Hundreds of people marched through Berlin on Easter Saturday, shouting anti-Israel and antisemitic slogans.
On Saturday, April 8, hundreds of protesters marched through Berlin, shouting anti-Israel and antisemitic slogans such as „Death to the Jews! Death to Israel,” reports the Welt.
The pro-Palestinian demonstration has sparked outrage over allegedly anti-Jewish slogans. The police, who apparently did not intervene, are now investigating several cases following criminal charges on suspicion of incitement to hatred.
According to their report, around 500 people demonstrated in solidarity with the Palestinians and against Israel, and 250 police officers were deployed, including interpreters.
The Israeli Ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, strongly condemned the antisemitic slogans shouted at the rally. The demonstrators abused Germany’s freedoms and unreservedly called for the annihilation of Israel and the Jews, claimed the ambassador in a Twitter post, accusing the demonstrators of disregarding democratic values in Germany. Not only did they cross every red line, but they „spit into the well they drink from,” Prosor said.
According to the report of the documentation and analysis platform „Democ”, anti-Israel, anti-Semitic and violence-glorifying slogans were shouted at the demonstration. The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the terrorist group Hamas, were also repeatedly glorified. The organisation also posted video material on Twitter about the demonstration, which reveals people waving Palestinian flags and shouting anti-Semitic slogans, such as „Death to Israel.” The video also shows that police officers accompanied the demonstration but failed to intervene, which received strong criticism from the Jewish association „WerteInitiative.” Numerous German politicians openly condemned the demonstration; Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) tweeted, „If groups chant „Death to the Jews” on German streets, then there is an initial suspicion of hate speech under Section 130 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code,” adding that he assumes that the security authorities will act accordingly.
Berlin’s Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) said on Twitter: „The state security has started the investigation. The first evidence has already been evaluated.”
Volker Beck, President of the German-Israeli Society, called on Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) to examine a ban on the Samidoun organisation, which had called for the demonstration. According to Article 130 of the Criminal Code, Beck has also filed a criminal complaint against those who shouted the slogan for incitement to hatred.
The background to the protest march was, among other things, the ongoing conflicts surrounding the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Photo credit: Participants in a Palestinian rally in Berlin (archive photo from April 2022)
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