Statement on the keynote as part of HOW LOW CAN WE GO?

On Thursday, 25.01.2024, our three-day international festival on climate justice HOW LOW CAN WE GO? opens with theater, performances, an installation and a discursive program.

The invited keynote speech by Zamzam Ibrahim at the opening of the festival sparked a fierce public debate prior to the event. Triggered by an open letter from Hamburg's antisemitism commissioner, numerous voices were raised accusing the opening speaker of antisemitism; the criticism was based in particular on individual statements made by the invited speaker in relation to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

In fact, the speaker has made some comments that we don't share. Our assurance that we would ensure that no antisemitic statements would be made in the context of the climate focus could not dispel the concerns of some. We take this very seriously.

The criticism, which has been widely disseminated in the media over the past two days, has led to vehement calls to prevent the keynote.

Our top priority for all events is always the safety of all those present - the various audiences, the speakers and artists here at the venue, those involved in the production and the employees, who sometimes have their own diverse perspectives of being affected and marginalized. Protection from antisemitism, racism and other forms of discrimination, as well as consideration for trauma, are essential for us to create a safe environment, in addition to ensuring physical integrity. A thorough assessment has shown that we can no longer meet these various security requirements under the current circumstances for the planned event, despite having developed a protection and awareness concept.

At the same time, we are quite concerned that some of the reporting on the invited keynote speaker invokes racist and Islamophobic narratives.

The speaker was invited to talk about intersectional aspects of climate justice. International and often marginalized perspectives on this topic are an essential part of our discourse program. Ibrahim's perspective remains an important part of the festival's discourse focus.

Having weighed up the situation, the criticism from outside, the very complex and also many-voiced and controversial debates that have taken place here in the house in recent days about keeping discourse spaces open, we have decided to stick to the invitation. However, we are moving the HOW LOW CAN WE GO keynote speech online. It will be available on our website. The original venue, k2, will remain closed.

We are aware of the complex and contradictory realities and the resulting attitudes of people from different religious and cultural backgrounds, origins and social realities. As an international production house and urban-social venue, we see it as our mission to convey this polyphony of perspectives from a local, global and progressive perspective and to keep spaces open for debate, including between sometimes opposing positions.