Nadir Aslam, a German of Moroccan-Pakistani heritage, had been planning to vote Green in this week's elections to the European Parliament. Instead, he will throw his support behind Mera25, a startup leftist party with a clear pro-Palestinian stance.
Aslam, 33, said it was a speech last November by a Green leader doubling down on German support for Israel, even as the Gaza death toll neared 9,000, which "destroyed" his support for the ecologist party, a member of Germany's ruling coalition.
This shift in support, echoed across Europe, represents the latest threat — this time from the left — to mainstream political parties whose project to deepen European integration is already under attack from the far-right. The trend is not only among the EU's Muslim communities but also among left-leaning voters who see a double standard in Europe's condemnation of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel but failure to call out Israel for its military assault on Gaza which has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.