German envoy confronted at Lahore rights conference by pro-Palestine protester over Gaza conflict
Source: PSC Socials (Screenshots)
Tensions erupted at the Asma Jahangir Conference in Lahore on Sunday when a pro-Palestine protester confronted the German ambassador over the country's role in the Gaza conflict.
German Ambassador to Pakistan Ina Lepel was speaking at the 6th Asma Jahangir Conference in Lahore that brought together jurists, human rights advocates and political figures who addressed issues related to fundamental rights, democracy, judicial independence and international law. The conference is a two-day forum organised in collaboration with the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Pakistan Bar Council.
The ambassador was speaking at a session focused on disability rights.
In a post on X, left-wing, independent student organisation Progressive Students’ Collective (PSC) said its president, Ali Abdullah Khan, questioned the German Ambassador on her "audacity to speak on disability while her government is funding the disabling of children in Gaza".
The video it attached showed him interrupting Lepel as she was about to speak, accusing Germany of complicity in what he described as genocide in Gaza and linking Berlin’s arms exports to Israel the mass disabling of Palestinian children.
“Children have been disabled in Gaza by the very weapons provided by your country. Do you oppose this genocide? Are you ashamed of the role of your country?” he said during the session.
He added: “You have to answer this before you start speaking on genocide. … Yet more than 12,000 children have been disabled in Gaza by the very weapons provided by Germany. How do you expect us to hear from her on disabilities?”
The video showed that the ambassador declined to respond to the remarks while the session’s moderator asked the PSC president to wait until the end, but he refused and began chanting pro-Palestinian slogans before being asked to leave.
President PSC @AliAbdullahK_ questioned the German Ambassador at the Asma Jahangir Conference on her audacity to speak on disability while her government is funding the disabling of children in G@za#AJConf #Lahore pic.twitter.com/1t0sQ3TZ96
The group alleged that the organisers "hassled students" who asked the questions.
"It is highly hypocritical of the organisers to hold 'human rights conference' but are not only inviting individuals from the countries who have committed one of the worst human rights abuses in Gaza by supporting Israel but also are not allowing students to question and hold these individuals accountable," it said.
Committed one of the worst human rights abuses in Gaza by supporting Israel but also are not allowing students to question and hold these individuals accountable.
A video it posted showed a tense exchange of words between the protesters and other people with the former defending their right to ask questions while accusing the organisers of hypocrisy.
Academic Nida Kirmani expressed support for the group's actions, saying that the "contradictions of this system must be exposed" and the conference should welcome such protests.
"Everyone knows they operate under various constraints. Such protests allow deeper critiques to be voiced."
I'm on @AliAbdullahK_ & the @PSCollective_'s side; the contradictions of this system must be exposed. The Asma Jahangir conference should welcome such protests, honestly. Everyone knows they operate under various constraints. Such protests allow deeper critiques to be voiced. https://t.co/5kDy6WADH8
Germany’s role in the Gaza conflict has drawn increasing scrutiny amid data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which shows that Germany supplied around 30% of Israel’s arms imports between 2019 and 2023.
In 2023 alone, Germany approved €326.5 million in military exports to Israel, a tenfold increase from the previous year. Since 2003, Germany has exported more than €3.3 billion worth of military equipment to Israel, including naval assets that rights groups say have been used in operations affecting Gaza.
A similar incident occurred at the 2024 Asma Jahangir Conference when Germany’s then-ambassador Alfred Grannas faced disruption while speaking on civil rights. Protesters questioned his presence at the rights forum, arguing it was incongruous to lecture on civil liberties while Germany supported Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Chants of “Free, Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea” filled the venue, and Grannas told demonstrators that “shouting is not dialogue… if you wish to shout, do so outside,” before organisers escorted them from the event.
Read: German envoy called out for ‘lecture’ on civil rights
The envoy's remarks were criticised at the time.
Last month, Israeli media reported, citing senior military officials, that Israel’s military accepted that around 70,000 Palestinians were killed during the fighting in Gaza,marking a shift from its earlier scepticism over death tolls issued by Gaza’s health authorities.
The United Nations has long treated casualty figures recorded by Gaza’s health ministry as credible.
The Gaza health ministry publishes the names and ages of those it records as killed and now says the death toll has exceeded 71,000, including more than 480 people killed in Israeli attacks since the start of a United States-brokered ceasefire in October. It says thousands more are believed to be buried under rubble in Gaza’s devastated cities.