Arrests at Potsdamer Platz
Berlin police break up Palestinian demonstration
October 15, 2023, 8:24 p.m
All pro-Palestinian rallies are banned in Berlin up to and including October 18th. Because among them there is not only solidarity with Palestine, but sometimes also pride in the actions of Hamas. Nevertheless, hundreds of people gather in the center of the capital.
Despite a ban on gatherings, around 1,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators met in the afternoon on Potsdamer Platz in the center of Berlin. According to the police, several arrests were made when attempting to break up the gathering early in the evening. Previously, the officers were said to have been attacked with, among other things, firecrackers. According to the Berlin “Tagesspiegel”, the emergency services only managed to occupy the middle of the square and disperse the crowd after two hours. The demonstrators are said to have then retreated into the surrounding streets in smaller groups.
In Berlin, the police had banned all rallies calling for solidarity with Palestine up to and including October 18th. The same applies to all planned replacement events. According to the police, the gatherings pose a threat to public safety and order. Particularly because the participants are very likely to sympathize with Hamas, as it is said. In justifying the bans, the police also refer to previous pro-Palestinian rallies that cheered Hamas’ attack on Israel or otherwise featured anti-Semitic or extremist content.
Politicians want to expel Hamas friends
Hundreds of people also tried to demonstrate for the Palestinian cause and against Israel over the weekend in other German cities. As in Berlin, there was also a ban on gatherings in Frankfurt am Main and the police intervened. Protests were allowed in Cologne and Düsseldorf. Sometimes more people came than registered. Many Jews in Germany are worried about their safety even more than usual because of the heated atmosphere.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser promised them increased protection. The protection of Jews in Germany and of Jewish and Israeli institutions has the highest priority and has been “intensified again,” the SPD politician told “Bild am Sonntag”. Faeser also announced that the judiciary would use “all legal options to expel Hamas supporters.”
CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt also spoke out in “Bild am Sonntag” in favor of a “tough course against Jew and Israel haters, with consistency and severity.” Without a commitment to Israel’s right to exist, there should no longer be any asylum or other protection status in Germany. Last week, some demonstrators in Berlin-Neukölln cheered the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th.