France Insoumise legislator Emma Fourreau was recently scheduled to speak about the Gaza aid flotillas at Die Linke’s Berlin headquarters, but her talk was canceled. She writes in Jacobin about why speaking up for Palestine is a duty for the Left.

On Tuesday, November 18, I was meant to address a meeting at Berlin’s Karl Liebknecht Haus, headquarters of left-wing party Die Linke. There I was supposed to speak about the flotillas in solidarity with Gaza, in which I have myself participated. Yet the event was canceled a few hours before it was due to begin.

The reason was clear: some people found the subject of the talk, namely Palestine, too unsettling. In this case, the building’s owners bowed to pressure from an Islamophobic think tank and invented the risk of a protest in front of the venue as grounds to call off the event. An appeal from a Die Linke member of parliament was to no avail: the talk was banned.

This episode tells us a lot. In Germany, even within the Left, the possibility of talking about the genocide in Palestine can’t be taken for granted.

Our event had originally been supposed to take place in one of Berlin’s universities, but none of them wanted to host a discussion on Palestine. We thought we would find refuge in a left-wing institution — a site in Berlin where human consciousness has learned from historical guilt and is able to recognize the horrors of the past repeating themselves.

This was partly true. That same day, I met with young people from a Die Linke youth organization, Linksjugend, who are resolutely in favor of peace, campaign for an end to Israeli settler colonialism, and denounce the genocide in Palestine. I met with a Die Linke MP from Berlin who publicly and unambiguously condemns Israel’s war crimes and speaks out for a resolutely anti-colonialist left. I have been contacted by many comrades and elected representatives of Die Linke who condemn this ban and reiterate their support for the voices of peace.

This should already be the case, for this is the responsibility of the Left, core to its dignity: to never lose its bearings. Palestine is one such compass. For we are guided by freedom for oppressed peoples, justice for colonized peoples, and reparations for peoples who have been victims of genocide — not only on the European continent.

This is the responsibility of the Left. Yet the Left sometimes — indeed too often — fails on that count. When part of the French left howls with the wolves against La France Insoumise and accuses its comrades of antisemitism simply for pointing out Israel’s crimes, it has lost its compass. When what passes for a “left-wing” government in Britain endorses Donald Trump’s colonial plan for Gaza and represses demonstrations in support of Palestine, it has lost its compass. When the German left refuses to use the word “genocide” and to host a talk on the flotillas for Gaza, it has lost its compass.

Germany obviously has a complex history and a heavy legacy from its past. Today it must make good use of that legacy, recognizing that “Never Again” applies regardless of the perpetrator. Recognizing that its compass should not be a matter of “whom” something is done to but “what” is being done. When genocide is taking place before our eyes, when all international bodies are denouncing it, it is impossible to look away. Our duty is to stand with the oppressed, not the oppressors.

Because yes, this is genocide, and it needs saying. When 92 percent of homes and 95 percent of schools in Gaza have been destroyed by Israel, that is genocide. When more than 1,700 health professionals, more than 250 journalists, and nearly 600 humanitarian workers have died under the bombs, that is genocide. Yes, missiles and bombs striking schools, hospitals, refugee tents, caregivers, and journalists, taking away all hope of survival — that is genocide. Yes, destroying the land, the crops, ensuring that nothing will grow back — that is genocide.

The Left, even more in Germany than elsewhere in the world, has this responsibility: to stand firm, to follow the compass, to tell the truth as it really is. Part of the German left understands this and is pushing in this direction. Those who oppose doing so must return to the fundamentals of the Left and of simple humanity and face up to the truth of their situation. The reality is that, in the name of the past, which is reduced to merely ritualistic commemorations that fail to draw political lessons, some are prepared to accept and justify all manner of criminality. This is not only morally reprehensible but also politically dangerous. For it makes genocide invisible and isolates the defenders of peace and human rights.

I would like to reiterate here my full support and affection for those who, within their parties or their countries, never bow their heads when it comes to the fundamentals of humanity and are prepared to pay the price for that stance. We in La France Insoumise know what that means, as we have been slandered, insulted, and dragged through the mud for two years. I can imagine what strength it must take to stand up to one’s own comrades and to endure false accusations. But we must persevere, despite the adversity, because that is where our honor lies: the compass of humanism.

Nothing will change through the goodwill of our rulers, least of all in Germany. For that reason, we on the Left must force this change, in people’s thinking and in the country at large. We must keep our eyes open and open the eyes of those around us, to change people’s thinking. Of course, that job is harder in Germany than in Spain or Greece, considering that even on Nakba Remembrance Day the Berlin police violently attack demonstrators. But the strength of the activists who fight for our high ideal of humanity is all the greater.

This episode should not lead us to blanketly dismiss the whole German left. But it reminds us that the fight for Palestine is still far from enough of a common cause in Germany — and that some accomplices are still hiding throughout society, including on the Left.

Still, there is hope. Young people are doing their bit, and attitudes are beginning to change. Soon enough, Germany will be able to say, “Never again — neither here nor anywhere else.”

This post was originally published on Jacobin.