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Protesters in Berlin
Photo: Sean Gallup / Getty Images
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, in isolated cases also violence.
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According to the police, massive riots broke out on a street
in
Berlin
with around 3500 participants.
Stones and bottles were thrown at the officers from the ranks of the demonstrators, and fireworks were also thrown against the security forces.
Protesters beat police officers.
The police used pepper spray.
A police spokesman was initially unable to confirm whether demonstrators were arrested.
The police had declared the protest to be dissolved because of the violation of the Corona hygiene rules. Since demonstrators did not adhere to the order, the officers stepped in on Sonnenallee in Neukölln. There were "small scuffles" between the demonstrators and the police, as SPIEGEL reporter Sven Röbel reported on site, as well as bottles being thrown and some arrests. At the demonstration, shouts like "child murderer Israel", "woman murderer Israel" and "free Palestine" were loud.
Before that, another demonstration with around 120 participants from Hermannplatz to Neukölln Town Hall had been peaceful.
Another demonstration should take place in the afternoon.
In an appeal, the struggle for "a free Palestine, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean" was called for, that is, on today's territory of Israel.
A total of 360 police officers were on duty.
Word battles in Leipzig, water cannons in Hanover
In
Hamburg
have
around 120 demonstrators in solidarity with Palestinians.
Slogans and a map of Palestine were displayed on banners, and Palestine flags were waved.
The police were very busy at the Gänsemarkt to prevent possible conflicts.
According to the police, the rally was largely peaceful.
In
Cologne
around 800 people took to the streets for demonstrations.
They waved Palestinian flags and signs with inscriptions such as "Freedom for Palestine" and "Stop the Genocide", but also "Against Zionists - not against Jews".
Since about twice as many people had come as registered, the corona distances could not be adhered to in the space provided for the rally in Cologne's old town.
Therefore, the leader of the meeting ended the demonstration prematurely, said a police spokesman.
Two participants climbed an equestrian statue during the rally and unfurled a Palestinian flag.
At the request of the police - who were present with massive forces - they came down again.
The anti-Semitism commissioner of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP), had warned in advance that the right of assembly and demonstration should not be misused to spread hatred of Jews. She would like the organizers of the Nakba demo to distance themselves from any form of anti-Semitism. "Of course, this also includes not questioning Israel's right to exist or demonizing the State of Israel."
In
Leipzig
, hundreds of people took to the streets against violence in the Middle East on Saturday. According to the police, up to 400 people took part in a "pro-Palestine" demonstration. According to estimates, they faced around 200 participants in a "Pro Israel" rally. At first, the mood was briefly heated, between the two sides, some demonstrators had fights of words, said a police spokesman. However, the situation has not escalated any further and has calmed down.
Also in
Hanover
According to the police, a total of around 300 people initially took part in the events in different parts of the city by the afternoon.
A police spokesman described the situation as calm.
The police were present in the city center with strong forces.
Water cannons were also parked near the venues.
Many demonstrators condemned Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip and called for an end to the "oppression of the Palestinian people."
At the main train station in Hanover there was a rally under the motto "Against all anti-Semitism - Solidarity with Israel".
In
Hildesheim
around 130 demonstrators took to the streets at an event on the subject of "War in Israel".
The meeting was basically peaceful and trouble-free, according to the police.
In addition to the current escalation in the Middle East, the background to the rallies was also the day of the Nakba 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 information from the Israeli army, the number was recently around 2,300. Israel is responding with massive attacks in the coastal area.
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.
The Protestant and Catholic Churches in Berlin and Brandenburg recently condemned attacks on Jewish institutions in Germany as "unbearable".
It is unacceptable that synagogues and Jewish institutions are threatened, denigrated and attacked, said the Protestant regional bishop Christian Stäblein and the Catholic Archbishop Heiner Koch together.
flg / dpa
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