Ambassador Ina Lepel was interrupted in a session on disability rights and did not answer questions about Gaza
LAHORE:
Tensions flared at the Asma Jahangir conference in Lahore on Sunday when a pro-Palestinian protester confronted the German ambassador about the country’s role in the Gaza conflict.
German Ambassador to Pakistan Ina Lepel was speaking at the 6th Asma Jahangir Conference in Lahore which brought together jurists, human rights activists and political figures who addressed issues related to fundamental rights, democracy, judicial independence and international law. The conference is a two-day forum organized in collaboration with the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Pakistan Bar Council.
The ambassador spoke at a session focusing on disability rights.
In a post on X, the left-wing independent student organization Progressive Students’ Collective (PSC) said its president, Ali Abdullah Khan, questioned the German ambassador about her “urgency to speak about disability while her government is funding the disability of children in Gaza”.
The video it attached showed him interrupting Lepel as she was about to speak, accusing Germany of complicity in what he described as genocide in Gaza and linking Berlin’s arms exports to Israel to the mass maiming of Palestinian children.
“Children have been maimed in Gaza because of the very weapons your country has provided. Are you against this genocide? Are you ashamed of your country’s role?” he said during the session.
He added: “You need to answer this before you start talking about genocide. … Yet more than 12,000 children have been disabled in Gaza by the very weapons that Germany has supplied. How do you expect us to hear from her about disability?”
The video showed the ambassador refusing to respond to the remarks, while the session’s moderator asked the PSC president to wait until the end, but he refused and began chanting pro-Palestinian slogans before being asked to leave.
The group claimed the organizers were “harassing students” who asked the questions.
“It is extremely hypocritical of the organizers to hold ‘human rights conference’, but they not only invite people from the countries that have committed one of the worst human rights violations in Gaza by supporting Israel, but they also do not allow students to question and hold these people accountable,” it said.
Committed one of the worst human rights violations in Gaza by supporting Israel, but they also do not allow students to question and hold these individuals accountable.
— Progressive Students’ Collective (@PSCollective_) February 8, 2026
A video it posted showed a tense exchange between the protesters and other people, with the former defending their right to ask questions while accusing the organizers of hypocrisy.
Academic Nida Kirmani expressed support for the group’s actions, saying that “the contradictions in this system must be exposed” and the conference should welcome such protests.
“Everyone knows they are operating under different constraints. Such protests allow deeper criticism to emerge.”
I’m on @AliAbdullahK_ & the @PSCollective_‘s page; the contradictions in this system must be exposed. The Asma Jahangir Conference should honestly welcome such protests. Everyone knows they operate under different constraints. Such protests allow deeper criticism to emerge.
— Nida Kirmani (@NidaKirmani) February 8, 2026
Germany’s role in the Gaza conflict has received increasing attention following data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which shows that Germany supplied around 30% of Israel’s arms imports between 2019 and 2023.
In 2023 alone, Germany approved 326.5 million euros in military exports to Israel, a tenfold increase from the previous year. Since 2003, Germany has exported more than 3.3 billion euros of military equipment to Israel, including naval assets that rights groups say have been used in operations affecting Gaza.
A similar incident took place at the Asma Jahangir conference in 2024, when Germany’s then ambassador Alfred Grannas faced disruption while speaking on civil rights. Protesters questioned his presence at the rights forum, claiming it was unreasonable to lecture on civil liberties while Germany supported Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Chants of “Free, Free Palestine” and “From the River to the Sea” filled the venue, and Grannas told protesters that “shouting is not dialogue … if you want to shout, do it outside,” before organizers escorted them from the event.
Read: German envoy called for “lecture” on civil rights
The envoy’s remarks were criticized at the time.
