The demonstrators in Berlin are certain on Saturday: their cause has won. Wrapped in Palestinian flags, they distribute baklava, a sweet pastry, to passers-by on Sonnenallee in the afternoon. In the evening, Palestinians living in Germany celebrate Hamas’ attack on Israel.
Meanwhile, there is fighting in Israel. More intense than it has been for a long time. In the early hours of Shabbat, fighters from the Gaza Strip advanced into Israeli territory by land, air and sea. The operation, carried out by Hamas and joined by the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad, has left Israel in a state of shock. According to Israeli figures, more than 700 people were killed in Israel and more than 2,000 people were injured. An as yet unknown number of Israelis were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip. In response, Israel shelled targets in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian information, more than 300 people had been killed by Sunday.
Candy is distributed to celebrate the attack
And in Berlin? There are a few dozen people waving the Palestinian flag and cheering on the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists, who have just taken hostages and are boasting about having shot civilians in Israel. The demonstration in the Neukölln district was organized by the Palestinian network Samidoun. The organization describes itself as a “Palestinian prisoner defense network” that actively works for the liberation of Palestine, “from the river to the sea.” In photos from the event shared on the Instagram account, a man wrapped in a Palestinian flag can be seen handing out pastries on a plate. Samidoun wrote: “Long live the resistance of the Palestinian people.” According to police, around 50 people had joined this demonstration by late Saturday evening.
The district mayor of Neukölln, Martin Hikel (SPD), has condemned an action by the anti-Israel network Samidoun and is calling for the organization to be banned. Neukölln is repeatedly in the headlines because of expressions of solidarity with Palestine and anti-Semitic slogans. Israel’s ambassador Ron Prosor is also calling for such a ban. He expressed his horror at the events. There is no place for cheering over the murder of civilians – neither in Israel or Germany nor anywhere else in the world, he said. And warned of attacks on Israeli and Jewish institutions in Germany too. In the current situation, there is a “greatest danger” of such attacks, he said in an interview with the German Press Agency on Saturday. In view of the attack on Israel by the Islamist Hamas, the German-Israeli Society has called on the federal government to attach clear conditions to payments to the Palestinians. “German tax money must not be used to finance terrorism and anti-Semitism,” said a statement from its president Volker Beck on Sunday. Clear decisions from the Bundestag and its budget committee are necessary for the 2024 federal budget.
Jewish institutions in Germany are being given greater protection
It is a concern that the Federal Ministry of the Interior also shares. On Saturday, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) announced that Jewish and Israeli institutions in Germany could be in danger. That’s why protective measures are being increased where necessary, said a spokesman. In Berlin, protection for Jewish and Israeli institutions has already been increased. The President of the Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, describes this step as an important sign in this “critical time” for Israel and all Jews. The threat to Jewish institutions in Germany shows that the terrorists are not just concerned with Israel, but that “Jewish life is being questioned by them everywhere.” Germany officially condemns the Hamas attack. On Saturday evening, the Brandenburg Gate was illuminated with the Israeli flag. The government appeared united on Sunday: “The security of the State of Israel is our obligation and German reason of state,” said a statement from the traffic light parties and the Union on Sunday.
The Muslim associations in Germany have so far held back from making statements about the renewed escalation in the Middle East. Kemal Ergün, chairman of the Islamic Community Millî Görüş (IGMG), calls for an immediate end to the spiral of violence on the news platform X (formerly Twitter) and speaks rather cautiously. There have been escalations of violence and tensions between Israel and Palestine for a long time. “Following attacks by settlers and interventions by Israeli security forces, including at the Aksâ Mosque, which have resulted in the deaths of Palestinian civilians in recent months, Hamas today carried out a large-scale operation in which scores of people were killed and injured,” writes he. Federal Minister Cem Özdemir (The Greens) then accused Ergün of to use “relativizing words along the lines of the motto it’s your own fault” and speaks in X of a “resounding silence from Muslim associations on terror against Israel”. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is monitoring Millî Görüş.