Germany’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Alfred Grannas, requested a pro-Palestine protester to exit the venue after the individual disrupted his speech on civil rights during a conference in Lahore.
Grannas stated, “If you want to shout, go out. There you can shout because shouting is not a discussion,” as the protester interrupted his address at the 5th Asma Jahangir Conference titled ‘People’s Mandate: Safeguarding Civil Rights in South Asia’.
The two-day conference, organized by the Asma Jahangir Legal Aid Cell in collaboration with the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Pakistan Bar Council, witnessed the incident.
As the ambassador commenced his speech, the protester voiced, “Excuse me, Mr. Ambassador. I am shocked by the audacity that you are here to talk about civil rights while your country is brutally abusing the people speaking for the rights of the Palestinians.”
How dare he tells protesters to 'Get out'. This is not Germany, Excellency @GermanyinPAK . We will protest against your unconditional support to the Gaza genocid3. https://t.co/TbDitg9dHF
— Abbas Nasir (@abbasnasir59) April 27, 2024
Several attendees joined the protester, with some chanting slogans of “Free, Free Palestine” and “From the River to the Sea”.
In viral clips on social media, Grannas can be heard losing his composure and urging the protester to depart.
The organization muted the ambassador’s speech and briefly disabled the live-stream.
In a social media post on X, the Progressive Students Collective asserted that its members had “exposed the hypocrisy of the German ambassador” by questioning him on Germany’s role in the Gaza situation.
Gaza’s health ministry reported that at least 34,388 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during over six months of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
The tally includes at least 32 deaths in the past 24 hours, with 77,437 people wounded in the Gaza Strip since October 7.
Upon resuming his speech, Grannas emphasized that the “mother of all basic human rights is the protection of human dignity”.
He added, “This actually brings [Germany] in commonality with Pakistan, because there are not too many countries in the world that have an explicit guarantee of the inviolability of human dignity.”
A similar incident occurred when US President Joe Biden delivered a campaign speech at a historic South Carolina church in January this year.
