Frankfurt Book Fair Peace Prize laureate Philippe Sands on Sunday accused Germany of maintaining a "deafening silence" over Israeli crimes, according to media reports.
"Violations of international law must be clearly identified — especially among friends. It's not anti-Semitic. It's not anti-Israel. It's the truth," said the French-British lawyer, author and descendant of Holocaust survivors in his acceptance speech at Frankfurt's Paulskirche church.
Sands warned that the "restriction on debate" in Germany is "disturbing," according to weekly newspaper Die Zeit.
The question of whether or not Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians is "a useless diversion. There is no hierarchy among the various crimes against humanity," Sands said.
They must be denounced, "and those who denounce them — regardless of the terms they use — should not be silenced, excluded, or punished simply for exercising their freedom of speech and expression," Sands added.
The human rights expert said: "It is shameful to silence the facts of these crimes. It is shameful to silence those who try to denounce these crimes."
Germany has denounced many atrocities, "but when it comes to Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, Germany's silence remains deafening to this day," he added.
Many countries have since recognized Palestine as a state, imposed sanctions or described Israel's actions in the occupied territories as ethnic cleansing, Sands said.
"Germany knows a thing or two about ethnic cleansing. So why the silence?" he asked.
Sands received the award, worth €25,000 ($28,000), in the presence of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the close of the Frankfurt Book Fair for his commitment "to justice, peace, and the steadfast defense of international law."
He is a professor in London and works at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
