Tentative Title: “TK QUOTE”: The Twice-Expelled Syrian Palestinians of Germany

I plan to write my final on the Palestinian refugees in Berlin, specifically the Palestinian refugees who arrived in Berlin after living in Syrian Palestinian refugee camps. I hope to tell a story about their changing relationship to their national and cultural identity in light of their displacement, first from their homeland, then from Syria. I hope to interview specifically those who were displaced from the Yarmouk camp and have relocated to Germany. I will contextualize my writing with the current war crime tribunal being processed by the German Federal Prosecutors Office, where five men “suspected of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Palestinian refugee camp of Damascus” will be tried for their alleged complicity in the Siege of Yarmouk, where pro-Assad soldiers and allied militias cracked down on peaceful anti-government protests and violently suppressed them. Food, medicine, and humanitarian aid were also cut off completely during July 2013, resulting in 200 civilians dying of starvation and typhus. The camp was almost destroyed in 2015 via barrel bombs.

My article will give a sufficient historical overview of the siege and wider trends of displacement itself, and also cover the personal histories (profile/feature style) of the Palestinians who faced the displacement firsthand. I hope to be able to interview Palestinians who have been impacted by their displacements at different generational levels — from second-generation Palestinians whose parents were expelled via the Nakba and have lived in Germany for a long time, vs. those who more recently immigrated to Germany after the Siege of Yarmouk in 2011, for example. I was given a few Palestinian contacts by the Syrian journalist I interviewed for my previous piece on the TPS status lift — some of whom are in Germany, others who have relocated elsewhere. I can start with those contacts, then hopefully expand. My Alawite friend who attends Princeton also knows of a few friends who could help me contextualize the significance of Syria’s Palestinian refugee camps that I can speak to over the phone. I also hope to interview the press contacts for the ECCHR on the status of the war crimes case, who have been quite responsive in my previous attempts to contact them via email.

I also think it would be great if I could contextualize the Palestinians’ evolving cultural identity in relation to the rise of the AfD party in Germany and their open support for Israel — maybe I can get a quote or two via the AfD speaker event we will have in class and incorporate them into my piece (or just have a brief graf on the history of Germany and Israel-Palestine relations in general.) I want to be careful not to make this piece too much of a political overview of national conflicts and focus more specifically on the stories of the migrants I’m profiling, but I also think this could provide important context to their experiences.

Some questions, then, that I have for the AfD:

1. Israel-Palestine’s been a hot-button topic for German citizens and politicians alike. How do members of the AfD generally approach the topic? In general, is there a unified party consensus on the issue?

2. Anti-immigration is at the heart of AfD’s political mission. What kind of social, material, or cultural benefits do you think German nationals have to gain from anti-immigration policies? Do you think there’s a possibility of detriment? Why?

3. Why specifically does the AfD party have a focus on anti-Muslim immigration? Why not anti-Asian, anti-American, or just anti-immigration in general?

4. Outside of changes to immigration policy, what would you say is a tangible goal that the AfD aims to accomplish within the next 5 years?