Gaza children to Berlin? SPD MPs are now lashing out at each other over this

More and more Berlin politicians are demanding that the Senate support the admission of children from Gaza to Germany. This would put Berlin in line with cities such as Leipzig, Hanover, Kiel, Düsseldorf, and Bonn. Green Party parliamentary group leaders Bettina Jarasch and Werner Graf are pushing for such an initiative, and the Left Party is also on board. Within the SPD, however, a heated debate has erupted over the issue.

The trigger was statements by Martin Matz, the domestic policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group . He "expected that neighboring countries, some of which have considerable resources, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, or Qatar, would first take responsibility before Europe also provides assistance in particularly difficult individual cases," Matz told Euronews.

In an interview with the Berliner Zeitung, Matz explains which specific cases he is referring to. "Providing medical assistance is always a good idea," he says, citing "Berlin's good tradition," such as treating children with serious injuries at the Berlin Accident Hospital (UKB) or the Charité, which are ideally suited for this purpose.

At the same time, Matz urges security checks, especially for those accompanying them. Because, as the interior politician puts it: "Unfortunately, we repeatedly observe that the Middle East conflict is also becoming a security problem for Jewish people in Berlin – while the reverse has not been observed."

Orkan Özdemir, the SPD's spokesperson on integration policy, reacted sharply. On TikTok, he wrote: "Martin Matz is formulating his own position here. This position is not the position of the SPD Berlin or the SPD parliamentary group in the House of Representatives. The vast majority of comrades, including myself, distance ourselves from this person's statements."

This, of course, puts Özdemir on rather thin ice. Indeed, the parliamentary group has not yet made any decisions regarding any admission programs for children from the war zone in the Middle East.

Berlin SPD calls for state reception program for Palestinians

However, at the state party conference in May 2025, a motion was passed calling for the import of aid supplies to Gaza and medical care in Gaza to be improved as quickly as possible. This also included a demand for recognition of Palestine as an independent state and a state-sponsored reception program—including the note that such programs would require the approval of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

Özdemir is now considered a close confidant of Berlin SPD parliamentary group leader Raed Saleh . He also represents his interests, including bringing children from Gaza to Berlin. But there's more to it than that: Until a year ago, Saleh was also party leader, but was resoundingly rejected in a member survey and lost his position.

For several months, Saleh's ambitions to become the SPD's top candidate for the parliamentary elections in September 2026 have been rumored. The party executive committee plans to decide on the candidate after the summer break. But nervousness is growing in a party that has slipped from second to fourth place since the 2023 repeat election.

Recently, there were disputes over the procedure. Franziska Giffey, for example, proposed another member survey. "I believe that such a weighty issue should be decided by the broadness of the party, because it is necessary for the person conducting this to enjoy strong support within the party," she said.

Berlin SPD: Reprimand for Franziska Giffey

The background is that the former Governing Mayor and current Senator for Economic Affairs only sees her own chances if ordinary party members can once again make decisions. As soon as the top personnel are negotiated at the official level, she is considered to have no chance. With Raed Saleh, it's exactly the other way around.

Giffey was brusquely put in her place for her overreaction. The two state chairmen, Nicola Böcker-Giannini and Martin Hikel, who are both extremely weak within the party, at least claimed the nomination for themselves. And then the barb against Giffey: "The key now is to prioritize the party's greatest possible success over our own ambitions."

Berlin SPD: Raed Saleh meets with Palestinian diplomat

But Franziska Giffey isn't the only one speaking out; Raed Saleh is also active, albeit behind the scenes. A few days before the party conference in May, the 48-year-old, born in Sebastia in the West Bank, met with Laith Arafeh , head of the Palestinian Mission in Germany, which is based in the Berlin district of Schmargendorf. Journalists were not invited to the meeting.

Because Germany has not yet recognized Palestine as an independent state, Laith Arafeh cannot call himself ambassador. Nevertheless, he is the diplomatic representative of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the West Bank, who was first and last elected in 2005 and has been in office since then. Abbas is the leader of Fatah and a fierce opponent of the terrorist organization Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and whose destruction is Israel's declared war aim.

Even party colleagues who are rather critical of Raed Saleh nevertheless consider his visit to Abbas's deputy in southwest Berlin to be perfectly acceptable. Of course, it is right to speak with Palestinian representatives, they say. But then also with Israeli representatives. Yet so far, Saleh has consistently avoided meeting with Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor .

Because the Left Party wins, the SPD also swings to the left

And so Saleh's visit to Arafeh fits in with a clear shift among large sections of the Berlin SPD. It's a shift to the left, as it were, in reaction to the overwhelming triumph of the Left Party in recent months. In Berlin, it even became the strongest party.

The Left Party's victory was particularly dramatic in migrant and student-dominated neighborhoods like Neukölln and Kreuzberg. This was primarily at the expense of the Greens, but also of the SPD. For many in the SPD, the conclusion now appears to be: Like the Left Party, they must demonstrate clear solidarity with Palestine in the conflict with Israel. They must combat not only anti-Semitism, but also anti-Muslim racism to the same extent. And they must suggest, through ever-new socialization proposals, that Berlin might still be able to implement a rent cap and thus—somehow—find a way out of the ongoing misery in construction and housing policy.

One person has now drawn his own conclusions. Andreas Geisel, former Senator for Construction and the Interior, is not running again. "Nationalization and identity politics dominate our policies more than economic policy and the social question," he criticizes his party. "My positions no longer command a majority in the Berlin SPD."