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Berlin (dpa) - Under the impression of growing violence in the Middle East, people took to the streets in numerous German cities on Saturday to protest against Israel's actions and to express their solidarity with the Palestinians.
At the same time, there were also small solidarity rallies for the Israeli population in many places.
In several pro-Palestinian demonstrations there were incidents, and isolated riots.
In Berlin, demonstrators beat police officers and threw stones and bottles at them.
Fireworks were also thrown.
The police used pepper spray.
According to her, there were injuries and arrests, a police spokesman did not initially name specific figures.
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The Berlin police had initially declared the protest to be dissolved because of violations of the Corona hygiene rules.
Since demonstrators did not adhere to the order, the officials in the Neukölln district took action against them.
Shouts like “child murderer Israel”, “woman murderer Israel” and “free Palestine” were loud from the crowd.
A total of three pro-Palestinian demonstrations were registered in Berlin on Saturday.
According to the police, around 2500 people moved from Oranienplatz to Hermannplatz in the afternoon.
A demonstration with around 120 participants at noon from Hermannplatz to Neukölln Town Hall had been peaceful.
In the course of the afternoon, the police increased their forces from 360 to 600 officers.
A demonstration was also broken up in Hamburg.
The mood among the 400 to 500 participants was highly emotional, said a police spokesman.
The situation worsened when some people with Israel flags appeared.
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According to the police, around 800 people demonstrated against Israel and for Palestine in Cologne.
They waved Palestinian flags and signs with inscriptions such as “Freedom for Palestine” and “Stop the Genocide”, but also “Against Zionists - not against Jews”.
In most cities, the demonstrations were peaceful.
In addition to the current escalation in the Middle East, the background to the rallies was also the day of the Nakba (catastrophe) in many places.
Every year on May 15, Palestinians commemorate the expulsion and flight of hundreds of thousands of Arabs in the course of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
The conflict between Israel and the ruling Hamas in the Gaza Strip escalated at the beginning of the week.
Militant Palestinians are constantly bombarding Israel with rockets - according to the Israeli army, the figure was around 2,300 recently. Israel is responding with massive attacks in the coastal area.
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The mood between Israelis and Arabs from the Middle East is also heated in many places in Germany.
In the past few days there had been attacks on synagogues and anti-Semitic incidents in several German cities.
Politicians and representatives of religious communities sharply condemned the attacks on synagogues and the anti-Jewish slogans. 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 (Saturday).
Representatives of Muslim communities also found clear words on Saturday.
The chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, Aiman Mazyek, condemned the recent violence against synagogues.
“Anyone who attacks synagogues and Jews on the pretext of criticizing Israel has forfeited any right to solidarity,” he said in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung”.
He firmly condemned the "disgusting attacks on our Jewish fellow citizens" in recent days.
"Anyone who complains about racism, but spreads anti-Semitic hatred himself, loses all credibility and must expect my resolute resistance," wrote Mazyek.
The chairman of the Federal Immigration and Integration Council (BZI), Memet Kilic, had previously sharply criticized open anti-Semitism.
The freedom of expression and assembly that is guaranteed in Germany is not a "free ticket for anti-Semitic hate speech and violence," said Kilic.
At the same time, Kilic pointed out that in connection with the Middle East conflict, the mood towards Muslims and migrants had become “rougher and more ruthless”.
The Middle East conflict should not offer an “alibi space for group-related enmity and attacks” on migrants, he warned and appealed to all sides to uphold basic democratic values.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210515-99-608496 / 4