Turkish German comedian facing charges over video criticizing Israel's Gaza offensive

By Timo Kirez

GENEVA (AA) - A well-known comedian in German-speaking countries is facing charges of incitement to hatred after posting a video criticizing Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, Swiss daily 20 Minuten reported on Thursday.

In January Kaya Yanar, a German with Turkish roots who lives on Lake Zurich in Switzerland, posted a video on YouTube playing a Turkish driving instructor character talking about the Middle East conflict. In the role, he accuses the Israeli government of lying and falsifying evidence.

In the video, titled "Lie!" Yanar accuses the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu government of killing many people in the Gaza Strip who have nothing to do with Hamas.

"'Never again' is now, and that's why I'm calling for a cease-fire," says Yanar at the end of his video, using the well-known slogan urging no more Holocausts.

Charges now been filed in Germany against the comedian with Turkish roots for incitement to hatred. The police and public prosecutor in Osnabruck, in the German state of Lower Saxony, confirmed receipt of the lawsuit to 20 Minuten.

"A corresponding matter has been reported to the police and referred to the Osnabruck public prosecutor's office for legal assessment," the paper quoted the police as saying.

Speaking to German daily Der Westen on Friday, Kaya said he had only been concerned with countering attempts to justify the war on Gaza.

Yanar had already reacted to the criticism of his video by German-language Jewish newspaper Judische Allgemeine on Instagram at the beginning of February.

"The accusation of antisemitism that some keyboard acrobats from German editorial offices are now trying to conjure up is unfounded and hurtful," Yanar wrote.

He added: "How can you conclude from a criticism of a government's military action that you hold the people of Israel and even beyond that all people of the Jewish faith responsible for it? This way of thinking feels racist to me and is not my way of thinking."

- 'Cancel culture' hits critics of war

In Germany, there have recently been more and more examples of a so-called cancel culture in connection with statements critical of Israel.

In Frankfurt, three mayoral candidates want to prevent Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters from performing in the Festhalle. The 80-year-old musician is a critic of Israeli politics and supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign.

The German Heinrich Boll Foundation came under fire last month for withdrawing from an award ceremony because of a prize winner's critical remarks on the Israeli attacks on Gaza.

The decision came after several Israeli lobby groups criticized this year's prize winner, prominent author Masha Gessen, for their statement that Gaza had become "like a Jewish ghetto in an Eastern European country occupied by Nazi Germany."

Bosnian novelist Lana Bastasic announced three weeks ago that she terminated her contract with a German publisher in protest of its silence on the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

"I feel that it is my moral and ethical duty to terminate my contract with S. Fischer. Not only has the publisher failed to be vocal about the ongoing genocide happening in Gaza but they have also kept quiet on the systematic censorship happening in Germany for the last two months," Bastasic, 37, said on Instagram.

She said cutting ties as an all-out boycott of German cultural institutions over the government’s pro-Israel stance divides opinion.