2023-11-04 20:18:00
Thousands of people took to the streets in several German cities during pro-Palestinian rallies. In Essen, following a rally on Friday evening that was registered as a pro-Palestine demonstration, the police are checking whether crimes were committed. At the rally, banners were displayed, among other things, calling for the establishment of an Islamist caliphate. Hizb ut-Tahrir, for example, has been banned from operating since 2003.
In Berlin, the police counted around 6,500 people at a rally on Saturday followingnoon. The officials checked the personal details of individual participants. Some posters that violated the requirements were painted over or taken down. A journalist was hindered in her work and physically attacked. The emergency services recorded the suspects’ personal details and initiated an investigation, a police spokeswoman told the German Press Agency on Saturday. Further details were initially not known.
Image: Jšrg Carstensen (dpa)
At the rally in Essen it became clear that the pro-Palestine theme had been a pretext for the rally, a police spokesman said on Saturday. The aim was to hold a religious event on the streets of Essen. During the rally, the police did not find any criminal violations in chants, symbols and flags. The demonstration was registered by a private individual. “We will examine everything carefully followingwards,” said the spokesman. It will be examined together with the public prosecutor’s office whether there is any criminal relevance.
In Berlin, Palestine flags and posters with slogans such as “Stop the genocide in Gaza” or “From the river to the sea – we demand equality” might be seen at the demonstration. Translated: From the river to the sea, we demand equality for all. This refers to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. A speaker called for an end to the “apartheid culture” and a stop to the bombings in Gaza. Several pro-Palestinian groups called for the demonstration. “Many from the left-wing political spectrum who have already called for the “revolutionary May 1st demonstration” this year also mobilized,” according to the police.
Image: ODD ANDERSEN (AFP)
The demonstration took place under strict conditions. Operations manager Stephan Katte emphasized in advance that anyone who denies Israel’s right to exist is committing a crime that will be punished immediately. “Repeated commission of such crimes can lead to the dissolution of a meeting very early on,” Katte told the German Press Agency. According to the police, any statements that are anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and that glorify violence or terror are prohibited.
According to police reports, almost 17,000 people took part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Düsseldorf on Saturday. Originally only 1,000 participants were registered by a private individual. According to their own statements, the police had to intervene in isolated cases. A police spokesman spoke late in the followingnoon of an overall peaceful event. Several posters were seized that put the Holocaust into perspective. There will be criminal proceedings once morest this.
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In Münster, up to 400 people took to the streets for the rights of the Palestinians. The police spoke of the incident being largely peaceful. The move led from the main train station to the city center. Two participants who shouted anti-Israel slogans with criminal implications during the final rally, as well as two other people, were taken into custody. The police also issued ten expulsions because demo participants held anti-Israel posters or distributed leaflets whose content was suspected of incitement to hatred.
In Duisburg, fewer than a hundred people took part in a pro-Palestinian rally in front of the main train station. The police filed three criminal charges once morest participants for incitement to hatred and condoning crimes.
Image: INA FASSBENDER (AFP)
The Central Council of Muslims in Germany condemned anti-Semitic incidents at pro-Palestinian demonstrations and called for caution when taking part in rallies. There are “very clear violations, anti-Semitic violations of hatred of Jews,” said Central Council Chairman Aiman Mazyek on Deutschlandfunk on Saturday. “They must be punished.” He appealed to Muslims: “Be careful where you follow.” There are groups that use such demonstrations to chant slogans once morest Jews and anti-Semitism. “We don’t have to have it like that.”
On October 7, Islamists from Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and other terrorists carried out a massacre of civilians in Israel. Since then, Israel’s army has been using air strikes and ground troops once morest targets in the sealed-off coastal area.
Image: JUSTIN TALLIS (AFP)
Demos in Great Britain too
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in London and other British cities on Saturday in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. In the British capital alone, 30,000 people took part in protests once morest Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip, the BBC reported, citing police estimates. Among other things, they called for an immediate ceasefire.
Eleven people were arrested in connection with the protests in Trafalgar Square and the surrounding area, Scotland Yard announced in the evening. In one case, the reason for this was a poster that might incite hatred, according to the BBC report.
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Thousands also joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Manchester. There were also demonstrations in Sheffield, Liverpool, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Over the past weekend, up to 100,000 people took part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London. Next Saturday, when the traditional commemoration of the end of the First World War takes place (Armistice Day), another large demonstration is expected.
On October 7, Islamists from Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and other terrorists carried out a massacre of civilians in Israel. Since then, Israel’s army has been using air strikes and ground troops once morest targets in the sealed-off coastal area.
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