SAN FRANCISCO via BERLIN
Dozens killed in Gaza as Israel weighs ceasefire plan – 7.5.2025
Emmy Sasipornkarn | Richard Connor with AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters
Dozens have been killed in Gaza as Israel presses its offensive. Reports say many died while waiting for food near aid sites and others were killed in airstrikes at different locations. DW has the latest.
The Israeli genocide against the people of Gaza continues unabated.
Lee Heidhues 7.5.2025
The German government cracked down from the beginning on those speaking out against the Israeli terror campaign against Gaza. The crackdown began less than 10 days after the Hamas attack on Israel October 7, 2023.
It’s dangerous to speak up for the Palestinians and against the Israeli ongoing genocide in Gaza. Nearly 60,000 children, women and men have been slaughtered by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) since the Hamas attack on Israel October 7, 2023.
Germany, which was responsible for the Nazi holocaust (1933-1945) and the death of 6M Jews, gypsies, those thought to be degenerate and opponents of Hitler, has stood by Israel since its creation in 1948.
The Israeli genocide is unspeakable and the crackdown on those speaking up for the Palestinian people is political, police and judicial overkill.
Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 10.16.2023
German police and courts responded in different manners to a series of protests and demonstrations showing solidarity with Palestinians over the weekend, with some forbidden and others allowed to go ahead.
In the German capital Berlin, police on Sunday evening appealed online to people not to come to a planned “vigil” for people in Gaza at Potsdamer Platz in the city center, saying it had been prohibited “because in this case it is a replacement-event for an already banned demonstration.”
In a later update, police explained more on their reasoning for the restrictions.
“More and more participants with flags and pro-Palestinian symbols were flocking to the gathering, originally planned as a vigil, which the organizer had said was neither desired nor planned when in prior collaborative talks,” Berlin police wrote on social media. “As a result of the considerable number of people with pro-Palestinian symbols arriving, the replacement event was forbidden even before it had formally begun.”
The issue of demonstrations in support of Palestinians has been highly visible in many European countries since Israel launched relaliatory airstrikes on Gaza after the militant Islamist group Hamas, which rules the strip, attacked Israel on October 7 killing some 1,300 Israelis as well as foreign nationals. In Germany, the issue has been particularly sensitive and met with a relatively hard line by politicians of all stripes.
Deputy Chancellor Robert Habeck tried to describe these issues at some length in a speech released online late on Friday that gathered traction over the weekend.
Habeck’s personal video message, addressed at first to Israelis, promised them “we stand at your side, and we have forgotten nothing,” an apparent reference to Germany’s role in the Holocaust and its post-war guarantee of Israel’s security.
https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-police-break-up-banned-pro-palestinian-rally/a-67104373
Lee's Perspective 