Lee Heidhues 10.19.2023
The German authorities are understandably sensitive regarding any protest which targets the behavior of the State of Israel.
Israel’s brutal military campaign against Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.
Retribution for the barbaric October 7 Hamas attack inside Israel killing over 1000 citizens of the Jewish state.
Where this cycle of violence is headed is impossible to predict.
The only sure thing is that there will be more death and destruction.
The motives of protesters in Berlin and in cities world wide cannot be simply categorized.
There is support for the Palestinian people. Sadly there are also currents of antisemitism directed towards Jewish people and the State of Israel.
The authorities in Berlin are not making such fine distinctions. Given the history of Nazi Germany the police are quashing any protest which could be interpreted as antisemitic.
That is the official government policy.
Deutsche Welle 10.19.2023
At least 174 people were arrested and 65 police officers were injured at unauthorized pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Berlin on Wednesday night, according to a police spokesperson.
Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik told regional broadcaster RBB that the situation in Neukölln was “tense.”
Authorities had banned such protests, which have been called in response to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the militant group which killed around 1,400 Israelis in a terrorist attack two weeks ago.
Clashes broke out in the district of Neukölln between police and protesters who did not comply with orders to disperse.
Some attendees used pyrotechnics, set fire to barricades and pelted police with stones and bottles, law enforcement said.
According to police, several vehicles and a tree also caught fire during the incidnet.
Police used water cannons, including to put out fires. The fire brigade also said it responded to several small fires.
The incident comes after after two Molotov cocktails were thrown at a Jewish community center in Berlin in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Separately on Wednesday night, another gathering against violence in the Middle East was held outside the Foreign Office in Berlin. While 50 attendees had been registered, several hundred people showed up and the organizer subsequently called off the protest.
Pro-Palestinian protests were also held in other German cities influding Frankfurt, where police used water cannons, and in Nuremberg.
Police broke up another pro-Palestinian protest in Berlin last weekend.
https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-174-arrested-at-unauthorized-pro-palestinian-events/a-67145837
Top photo: Jewish citizens, destroyed during the Nazi Germany holocaust, push back against growing anti-semitic behavior in Berlin.
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