How did the Gaza war shake St. Pauli’s “left-wing resistance” image? | Politics

St. Pauli, a newcomer to the Bundesliga this season, is among the oldest clubs in the Germanyas it was founded in 1910, however its fame is more resonant outside the football stadium, where it is known for its public political commitment to combating racism, fascism and sexism and supporting the causes of immigrants and refugees.

Since the outbreak of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip Gaza As the number of Palestinian civilian casualties increased and the humanitarian crisis worsened, the reputation of this leftist club suffered a severe blow among its supporters around the world.

marginalized neighborhood

Going back in history, St. Pauli has had a leftist, rebellious and resistant identity since ancient times. The neighborhood, located on the northern part of the port, Hamburg It was a stronghold for the marginalized, the poor, the sick, the craftsmen and all polluting industrial activities, such as the distillery or the plague farm that was created during the outbreak of the plague epidemic in the country.

St. Pauli has long been known for its frequent social unrest, including that which accompanied the German Revolution of 1848. Its residents could not pass through the locked gates of Hamburg without paying a toll.

In the 20th century, the neighborhood attracted immigrant families who lived there for generations alongside retirees, students, welfare recipients, and freelance cultural and arts workers, all forming a mixed social and cultural mix.

The team’s fans began to attract the world’s attention in the 1980s, when the city’s other club, FC Hamburg, reached the peak of glory with a golden generation that won the Champions League. But St. Pauli’s fans – unlike the wave of right-wing extremists that spread across European stadiums at that time – chose the opposite path in the stands, promoting left-wing values ​​and turning football into an element that promotes integration, not the opposite.

A landmark in the club’s history was the demand by its fans to change the name of its stadium, “Wilhelm Koch Stadium”, in 1988 due to the politician Wilhelm Koch’s past affiliation with the far-right National Socialist Nazi Workers’ Party (NSDAP). The stadium was then renamed “Millerentor”.

Hamburg, Germany - March 2022: Aerial spring view over Heiligengeistfeld and Millerntor-Stadion, home stadium of football club FC St. Pauli
Millerntor is the home stadium of FC St. Pauli (Shutterstock)

Incubator for immigrants

Until recently, St. Pauli and its fans were one of the icons of European clubs fighting against commercial football. One of its most notable initiatives was the launch of FC Lampedusa in 2014 through a donation campaign from committed fans, in a symbolic gesture of support for the city that is the front line of the influx of migrants and refugees, many of whom end up in Hamburg.

For St. Pauli, FC Lampedusa is not just a football club, it is a home for migrants and refugees who have lived complex and inspiring human stories in their tragic journeys, as the club provides them with language and integration courses. Thanks to its commitment to humanitarian and social causes, the club has succeeded in inspiring many fan groups.

At the beginning of the millennium, a large number of St. Pauli fan clubs were launched abroad, such as in Britain, Greece, Catalonia, Italy, New York, Canada, Argentina and dozens of other countries. Statistics indicate that there are about 500 fan clubs in the world that share the same values ​​as St. Pauli.

Although the fans in the stands, wearing pirate shirts, proudly raise the slogan “No man is illegal,” this slogan was severely damaged when it was put to the test while thousands of children and women fell under the Israeli military machine in the Gaza Strip.

double standards

Since October 7, 2023, this unprecedented international spread for a second-tier club has witnessed a rapid decline, with the image of the rebellious leftist pocket on the football map being severely damaged, which may not be possible to repair in the future.

In his interview with Al Jazeera Net, Mohammed Amin Al-Kanani, a media specialist in sports affairs in Germany at Sky Sport, explains that the voice of the Ultras in Germany is generally no different from the voice of politicians on this particular point, and the reason for this is the close and deliberate link between all criticism directed at the occupying state and anti-Semitism and endangering the existence of the State of Israel.

He continued in his analysis, “These groups, especially the St. Pauli Ultras, which claim to fight for minorities and freedoms, did not show honorable positions like those issued by the Celtic fans’ associations and the Green Brigade groups supporting Palestine. Al-Kanani does not rule out the existence of German political pressure on the positions of the Ultras, including in particular the position of the St. Pauli fans’ associations.

Whether or not this is true, Al-Kanani believes that the credibility of St. Pauli fan groups has in any case been dealt a fatal blow over the course of about a year.

Sympathy for the dead of Israel

during Al-Aqsa FloodThe German club issued a statement expressing its sympathy with the Israeli dead, and announced its rejection of this operation, while at the same time sending its condolences to the Hapoel Tel Aviv club, with which it has a friendship.

But the statement did not pass unnoticed and was a starting point for causing divisions within the ranks of the fan clubs, the reason being that St. Pauli turned a blind eye to what happened to Palestinian civilians under the intense Israeli bombardment over several months later in the Gaza Strip, and did not issue any statement condemning the killings and collective punishment.

It did not stop there, on October 12, pro-government groups received…Palestine -On the website of the Council, the spokesman for the fans’ associations- a new warning against expressing sympathy for Hamas Movement Or justify her attack, and the comments in this direction were considered to have “crossed the line.”

The statement was the Achilles’ heel of the St. Pauli fan club, with several foreign clubs subsequently announcing their dissolution, including groups from Liverpool, Chania, Glasgow and Catalonia.

HAMBURG, GERMANY - May 12: St. Pauli fans wait on the sideline to invade the pitch to celebrate their promotion to the Bundesliga minutes before the final whistle during the Second Bundesliga match between FC St. Pauli and VfL Osnabrück at Millerntor Stadium on May 12, 2024 in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Selim Sudheimer/Getty Images)
St. Pauli and its fans have been criticised for turning a blind eye to the plight of Palestinian civilians under Israeli bombardment (Getty)

Ultras Celtic Message

The backlash continued as the Bilbao fans group announced in a press release the immediate cessation of their activities linked to St. Pauli, due to the German club adopting “one version of events, ignoring the indiscriminate killing of civilians, apartheid and the occupation of Palestinian lands.” The fans added in their statement, “We have come to the conclusion that we are definitely not in our place.”

The club crisis has cast a shadow over the strong friendship between the St. Pauli Ultras and their counterparts, the Scottish Celtic fans, who are known for their anti-colonialism and sympathy for the Palestinians. The situation has reached the point of openly exchanging slogans between fans.

At the end of October 2023, a St. Pauli stand displayed the message “From Glasgow to Gaza: Fight anti-Semitism, Free Palestine from Hamas.” The Green Brigade responded quickly with a banner reading “Damn St. Pauli, Free Hamburg from the Jazz Fans.”

Then it was not long before the announcement of the “FC St. Pauli Supporters Club in Glasgow”, which was founded in 2016 and announced its dissolution on January 11, 2024.

Commenting on the crisis surrounding the club, the Hamburg Morgenpost website said that it has become clear that the friendly scenes between the fan groups have become a dilemma, as St. Pauli’s position was clear, while the other’s position was completely opposite. Even in the “Alerta” network, to which the St. Pauli Ultras belong, many fan groups tend to side with the opponents of Israel.

Info Libertarian, a website specializing in resistance and anti-fascist journalism and supporting alternative journalism, has drawn attention to an identity crisis within St. Pauli. On the one hand, the club presents itself as a stronghold of the German radical left, “anti-German,” and German nationalism, a wave that emerged after the unification of the two parts of Germany in the early 1990s. On the other hand, it does not hesitate to defend Israel and the practices of colonialism and settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories.

“They suffer from a German-centric reading of Israeli colonialism,” wrote the Parisian MFC 1871 fan club in a comment on the dilemma. “This leads to a reactionary and racist position, the logical consequence of the continued support for an imperialist and far-right state.”

While most St. Pauli fans within Germany tend to support their club’s stance, fans outside the country find it difficult to accept that the club does not show an objective balance of sympathy for the Palestinian victims.

A joint statement signed by 13 international fan groups said they “understand the left’s sensitive and cautious position towards Israel” but expressed their sadness that the club had not taken a position on Palestinian civilians in Gaza, which has been under siege for 14 years, and called for “a permanent solution that guarantees freedom and peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine”.

Germany defends Israel

Although about a year has passed since the Israeli aggression on Gaza, Germany has failed to push for a political solution that would end the suffering of civilians in Gaza and the ongoing killing, and on the contrary, it has been the country most exposed to international criticism in its handling of the catastrophic situation of the Palestinians.

The German journalist specializing in Middle East and North African affairs, Kirsten Kneipp, told Al Jazeera Net – during the first weeks of the Israeli aggression – that his country feels that it has a historical debt and a duty to protect Israel. Indeed, “Israel’s security and existence are the reason for the existence of the state in Germany, so they together represent the essence of German interests.”

In this context, St. Pauli President Uki Göttlich admits in one of his statements that “there is a German view on anti-Semitism, due to Germany’s Nazi history, which justifies defending the Israeli people and their state,” but at the same time he points out that the club opposes “anti-human” and “anti-Semitic” policies.far rightTo the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He also noted that St. Pauli “helps the people of Gaza by donating to humanitarian programmes” and went so far as to say “If I were a politician, I would fight for a two-state solution, but I am not the one who decides. Here we reach our limits. Sometimes we can only be a football club.”

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