Assembly in Berlin
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Police are investigating after the Palestinian demonstration on suspicion of incitement to hatred
Several hundred people marched through Kreuzberg and Neukölln at a Palestinian demonstration on Easter Saturday. The Democ association reports anti-Semitic slogans and has posted video material online. Now the police are investigating.
- Anti-Semitic slogans are said to have been shouted at a Palestinian demonstration in Kreuzberg and Neukölln on Saturday
- The police have several reports
- Berlin’s interior senator Spranger and the Israeli ambassador Prosor strongly condemn the demonstration
The Berlin police are investigating a Palestinian demonstration on suspicion of incitement to hatred.
As a police spokeswoman told rbb on Monday, there are corresponding criminal charges. Up to 500 participants moved from Neukölln Town Hall to Kottbusser Tor on Saturday. The police were there with 250 emergency services, including interpreters.
As the police spokeswoman said, video material was evaluated immediately after the operation. However, the results are not yet available. The demonstration was registered by an individual under the title “Solidarity with Palestine”.
Berlin’s Senator for the Interior, Iris Spranger (SPD), said on Twitter: “I condemn any kind of anti-Semitic threats and statements. Hate has no place in our society. State security has started the investigation. The first evidence has already been evaluated.”
Israeli Ambassador: “Crossed Every Possible Red Line”
According to the “Democ” observatory, anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slogans were shouted during the demonstration. Video material was published on which the demonstration should be visible. According to Democ, the participants chanted, among other things: “Death to the Jews”.
The Israeli Ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, sees the demonstrators crossing “every possible red line”. He wrote on Twitter that the participants had abused the freedoms in Germany to call for “the annihilation of Israel and the Jews”.
“Samidoun” group in focus
The President of the German-Israeli Society, Volker Beck, declared on Monday that it was “completely incomprehensible how this demonstration could take place in this form”. Due to the tense situation in the occupied territories and the forthcoming anniversaries surrounding the founding of the State of Israel, further “anti-Semitic hate speech” can be expected until May. Beck had announced on Twitter on Monday morning that he would also file a complaint.
In connection with the allegations, the society called on Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) to examine a ban on the anti-Israeli network “Samidoun”. This represents the interests of Palestinian prisoners and was classified by Israel as a terrorist organization in early 2021.
Beck expressed the hope that the findings of the Israeli government, which led to the ban of “Samidoun” there, would be used accordingly by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. With flags, the organization had a visible part in the mobilization for the demonstration.
“Picture of Shame”
The deputy federal chairman of the German police union, Manuel Ostermann, called for consistent action. “The demo in Berlin is again a picture of shame,” he wrote on Twitter. Anti-Semitism must be fought with all legal means.
The situation in Israel and in the Palestinian territories is currently extremely tense. A 15-year-old man was killed during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank on Monday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. A 36-year-old Italian tourist was killed in an attack in Tel Aviv on Friday evening and seven other tourists were injured. A few hours earlier, two British-Israeli sisters from the settlement of Efrat had been killed in the West Bank. In response to the attacks, Israel massively tightened security precautions.
Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, April 10, 2023, 1:30 p.m