Controversial speaker Abu Sitta connected – police dissolve “Palestine Congress”.
“Palestine Congress” in Berlin – police are preparing for a large-scale operation
The police are preparing for a major operation in Berlin because of a planned “Palestine Congress”. Around 900 emergency services will be deployed on Friday, a police spokeswoman said. A total of around 2,500 police officers are planned until Sunday.
The “Palestine Congress” was quickly dissolved by the police on Friday afternoon. A person was connected via livestream against whom there was a “public activity ban”. According to participants, this is the Palestinian author Salman Abu Sitta.
Dhe Berlin police broke up the controversial “Palestine Congress” in Berlin on Friday around two hours after it began. An official announced this to up to 250 congress participants early in the evening and asked them to leave the hall. The officials had previously temporarily interrupted the event. A spokeswoman told WELT that a person was connected via livestream against whom there was a “public activity ban”.
First, it was checked “to what extent the event can continue”. After the legal review, the event was finally declared over. On Friday evening, the organizers initially reserved the right to take legal action against the demolition.
The ban on the speaker in question was due to hate speech against Israel and Jews. According to the police, they 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.
When the man spoke to up to 250 congress participants, the police intervened with several officers, cut off the transmission and temporarily switched off the power. The participants in the meeting reacted to this and to the official dissolution of the meeting with loud expressions of dissatisfaction.
Participants of the congress under the motto “We accuse” wrote on Platform X that the event was interrupted during a speech by the Palestinian author Salman Abu Sitta. The congress began on Friday afternoon and was scheduled to last until Sunday. On the congress website, the organizers are calling, among other things, for the immediate end of all support to Israel and a comprehensive military embargo against Israel.
The congress had already caused cross-party criticism before it began. Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) declared on X that it was “unbearable” that the congress was taking place in Berlin. “Berlin does not tolerate anti-Semitism, hatred and incitement against Jews.”
The police had prepared for a major operation. Around 900 emergency services were to be deployed on Friday, a police spokeswoman said. A total of around 2,500 police officers are planned until Sunday. The exact location on Germaniastrasse in the Tempelhof district was kept secret for a long time – for security reasons, the organizers only announced it in the morning at a press conference in the Wedding district and on the congress website. It said: “Only people with a valid ticket can be guaranteed access.” It was unclear how many participants would come, but there was talk of up to 1,000.
“It’s not about legitimate grief or an exchange”
In the announcement as well as in the press conference, the organizers accused Israel of, among other things, “apartheid”, “colonialism” and “genocide” in the Gaza Strip. Germany bears “complicity” because it supplies weapons to Israel. The unprecedented massacre with more than 1,200 deaths that terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other groups carried out in Israel on October 7th last year was not mentioned at all in the call and was only mentioned in the press conference after repeated requests from journalists.
The domestic policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group in the House of Representatives feared that there could be criminal calls for violence. “It is not about legitimate mourning for war victims or an exchange about a future for Palestine for all people living there,” said Martin Matz on Friday morning, according to the statement.
“The organizers and the invited speakers suggest that we have to look very closely to ensure that criminal calls for violence and anti-Semitic slogans do not characterize the event.” He demanded that the fight against anti-Semitism is not just “the content of political speeches, but rather a consistent guideline of action”.
The police had announced that they would take consistent and rapid action over the weekend as soon as there was any suspicion of criminal activity. Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) emphasized on Thursday that she expected this and that the police had their full support. “Any attempt to abuse the basic right to freedom of assembly to attack our social coexistence through anti-Semitic and anti-Israel crimes will have consequences,” said Spranger.
“Be held criminally responsible”
The Justice Senator also emphasized that everyone has the right to point out the dramatic situation in Gaza, as long as the protest is based on the rule of law. “But anyone who takes part in hatred and incitement against Israel will be held criminally responsible,” said Badenberg.
According to the Senate Interior Administration, groups that belong to the anti-Israel “boycott spectrum” mobilized for the event. There are also other anti-Israel groups such as the “Workers Power Group” (GAM), “Revolution” (REVO) and the “United Palestinian National Committee” (VPNK).
Since the congress’s announcement, there has been repeated sharp criticism of it. A non-partisan “alliance against anti-Semitic terror” jointly opposed the event and called for opposition.