The city of Nuremberg in Germany is censoring an event organised by Mehring Verlag at the 30th Left-wing Literature Fair, which will present two recent books by David North and discuss a socialist perspective on the genocide in Gaza and the danger of a third world war. The authorities claim that criticism of militarism and war is “illegal.”

Thirty hours before the fair opened on Friday evening, the city of Nuremberg sent an email to the organising team demanding that the text announcing the event be “REVISED IMMEDIATELY.” If this was not done, the city threatened to “reserve the right to EXERCISE OUR PROPERTY RIGHTS and exclude the event in question from the program of the Left-Wing Literature Fair.”

This is an act of blatant censorship aimed at suppressing criticism of the German government’s rearmament and war policies and the war crimes of the Israeli government.

The city objected to the fact that the event text accuses the German government of committing “bloody war crimes again, 80 years after the Nuremberg trials against the Nazis.” The event text justifies this accusation by stating: “It [the federal government] supports the genocide in Gaza, is fuelling NATO’s proxy war against Russia, and is pursuing the largest military buildup since Hitler.”

According to the city, this violates the general rental conditions, which stipulate “that the rented premises may not be used for the presentation or dissemination of ideas that are unconstitutional or illegal.” In the City’s view, this includes “content that attacks the dignity of individuals or groups or criminalises state institutions without factual basis.” In particular, it objected “that the term ‘genocide’ in this context suggests a relativisation of historical crimes.”

The view that the Israeli government is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza is now shared by numerous human rights organisations, high-ranking international institutions, governments and the overwhelming majority of the world’s population.

The killing of at least 67,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians and children, the multiple displacement of 2 million people, the destruction of 90 percent of the infrastructure, the systematic starvation of the civilian population, and the murder of nearly 200 journalists cannot be described as “self-defence,” even by the most generous interpretation of the term. Israeli government officials and military leaders have openly admitted to their genocidal goals.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), whose authority is recognised by Germany, issued arrest warrants a year ago for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his then-Defense Minister Yoav Galant. The charges are serious war crimes and crimes against humanity. The independent commission of inquiry of the UN Human Rights Council considers four of the five elements mentioned in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide to have been fulfilled.

To describe the accusation of genocide as “relativizing historical crimes,” as the letter from the city of Nuremberg does, is absurd. If there is one lesson to be learned from the Shoah, it is that such crimes must never be repeated—not even by an Israeli government that includes declared racists and fascists. That was the central message of the war crimes trials that began 80 years ago in Nuremberg. Now the ruling class in Germany is once again linking itself to these historical crimes and wants to silence anyone who opposes it.

The German government openly admits that it supports the Israeli government politically, financially and with weapons. But anyone who supports or promotes a crime is themselves guilty of a crime. To speak out openly about this is not only a fundamental right but a political duty. The city of Nuremberg’s claim that such an accusation is “defamatory and potentially actionable” and therefore inadmissible amounts to the suppression of any criticism of the government. On this basis, the mass protests against the Vietnam War or the Iraq War would also have been illegal.

The trade fair team has changed the event text of Mehring Verlag on its website in accordance with the city’s requirements so as not to jeopardise the event. It will take place on Sunday, November 2, at the Künstlerhaus Nürnberg, Königstrasse 93, in the KOMM Kino on the 1st floor.

Mehring Verlag will present two books by David North, chairman of the World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board and chairman of the Socialist Equality Party (US), which are of great importance for the struggle against war and militarism. They can be purchased on site or ordered on the Mehring Books website in English.

The Logic of Zionism: From Nationalist Myth to Genocide in Gaza exposes the lie that rejection of Zionism is tantamount to antisemitism. It traces how the nationalist ideology of Zionism arose in the struggle against international socialism, which had a major influence among Jewish workers and intellectuals. A large section of the Jewish people linked their own emancipation to the overthrow of capitalist class society, not to the establishment of a nation-state serving as a bridgehead for imperialist powers in the Middle East.

Sounding the Alarm: Socialism Against War contains May Day speeches delivered by David North from 2014 to 2024. They trace the dramatic escalation of militarism, the growing danger of a nuclear Third World War and the rise of Donald Trump. They show that the same contradictions to which the ruling class responds with war and dictatorship also create the objective conditions for the intensification of the class struggle and for socialist revolution. What is necessary is the building of a party that gives the working class an international, socialist perspective.

The city of Nuremberg’s action against this socialist perspective against war and dictatorship is directed not simply at Mehring Verlag but at all opponents of war. Any mention of the German government’s horrific crimes, such as its support for the genocide in Gaza, is to be criminalised. If the city’s argument is followed, no events against war should be allowed to take place at all.

The censorship measure in Nuremberg is one of countless attacks on fundamental democratic rights. Congresses have been banned, cultural centres closed and artists and scientists persecuted for speaking out against the genocide in Gaza. The German state is resorting to the same methods as the Trump administration when it comes to suppressing widespread resistance to its war and austerity policies.

This makes Sunday’s event in Nuremberg all the more important. We call on all readers to attend our event in large numbers and thus oppose the attempt to censor opposition to war and genocide.