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In January 2019, the Buchenwald memorial foundation barred representatives of the far-right [[Alternative for Germany]] (AfD) from attending a Holocaust commemoration ceremony, citing anti-democratic, racist, and historically revisionist tendencies associated with the party.[{{Cite web |title=On the postponement of Omri Boehm's speech on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps |url=https://www.buchenwald.de/en/newsroom/Statement |access-date=15 April 2026 |website=buchenwald.de}}][{{Cite web |last=Forrest |first=Adam |date=2019-01-26 |title=Germany's far-right AfD banned from attending Holocaust memorials |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/holocaust-memorial-day-germany-afd-banned-far-right-buchenwald-camp-merkel-a8748216.html |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=The Independent |language=en}}][{{Cite web |last=Wighton |first=Daniel |date=2019-01-25 |title=AfD banned 'indefinitely' from attending Holocaust memorial services |url=https://www.thelocal.de/20190125/buchenwald-concentration-camp-bans-afd-from-attending-holocaust-memorial-services-indefinitely |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=The Local Germany |language=en}}] In August 2025, the memorial also drew attention after a dispute over the wearing of a keffiyeh at a commemorative event; a German court later upheld the memorial’s authority to refuse entry in that context.[{{Cite news |last=France-Presse |first=Agence |date=2025-08-20 |title=Buchenwald can refuse entry to people wearing Palestinian keffiyeh, German court rules |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/20/buchenwald-can-refuse-admission-to-people-wearing-palestinian-keffiyeh-german-court-rules |access-date=2026-04-15 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}][{{Cite news |last=dpa |date=2025-08-20 |title=Kleidung als Meinungsfreiheit?: Gedenkstätte darf Gästen mit "Pali-Tuch" Zutritt verwehren |url=https://www.zeit.de/news/2025-08/20/gedenkstaette-darf-gaesten-mit-pali-tuch-zutritt-verwehren |access-date=2026-04-15 |work=Die Zeit |language=de-DE |issn=0044-2070}}][{{Cite web |last=Mudra |first=Kai |date=2025-08-20 |title=Gericht in Thüringen entscheidet: Kein Zutritt zu Gedenkstätte Buchenwald mit Palästinensertuch |url=https://www.thueringer-allgemeine.de/politik/article409792638/kein-zutritt-zu-gedenkstaette-buchenwald-mit-palaestinensertuch.html |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=www.thueringer-allgemeine.de |language=de}}] The memorial was again involved in controversy in 2025 after postponing a planned speech by the German-Israeli philosopher [[Omri Boehm]] for the 80th anniversary of the camp’s liberation.[{{Cite news |last=dpa |date=2025-04-02 |title=Streit vor Gedenkfeier: Gedenken zu Buchenwald-Befreiung ohne Philosoph Boehm |url=https://www.zeit.de/news/2025-04/02/gedenken-zu-buchenwald-befreiung-ohne-philosoph-boehm |access-date=2026-04-15 |work=Die Zeit |language=de-DE |issn=0044-2070}}][{{Cite web |last=Nasr |first=Joseph |title=Buchenwald bans German far-right party from Holocaust commemoration |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/buchenwald-bans-german-far-right-party-from-holocaust-commemoration-idUSKCN1PJ1L4/ |access-date=15 April 2026 |website=reuters.com}}] |
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In January 2019, the Buchenwald memorial foundation barred representatives of the far-right [[Alternative for Germany]] (AfD) from attending a Holocaust commemoration ceremony, citing anti-democratic, racist, and historically revisionist tendencies associated with the party.[{{Cite web |title=On the postponement of Omri Boehm's speech on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps |url=https://www.buchenwald.de/en/newsroom/Statement |access-date=15 April 2026 |website=buchenwald.de}}][{{Cite web |last=Forrest |first=Adam |date=2019-01-26 |title=Germany's far-right AfD banned from attending Holocaust memorials |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/holocaust-memorial-day-germany-afd-banned-far-right-buchenwald-camp-merkel-a8748216.html |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=The Independent |language=en}}][{{Cite web |last=Wighton |first=Daniel |date=2019-01-25 |title=AfD banned 'indefinitely' from attending Holocaust memorial services |url=https://www.thelocal.de/20190125/buchenwald-concentration-camp-bans-afd-from-attending-holocaust-memorial-services-indefinitely |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=The Local Germany |language=en}}] In August 2025, the memorial also drew attention after a dispute over the wearing of a keffiyeh at a commemorative event; a German court later upheld the memorial’s authority to refuse entry in that context.[{{Cite news |last=France-Presse |first=Agence |date=2025-08-20 |title=Buchenwald can refuse entry to people wearing Palestinian keffiyeh, German court rules |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/20/buchenwald-can-refuse-admission-to-people-wearing-palestinian-keffiyeh-german-court-rules |access-date=2026-04-15 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}][{{Cite news |last=dpa |date=2025-08-20 |title=Kleidung als Meinungsfreiheit?: Gedenkstätte darf Gästen mit "Pali-Tuch" Zutritt verwehren |url=https://www.zeit.de/news/2025-08/20/gedenkstaette-darf-gaesten-mit-pali-tuch-zutritt-verwehren |access-date=2026-04-15 |work=Die Zeit |language=de-DE |issn=0044-2070}}][{{Cite web |last=Mudra |first=Kai |date=2025-08-20 |title=Gericht in Thüringen entscheidet: Kein Zutritt zu Gedenkstätte Buchenwald mit Palästinensertuch |url=https://www.thueringer-allgemeine.de/politik/article409792638/kein-zutritt-zu-gedenkstaette-buchenwald-mit-palaestinensertuch.html |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=www.thueringer-allgemeine.de |language=de}}] The memorial was again involved in controversy in 2025 after postponing a planned speech by the German-Israeli philosopher [[Omri Boehm]] for the 80th anniversary of the camp’s liberation.[{{Cite news |last=dpa |date=2025-04-02 |title=Streit vor Gedenkfeier: Gedenken zu Buchenwald-Befreiung ohne Philosoph Boehm |url=https://www.zeit.de/news/2025-04/02/gedenken-zu-buchenwald-befreiung-ohne-philosoph-boehm |access-date=2026-04-15 |work=Die Zeit |language=de-DE |issn=0044-2070}}][{{Cite web |last=Nasr |first=Joseph |title=Buchenwald bans German far-right party from Holocaust commemoration |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/buchenwald-bans-german-far-right-party-from-holocaust-commemoration-idUSKCN1PJ1L4/ |access-date=15 April 2026 |website=reuters.com}}] |
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In April 2026, an anti-Zionist group, Kufiyas in Buchenwald, announced plans to hold a rally connected to the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial around the anniversary of the camp’s liberation. The rally was organized in response to the memorial’s restrictions on pro-Palestinian symbols, including the keffiyeh.[{{cite web |last=Gilson |first=Grace |date=23 February 2026 |title=German anti-Zionist group's plan to protest at Buchenwald memorial over keffiyeh ban sparks outrage |url=https://www.jta.org/2026/02/23/global/german-anti-zionist-groups-plan-to-protest-at-buchenwald-memorial-over-keffiyeh-ban-sparks-outrage |access-date=6 April 2026 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}] The group alleged that the memorial had become a site of “historical revisionism and [[genocide denial]],” while Jens-Christian Wagner, director of the Buchenwald Foundation, said that criticism of Israeli government policy was legitimate but became antisemitic when it relativized the Holocaust or discredited its victims.[{{cite web |title=News: Was ist unsere hausinterne Handreichung über „Problematische Marken, Codes, Symbole und Zeichen rechtsradikaler und antisemitischer Gruppierungen"? |url=https://www.buchenwald.de/newsroom/Hausinterne-Handreichung-zu-Codes-der-rechtsextremen-Szene |access-date=6 April 2026 |website=Gedenkstätte Buchenwald |language=de}}] The planned rally was criticized by [[Felix Klein]], the European Jewish Congress, and several Jewish communal and academic groups.[{{cite web |last=Sander |first=Len |date=17 March 2026 |title=«Geschmacklos»: israelfeindlicher Protest gegen die Gedenkstätte KZ Buchenwald |url=https://www.nzz.ch/international/geschmacklos-israelfeindliche-kampagne-gegen-die-gedenkstaette-kz-buchenwald-ld.1925870 |access-date=6 April 2026 |website=Neue Zürcher Zeitung |language=de}}][{{cite web |date=13 March 2026 |title=Stellungnahme: Zur Kampagne "Kufiyas in Buchenwald" |url=https://n-j-h.de/stellungnahme-zur-kampagne-kufiyas-in-buchenwald/ |access-date=6 April 2026 |website=Netzwerk Jüdischer Hochschullehrender |language=de}}] |
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In April 2026, an anti-Zionist group, Kufiyas in Buchenwald, announced plans to hold a rally connected to the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial around the anniversary of the camp’s liberation. The rally was organized in response to the memorial’s restrictions on pro-Palestinian symbols, including the keffiyeh.[{{cite web |last=Gilson |first=Grace |date=23 February 2026 |title=German anti-Zionist group's plan to protest at Buchenwald memorial over keffiyeh ban sparks outrage |url=https://www.jta.org/2026/02/23/global/german-anti-zionist-groups-plan-to-protest-at-buchenwald-memorial-over-keffiyeh-ban-sparks-outrage |access-date=6 April 2026 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}] The group alleged that the memorial had become a site of “historical revisionism and [[genocide denial]],” while Jens-Christian Wagner, director of the Buchenwald Foundation, said that criticism of Israeli government policy was legitimate but became antisemitic when it relativized the Holocaust or discredited its victims.[{{cite web |title=News: Was ist unsere hausinterne Handreichung über „Problematische Marken, Codes, Symbole und Zeichen rechtsradikaler und antisemitischer Gruppierungen"? |url=https://www.buchenwald.de/newsroom/Hausinterne-Handreichung-zu-Codes-der-rechtsextremen-Szene |access-date=6 April 2026 |website=Gedenkstätte Buchenwald |language=de}}] The planned rally was criticized by Felix Klein, the European Jewish Congress, and several Jewish communal and academic groups.[{{cite web |last=Sander |first=Len |date=17 March 2026 |title=«Geschmacklos»: israelfeindlicher Protest gegen die Gedenkstätte KZ Buchenwald |url=https://www.nzz.ch/international/geschmacklos-israelfeindliche-kampagne-gegen-die-gedenkstaette-kz-buchenwald-ld.1925870 |access-date=6 April 2026 |website=Neue Zürcher Zeitung |language=de}}][{{cite web |date=13 March 2026 |title=Stellungnahme: Zur Kampagne "Kufiyas in Buchenwald" |url=https://n-j-h.de/stellungnahme-zur-kampagne-kufiyas-in-buchenwald/ |access-date=6 April 2026 |website=Netzwerk Jüdischer Hochschullehrender |language=de}}] |
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The city of Weimar barred the rally from being held at the memorial site and offered a downtown square as an alternative venue.[{{cite web |last=Wehner |first=Markus |date=31 March 2026 |title=„Kufiyas in Buchenwald" darf nicht in KZ-Gedenkstätte demonstrieren |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/kufiyas-in-buchenwald-darf-nicht-in-kz-gedenkstaette-demonstrieren-200690032.html |access-date=6 April 2026 |website=FAZ.NET |language=de}}] The organizers said they would challenge the decision in court, arguing that the event was intended to commemorate victims of genocide and fascism and to oppose the war in Gaza. A court in Weimar later upheld the restriction on holding the protest at the memorial.[{{cite web |last=Bartov |first=Shira Li |date=2 April 2026 |title=Pro-Palestinian rally at Buchenwald memorial is shut down by German authorities |url=https://www.jta.org/2026/04/02/global/pro-palestinian-rally-at-buchenwald-memorial-is-shut-down-by-german-authorities |access-date=6 April 2026 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}] |
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The city of Weimar barred the rally from being held at the memorial site and offered a downtown square as an alternative venue.[{{cite web |last=Wehner |first=Markus |date=31 March 2026 |title=„Kufiyas in Buchenwald" darf nicht in KZ-Gedenkstätte demonstrieren |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/kufiyas-in-buchenwald-darf-nicht-in-kz-gedenkstaette-demonstrieren-200690032.html |access-date=6 April 2026 |website=FAZ.NET |language=de}}] The organizers said they would challenge the decision in court, arguing that the event was intended to commemorate victims of genocide and fascism and to oppose the war in Gaza. A court in Weimar later upheld the restriction on holding the protest at the memorial.[{{cite web |last=Bartov |first=Shira Li |date=2 April 2026 |title=Pro-Palestinian rally at Buchenwald memorial is shut down by German authorities |url=https://www.jta.org/2026/04/02/global/pro-palestinian-rally-at-buchenwald-memorial-is-shut-down-by-german-authorities |access-date=6 April 2026 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}] |
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