A Fellow Soldiers Testimony

This evening is dedicated to Paper Trail Media’s internationally reported investigation into an Israeli military sniper from Munich. The award-winning investigative journalism collective Paper Trail Media, based in Munich, teamed up with international reporters to investigate serious allegations against the Israeli soldier. It all started with an interview with his comrade – which turned out to be a trap. It was conducted under false pretences, but aroused serious suspicion: it concerns the targeted killing of unarmed civilians during their mission in Gaza.

How can this be verified? Interviews with witnesses, experts, ex-soldiers and forensic analyses help to understand the situation on the ground and locate those affected. Time and again, there is talk of an invisible line that the Israeli military is said to have drawn: anyone who crossed it was shot at. But the Palestinian civilian population did not know exactly where this line ran.

Detached from the individual case, there are questions of international law hanging over all of this: what is and is not allowed to happen in a so-called ‘combat zone’? The investigation by Paper Trail Media, ZDF and SPIEGEL attracted international attention. Subsequently, the Süddeutsche Zeitung and international media such as the Israeli newspaper Haaretz also took up the topic.

The ECCHR – European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights – files a complaint with the Federal Public Prosecutor General. The GBA is currently considering launching an investigation against the sniper, who apparently still resides in Munich.

The Munich Gaza Sniper becomes a case for the courts. But is it also a case for the theatre as a forum for discourse? We want to discuss with lawyers, journalists and other guests what responsibility German authorities bear in investigating possible war crimes in Gaza. What must be done when soldiers kill unarmed civilians? And why do we find it so difficult to give this topic space and discuss it?