Pro-Palestinian demonstrations and attacks against Jewish institutions have been escalating on the streets of the capital for days. According to the Berlin police, at around 3:45 a.m. on Wednesday night, two masked attackers attacked a building in the Mitte district of Berlin. There are several Jewish institutions in the house, including a synagogue and school rooms.
However, the previously unknown perpetrators missed the facilities and the two Molotov cocktails landed on the sidewalk and were extinguished there by a security employee. At around 8 a.m., police arrested a man who was walking toward the building. According to the police, when he was arrested, the man shouted inflammatory and anti-Israel slogans. The State Security Department of the State Criminal Police Office has taken over the investigation.
E-scooters were set on fire and there was also a fire in a playground
During a visit to Cairo, Chancellor Olaf Scholz commented on the attack in Berlin: “The assembly authorities must do their part, and the police must do their part to protect Jewish institutions. And we will do that too and strengthen everything.” Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner and Culture Senator Joe Chialo (both CDU) want to visit the synagogue on Wednesday afternoon.
On Tuesday evening, the most violent pro-Palestinian protests since Hamas’ attack on Israel took place in Berlin. Smaller groups of demonstrators repeatedly formed in Berlin-Neukölln and set up smaller street barricades around Hermannplatz and Sonnenallee. According to the fire department, e-scooters were set on fire and there was also a fire in a playground.
The approximately 40 firefighters were only able to extinguish the fire with the help of the police. The officers were repeatedly attacked with bottles and stones. Videos on social media also show police officers being pelted with New Year’s Eve firecrackers. The police eventually used water cannons to extinguish the fire.
At the same time, there were riots around the Brandenburg Gate. At least 300 people spontaneously gathered there early on Tuesday evening for what was initially a peaceful pro-Palestinian vigil. According to reports from the RBB, slogans such as “child murderer Israel” and “Free Palestine” were shouted from the ever-growing crowd. Some isolated protesters are also said to have attacked police officers. The Holocaust memorial not far from the Brandenburg Gate was guarded by police officers with dogs.
“Our police are currently working at their limits,” says Kai Wegner
The alleged rocket attack on a hospital in Gaza City is seen as the trigger for the harshest pro-Palestinian protests to date. It is still unclear who fired the rockets. Apparently several of the demonstrators at the Brandenburg Gate, but especially in Neukölln, followed a call from the radical Palestinian group Samidoun on social media. In the past few days, the association had repeatedly called for demonstrations with appeals such as “Go to Sonnenallee” or “Now on the streets. Against the genocide in Gaza.”
“Our police are currently working at their limits,” said Berlin’s Governing Mayor Wegner on the talk show “Markus Lanz”. It was broadcast on Tuesday evening at the time of the riots, which Wegner obviously knew nothing about when he recorded it around 8:30 p.m. Referring to the pro-Palestinian protests in Berlin as a whole, Wegner told Lanz: “These are images that I don’t want to see from the German capital.”
The Federal Association of Anti-Semitism Research and Information Centers (RIAS) has documented a total of 202 anti-Semitic incidents in Germany since October 7th. In the same period last year there were 59 cases. In recent days, anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slogans chanted during protests accounted for most of this, RIAS said. In a few, few cases there were attacks. Participants in a solidarity rally with Israel in Kiel were spat on.
Berlin police have banned almost all pro-Palestinian rallies in the city since Hamas’ attack on Israel. “This is the most difficult situation of the last five years of my term in office,” Berlin Police Commissioner Barbara Slowik said last week. It’s “about responsibility for the entire city and our fellow Jewish citizens.”
Since October 7th, several places in the city have been repeatedly daubed with Stars of David and anti-Semitic slogans. An unknown perpetrator also tore down an Israeli flag that was hoisted in front of the Red City Hall. On Sunday evening there were major anti-Israel riots at Potsdamer Platz. Called up via social networks, around 500 people gathered there, almost 130 of whom were arrested by the police during the protest.