Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Post-Racial Racism in Germany: The Case of the Palestinian Question

The aftermath of the events of October 7, 2023, marked a shift in global political discourse surrounding the Palestinian–Israeli conflict, with Germany emerging as a critical site of contested narratives. This paper is part of an independent research exploring the intensification of Islamophobia within Germany’s sociopolitical landscape through the theoretical lens of critical discourse analysis, examining the German political discourse, as expressed by dominant parties in the German parliament and their stance on the Palestinian Question. The analysis begins by tracing historical parallels between antisemitic narratives and Islamophobic discourse and explores the ever-evolving definition of antisemitism in Germany. In addition, this study delves into the newly emerging concept of ‘imported antisemitism’, which has been increasingly invoked in Germany and connected with the rise of the far-right party AFD that uses it to attribute antisemitic attitudes to migrant communities. This narrative, while seemingly advocating for Germany’s historical responsibility toward Jewish communities after the Holocaust, ultimately functions as an excuse to racialize Muslim populations reinforcing Islamophobic tropes and viewing them as securitized threats, a phenomenon which draws parallels with the discourse of Marine Le Pen in France and of Donald Trump in the United States.