Melanie Schweizer
 Melanie Schweizer    ( lawyer, political activist) | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1988 |
| Party | MERA25 |
German civil servant sacked for criticising Israeli apartheid and genocide in Palestine | |
Melanie Johanna Schweizer is a German lawyer, who stood for election to the Bundestag with the MERA25 party in 2025. Having been smeared as an "Israel hater" by BILD in December 2024, she was suspended from her civil service job, and then fired before the election had taken place.[1]
Melanie Schweitzer is a member of the Organising Committee for the June 2025 Global March To Gaza.[2][3]
Details
DiEM25 reports:
Melanie Schweizer, a civil servant lawyer in the public sector and MERA25 candidate in Berlin in the 2025 federal elections, received her letter of dismissal from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs on 28 February 2025 during her candidacy for political office due to statements critical of Israel on social media. This came during her candidacy for political office, following critical comments about Israel on social media. She is losing her public service job for standing firmly against Israel’s apartheid system and the genocide in Palestine, a stance that aligns with the legal opinions of international law experts and courts. This is a scandal.
We fully support Melanie, who has always spoken for herself and, as an elected candidate, has represented MERA25’s political views. On behalf of DiEM25, the European movement to which our party belongs, we express our total solidarity and will support Melanie with every resource at our disposal. The violation of her right to free expression and political engagement is also an attack on our own political rights.
In the final weeks of the election campaign, Melanie’s LinkedIn account was inexplicably blocked. This is an example of election interference by a privately owned platform and is just one of many instances of censorship that hinder our work across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and others.[4]
Interviews
20 December 2024
| "Germany’s biggest tabloid tried to silence her for criticising Israel—but it backfired spectacularly" |
On 20 December 2024, Schweizer was interviewed by DiEM25's Mehran Khalili to expose how BILD, Germany’s biggest tabloid, targeted her for speaking out against Israel’s genocide.
In this hour-long interview, she reveals the toll of standing up for Palestine, the media’s role in silencing dissent, and why she refuses to back down.[5]
9 March 2025
She appeared on The Crispin Flintoff Show on 9 March 2025:
Last week, civil servant lawyer Melanie Schweizer was dismissed from her post in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
Although no specific reason was given, her sacking came after a smear campaign by the BILD newspaper, which called her an 'Israel hater' after she stood as a candidate for the Bundestag for the pro-Palestinian MERA25 party.
As a result of releasing a video about her dismissal, she has receive job offers and spoke about her determination to carry on speaking out about the genocide and in support of international law.[6]
8 June 2025
| Melanie Schweitzer preparing for the June 2025 Global March To Gaza |
Her second interview with Crispin Flintoff took place on 8 June 2025 when she spoke as a member of the international organising committee for the Global March To Gaza, which aims to stop the genocide being carried out by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), deliver immediate humanitarian aid, and pressure for the total lifting of Israel's blockade. Melanie Schweizer said:
- "This is something we haven't tried yet. We need to say that we have tried what is possible. And even if we don't manage to walk this time, then we will come again, just like the Freedom Flotilla.
- "And we will have other ideas. Now that we have mobilised – tens of thousands of people have been connected.
- "Nothing that we're doing is in vain. Everything is part of a history that maybe is already written.
- "But we cannot let this happen in our lifetime, and we cannot allow for this endless impunity to continue."[7]
References
- ↑ "BILD strikes again: When a failing tabloid tries to scuttle a woman’s candidacy"
- ↑ "Global March To Gaza"
- ↑ "Melanie Schweitzer on Instagram"
- ↑ "Melanie Schweizer’s dismissal: A symptom of a larger crisis in Germany"
- ↑ "Germany’s biggest tabloid tried to silence her for criticising Israel—but it backfired spectacularly"
- ↑ "Brave civil servant calls out Germany on genocide"
- ↑ "Behind the global March to Gaza"
