A mob of angry students attacked German Ambassador to the Palestinian Authority Oliver Owcza when he attempted to visit Birzeit University in the West Bank on Tuesday.
The mob chased Owcza off campus, surrounded his armored vehicle, and pelted it with rocks because students were furious about Germany’s support for Israel.
The German ambassador to the Palestinian Authority, Oliver Owcza, was chased, and his vehicle was attacked by students at Birzeit University in Ramallah earlier today. pic.twitter.com/slm7qI0I5B
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) April 30, 2024
Owcza was visiting the university, which is located about six miles from Ramallah, for a meeting of European Union (EU) diplomats at the Palestinian Museum. A mob descended upon the venue, harassing all of the assembled EU heads of mission until they left the campus.
“The students’ movement refused those visitors to come to the museum because of their position on the genocide in Gaza. For that, we asked them to leave,” one of the protest leaders said.
The mob seemed especially angry at Owcza, rushing him to his car with chants of “Out! Out!” and then attacking the vehicle. German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert was also hounded from the museum by students who threw their shoes at him, breaking the windshield of his car as he tried to drive away.
The Palestinian Museum distanced itself from both the mob action and the EU diplomats. Administrators insisted they “did not invite any of the ambassadors from the countries who attended today” and received no “list of invitees’ names,” although they did admit to renting a room to the Belgian embassy.
The museum statement praised Belgium, “which has stood with the Palestinian voice and cause since the beginning of the aggression against our people in Gaza,” but added, “If we had known of the presence of ambassadors from non-supportive countries, we would have refused to rent the hall.”
The German government did not immediately release a statement, but Owcza posted a passive response to the attack on social media.
“Peaceful protest and dialogue always has its place,” he said. “We regret that today’s meeting of EU Heads of Missions at the National Museum in Birzeit was unduly interrupted by protesters. Nevertheless, we remain committed to constructively work with our Palestinian partners.”
The Palestinian mob’s anger against Germans may have been inflamed by news on Tuesday that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) would not order Germany to stop sending weapons and assistance to Israel.
The ICJ’s panel of judges voted 15-1 to reject a case brought by Nicaragua that claimed providing arms to Israel was tantamount to supporting genocide against the Palestinians of Gaza.
“Germany is not a party to the conflict in the Middle East — quite the contrary. We are working day and night towards a two-state solution. We are the biggest donors of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians,” the German Foreign Ministry said in response to the ruling.
