide.

• We confront Germany’s hypocrisy—its “reason of state” now shields bombs, cracks down on protests, and suppresses Palestinian and Jewish voices against genocide.

This is not about antisemitism.

This is not about security.

This is colonialism. Ethnonationalism. Empire.

If you’re silent, you’re complicit.

If you’re “patient,” you’re postponing justice.

This is 1939—for Palestinians.

Listen now.

Resist the genocide.

Narration: Zahid

Produced by: Saad & Zahid

More information(s)

- https://www.juedische-stimme.de/en_US

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_Freedom_Flotilla

- https://freedomflotilla.org/

What happens when solidarity with Palestine becomes a criminal act? Why was Palestine Solidarity Duisburg banned by the NRW Ministry of the Interior in May 2024? What does it mean to be accused of “psychological support of terror” and anti-Semitism without clear evidence?

In this episode, we speak to a spokesperson from the banned group, who reveals the truth behind the 61-page ban order filled with accusations of terrorism, anti-Semitism, and more. How did police raids, media manipulation, and political motivations play a role in their persecution? Can the state justify silencing political dissent under the guise of security? What do recent court rulings say about the legality of such bans on pro-Palestinian solidarity groups?

The episode was recorded in German on September 25, 2024, and then edited and read in English by Usama. Interview transcribed and translated (German-English) by Jazz.

**Timestamps for the two versions below.

Tune in as we ask these crucial questions and uncover the political dynamics behind the repression of Palestinian activism in Germany.

**Timestamps:

German original - 4:23

English translation - 01:03:33

Episode producer: Jazz

One year into the Palestinian genocide, we bear witness to its horrors in real time—and Germany, one of the complicit states, plays a critical role. Across the country, a growing number of people are standing in solidarity with Palestinians, confronting a power structure determined to silence dissent. But solidarity is no longer enough. In Berlin, resistance against the authoritarian state has intensified, with protesters facing brutal repression by police forces who are violently targeting Palestinians, Arabs, and people from the Global South.

The peaceful demonstrations have been met with police brutality, raids, and escalating violence. The repressive measures being taken by the state are chillingly reminiscent of Germany’s dark past, raising a critical question: Is the country repeating its bloody history?

In this episode, we speak with Yasemin, a Berlin-based human rights activist, who shares her harrowing experience of having her home raided, being held at gunpoint, and receiving death threat. Just days after our interview, her home was raided again, and she now faces a social media ban. You can follow her updates on Instagram via her backup account: @yaseminacr_2.

Despite enduring police raids and death threats, Yasemin remains unwavering. Far from burnout, she continues to resist with immense strength and determination.

In this powerful episode, Julian Assange makes his first public statement since his release from prison, addressing the legal affairs and human rights committee of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Speaking to lawmakers from 46 European nations, Assange delivers a fiery denunciation of Western imperialism, corporate media complicity, and the erosion of civil liberties. He shares the personal toll of his detention while condemning global elites' efforts to suppress truth and transparency. Assange’s message is a call to arms for activists and truth-seekers, urging resistance against state oppression and the silencing of dissent.

Assange Campaign - https://www.action.assangecampaign.org.au/?pc=in1

AFD’s recent victories are the result of a society that hasn’t fully come to terms with its past and continues to overlook large portions of its population. The far-right’s rise will persist until Germany, including its left-wing, addresses the root causes of extremism.

Germany’s history of colonial violence, racism, and genocide—from early 20th-century East Africa to the Holocaust—still leaves scars today. The resurgence of far-right movements and support for oppressive regimes like Israel's point to a continuity of these ideologies, revealing a need to dismantle systemic violence.

Listen to “Germany: Old Ghosts, New Shadows,” available in multiple languages.

**TIMESTAMPS

Collaborations (narration and translation): Jazz, Joseph Puglisi, Karaca, Mahmuda Akhter, and Razi Haider Gilani.

Produced by Joseph Puglisi, Saad Shahriar.

Music credit: Stop the Palestinian Genocide - aRPA (music played in the beginning of each narration).

It can be hard to imagine life in Gaza outside of the constant terror, the bombings, and the continuous tragedy of the Palestinians. It's hard to even imagine anything about Gaza at all, bombed as we are by constant propaganda and fear mongering. So we sat down with Muath, who lived there for most of his childhood and adult life, and he painted for us a picture of a place where life exists, like everywhere else, with daily tragedy, resistance, and, of course, with humour.

The episode was recorded in Arabic, and then translated and read in English by our comrade Ghassan, who also did the art for the episode.

**Timestamps for the two versions below.

In the first part of the conversation, Muath talks about his own family history and how it ties into the plight of the Palestinian people and the ongoing genocide. In the second part we talk about day to day life in Gaza, its struggles, and some of the misconceptions associated with it, even by people in solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Finally, in the third part we discussed resistance and solidarity, and what anyone can do to help, even in the slightest, in the face of the overwhelming tragedy.

Timestamps:

Arabic original - 4:10

English translation - 20:50

___________________________

Art and translation by: Ghassan

Follow Leneșx Radio (https://linktr.ee/lenesxradio)

STOP GENOCIDE: MADE IN GERMANY 

a music track by anonymous artist for unrest radio 

full lyrics:

Hello Germany

Where is your tax money

Open your eyes and look around

Is your money funding Nazis

Your history fooled you

you never learned

Your racism shows as Arabs burn 

Your racism shows when you accuse Jews

Calling them anti-Semites

is your brain screwed

Hating on those who fight for rights

Your tax money's gonna bomb Palestine

Hating on them coz your guilt is white

Your ignorance is killing Palestine 

And your silence is creating Frankenstein

And your violence is creating Frankenstein

Don’t be so cowardly with your Nazi legacy

Stop the fucking genocide

Stop the fucking genocide

I said stop the fucking genocide 

Made in Germany

Germany’s repression of artists in solidarity with Palestine has targeted Hamja Ahsan, an award-winning artist, writer and activist, based in London, England, who makes artwork on Halal Fried Chicken. In this podcast, he tells the story of how his dream of curating the prestigious Documenta 15 turned into a protracted nightmare. 

The heat around the 2022 Documenta exhibition, which takes place in Kassel, Germany every 5 years, still generates headlines, echoing in the current Berlinale Film Festival fiasco. During the 100 days of the exhibition, and its run up and aftermath, Ahsan and many of the artists faced a barrage of McCarthyism, censorship, vandalism, media smear campaigns, violent threats and racist attacks.

An ongoing solidarity campaign with the bullied artist has emerged around the hashtag #HandsOffDocumenta.

As part of its war on Artists supporting the BDS campaign, the Axel Springer newspaper BILD made the artist Hamja Ahsan into a national media sensation during the Documenta exhibition. Ahsan was demonised for two facebook comments criticising German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as a “Neoliberal fascist pig”; with a following comment criticising the meeting between Scholz and disgraced British prime minister Boris Johson as a “two pigs”. Hamja’s comments were met with a barrage of calls to deport him, disinvite him, “burn” and ban his artwork, and to stop his right to speak in Germany.

At the time of recording this, Ahsan faces trial in Germany, for these comments. He is being prosecuted, accused of sedition ("Volksverhetzung"), despite living in England and not being a citizen of Germany. Ahsan faces a 12,000 euro fine or the possibility of months in prison. His trial date is 12th june 2024.

We talked to Hamja about the absolute collapse of journalistic integrity in Germany and he reflects how this process has only been on steroids for months as part of the genocidal siege on Gaza, by silencing dissent and persecuting anti-war voices. Ahsan’s instagram account @realdocumenta chronicling this was legally threatened, sensationalised and shut down by current Documenta CEO Andreas Hoffmann.

In fact, we covered many other things, from Germany's far-right turn, the AfD surge and the role of neurodiverse people in public institutions that his influential book Shy Radicals covers.

Ahsan is currently writing his second book Radical Chicken where his story will continue.

To support the solidarity campaign and Ahsan’s legal funds: https://www.gofundme.com/f/solidarity-with-artist-hamja-ahsan-fund

The Documenta 15 artists collective statements on repression and solidarity: https://werefuseweareangry.wordpress.com/  "Documenta Racism Crisis" Earlier in-depth interview with Hamja Ahsan in Left Berlin from 2022: https://www.theleftberlin.com/antisemitism-or-merely-allegiance-to-german-foreign-policy/

Discussion moderated by Ionuț / unrest radio.