Demonstrations critical of Israel - police translate calls in Berlin

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More than two dozen demonstrations critical of Israel are planned for the weekend in Germany.

According to the “Tagesspiegel” checkpoint, 25 events have been registered for Saturday so far, many of them in North Rhine-Westphalia, including Cologne, and three in Berlin.

The organizers should therefore also come from the spectrum of the Palestinian terrorist organizations Hamas and PFLP as well as from the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.

"I can imagine that we will see and hear bad things," quoted the newspaper Leonard Kaminski, a member of the Jewish community in Berlin.

One of the three demonstrations in Berlin started at 1 p.m. on Hermannplatz and, according to the police, should lead over Sonnenallee and Erkstraße to the forecourt at Neukölln Town Hall.

Not everyone on Neuköllner Sonnenallee agreed to the demo, reports WELT reporter Alexander Dinger.

The police have an officer with them who translates everything that is said from the loudspeaker truck during the demonstration.

So far there has been nothing criminally relevant.

The demonstration in Berlin started quietly

Source: AP / Michael Sohn

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In Hamburg, since 2 pm, instead of the 150 registered participants, 220 have gathered peacefully on the Gänsemarkt for a “demonstration against the Israeli approach in the current conflict”.

A second demonstration in Berlin with the title “Day of Political Prisoners of Palestine” started at 3 pm also at Hermannplatz.

Behind this event is Samidoun Germany, which is affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

The terrorist organization rejects peace with Israel and advocates acts of terrorism against the civilian population.

A third demonstration entitled “In memory of al-Nakba, the Palestinian expulsion” is to lead from Oranienplatz in Kreuzberg to Hermannplatz in Neukölln at 4 pm.

According to a report by the “Tagesspiegel”, the organizers are calling, among other things, to fight for “a free Palestine, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean”.

That would include the territory of Israel and thus ignore Israel's right to exist.

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The "Association of Palestinian and Arab Associations and Institutions in Berlin" had already invited to a demonstration in Neukölln on Friday afternoon.

Around 800 people responded to the call, which spoke of “barbaric aggression by the occupying power”.

Most of them were men with an Arab migration background. The rally was dominated by “Free Palestine” shouts and Palestinian flags. Several times, however, there were also calls from smaller parts of the demonstration such as “Strike and destroy Tel Aviv”, “Child murderer Israel” and “Khaybar Khaybar, ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad, sa yahud” (“Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad returns ”). The organizers called several times to refrain from such slogans. The police accompanied the demonstration with more than 200 emergency services.

Flags of the left-wing extremist party MLPD and the DKP youth association SDAJ were also on display.

The police established the identities of 192 people and initiated reports of administrative offenses.

Several investigative proceedings were handed over to the state security service for slogans that were anti-Israel and glorify violence.

Hundreds of people also took to the streets in Dresden on Friday.

The police counted around 400 participants.

Berlin's Senator for the Interior promises the best possible protection for the Jewish community

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The occasion for the protest with Palestine flags was, in addition to the escalating violence in the Middle East, Nakba Day (German: catastrophe), which commemorates the flight and expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from what will later become Israel.

Israel's declaration of independence took place on May 14, 1948. The Palestinians celebrate Nakba Day on May 15 each year.

Interior Senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) assured the Jewish community in the capital the "best possible protection".

Everything is done to protect Israeli and Jewish, but also Muslim and Palestinian institutions.

The police in Berlin had announced that it would take consistent action if Israeli flags were burned again or prohibited symbols were shown.

The city of Frankfurt am Main temporarily prohibited a pro-Palestinian rally planned for Saturday in the city center.

The reason are fears about public safety, said the city's security department.

"Absolutely unacceptable"

The federal government's integration commissioner, Annette Widmann-Mauz, sharply criticized attacks on synagogues and other anti-Semitic attacks in Germany.

“Hatred, agitation and violence against Jews, Jewish symbols and institutions are absolutely unacceptable and can never be justified.

The right to demonstrate and freedom of expression end where hatred of Jews begins, ”said the CDU politician of the“ Rheinische Post ”.

Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht appealed to stand on the side of Israel.

"We are all asked to take a clear position when Jews are attacked - be it on the Internet or in real life," said the SPD politician in the newspapers of the Funke media group.

“We stand firmly on the side of Israel and express our unreserved solidarity.” The rocket fire cannot be justified by anything.

"Israel has the right to defend itself against the brutal terror of the rocket attacks."

"Anyone who uses protests to scream hatred of Jews is abusing the right to demonstrate"

After anti-Semitic riots, there are increasing calls for stronger action against anti-Semitism.

In view of the escalation in the Middle East conflict, there were anti-Semitic demonstrations and violence against Jewish institutions nationwide.

Source: WORLD / Fanny Juschten

With a view to rallies and anti-Semitic attacks in Germany, the minister emphasized: "There is no justification for shouting anti-Semitic slogans or for burning Israeli flags."

Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters (CDU) and the Greens' candidate for Chancellor Annalena Baerbock made similar statements. "When Israel's cities and villages are attacked with hundreds of rockets, we cannot, must not and do not want to remain silent," said Grütters. Shortly before the event, Baerbock emphasized: “Anti-Semitic attacks, the burning of Israeli flags, hatred and agitation against people among us are not part of the democratic discourse, but an attack on human dignity, regardless of who or where it comes from . "