Namibia slams Germany for 'horrific history' following support of Israel
The Namibian government has criticised the German government for atrocities committed in the past following the European nation’s disapproval of South Africa’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide case against Israel for continued bombing of Gaza.
The government of the Southern African nation in a statement released on January 13, claimed that the Germans perpetrated the first genocide of the 20th century during their colonial rule in Namibia.
“On Namibian soil, Germany committed the first genocide of the 20th century in 1904-1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane and brutal conditions. The German Government is yet to fully atone for the genocide it committed on Namibian soil,” said Namibian President Hage Geingob in a statement released on social media.
“Ignoring the violent deaths of over 23,000 Palestinians in Gaza and various United Nations reports disturbingly highlighting the internal displacement of 85% of civilians in Gaza amid acute shortages of food and essential services, the German Government has chosen to defend in the International Court of Justice the genocidal and gruesome acts of the Israeli Government against innocent civilians in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” the Namibian President added.
In November 2023, German President Frank Walter Steinmeier while on a visit to its former colony Tanzania expressed remorse for atrocious acts committed by the Germans which resulted in the death of an estimated 300,000 Tanzanian natives between 1905 and 1907, roughly one-third of the indigenous population at the time.
