Hundreds demonstrate in Berlin after the dissolution of the “Palestine Congress”.

Hundreds of people gathered in Berlin-Mitte on Saturday afternoon for a demonstration against the ban on the so-called “Palestine Congress”.

At its peak, the police counted 1,900 participants, as a police spokeswoman said in the evening. The people had gathered in the afternoon at the Neptune Fountain in front of the Red Town Hall, then they marched to the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Unter den Linden.

The demonstration was initially peaceful. As the police later announced, shortly before reaching the end point, emergency services were attacked by participants in the elevator. Three people were then arrested. According to the police, a total of six demo participants were arrested.

According to information, around 900 police officers are on duty to secure the event. The police had previously announced that numerous police officers were also on the move in the city area and were monitoring the situation.

The police had the “Palestine Congress” Disbanded on Friday around two hours after it began. The up to 250 congress participants were asked to leave the hall early in the evening. The reason given by the assembly authority was a speech broadcast via video by a man who is banned from political activity in Germany because of hate speech against Israel and Jews. When the man spoke, the police and several officers intervened, cut the transmission and temporarily switched off the power.

According to a police spokeswoman, the authority saw the danger “that such anti-Semitic, violence-glorifying and Holocaust-denying speeches could be repeated at the event.” The decision therefore applies not only to Friday, but also to Saturday and Sunday.

The participants in the meeting reacted to the official termination by the police with loud expressions of displeasure. Among other things, they chanted “shame on you” in English. Finally, they gradually left the hall, some accompanied by police officers. A spokesman for the police situation center said late in the evening that there had been no further protests and that the situation was calm.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser praised the police’s use of the platform X, formerly Twitter. “It is right and necessary for the Berlin police to crack down on the so-called Palestine Congress. We do not tolerate Islamist propaganda or hatred against Jews,” she wrote. The police union also called the officers’ crackdown “a strong signal towards those who exploit our democracy or doubt the assertiveness of the capital’s police.” “Anyone who wants to use our democratic opportunities must also adhere to requirements and laws,” said state leader Stephan Weh, according to the announcement.

The organizers’ spokesmen sharply criticized the police’s actions. Democratic rights have been undermined, it was said during a press conference on Saturday. Legal steps would also be examined.

Lawyer Nadija Samour said on behalf of the organizers that the police had made a completely disproportionate decision. Lesser measures were possible. Any attempt to protect the gathering was torpedoed by the police. There were no criminal statements, which the police also admitted. The organizer was not aware of the ban on activities and had only been informed shortly beforehand. From the organizers’ point of view, the police action was illegal.

Various pro-Palestinian groups and initiatives invited people to the international meeting under the motto “We accuse”. These include primarily those that, according to the assessment of security authorities and Berlin’s internal administration belong to the anti-Israel “boycott spectrum”. The Berlin-based association “Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East” is also one of the organizers. The federal government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, is critical of the association because it has “already spread anti-Semitic and anti-Israel narratives in the past.”

The organizers had announced the congress a long time ago, but kept the exact location secret for a long time and only announced it on Friday. The police were on site with a massive contingent and sometimes followed the event, which was considered a public meeting, directly in the hall. Before the meeting began, politicians and the police had announced that they would take consistent action if anti-Semitic statements or crimes occurred. There had already been protests against the event in advance, including from the Central Council of Jews. On Friday itself there were some protests in the city against the Congress.

Broadcast: rbb24 Antenne Brandenburg, April 13, 2023, 11:00 a.m