Palestine supporters in France, Germany struggle to be heard amid protest ban
With an estimated 30,000 Palestinians, Berlin has one of the largest diaspora communities outside the Middle East, and anxiety over what is happening in Gaza is running high.
Even before the Hamas attack on Israel, Germany was restricting pro-Palestinian demonstrations, with Berlin authorities banning several on public safety grounds.
As tens of thousands of people took to the streets around the world on Oct. 13 in support of the Palestinians, all such protests in Germany and France have been banned.
The two countries - home to the European Union's largest Jewish and Muslim communities - have cracked down on pro-Palestinian groups since Hamas burst over the border from Palestine's Gaza on Oct. 7.
Supporters of the Palestinians say they feel blocked from publicly expressing support or concern for people in Gaza without risking arrest, their jobs or immigration status.
"We are scared, we are worried about being accused of justifying terrorism, when we just want to support a humanitarian cause," said Messika Medjoub a 20-year-old French-Algerian history student.
She was speaking at a banned protest in Paris last Thursday which police broke up with teargas and water cannon.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin clamped a nationwide ban on pro-Palestinian protests last week, citing the risk of public disorder. Nine have been banned in Paris since Oct.7.
Over the weekend, Paris police issued a ban on the "presence and circulation of people that present themselves as pro-Palestinian". Since Oct. 12 they have issued 752 fines and arrested 43 people.
Legitimate protest is being repressed
In Germany, Berlin police have approved two requests for pro-Palestine protests since the initial attacks, a police spokesperson said. Both were proposed as silent vigils.
But at least seven, including one called Jewish Berliners Against Middle Eastern Violence and another entitled Youth Against Racism, were refused permission. At least 190 people have been detained at protests.
Post-World War Two German goverments have pursued close ties with Israel because of the killing of six million European Jews in the Holocaust by the Nazis.
Human rights groups say Jewish communities must be protected but they are concerned legitimate protest is being repressed.
"Human rights law doesn't allow the government to just broadly say there is a concern about violence and use that as a justification to ban protests," said Benjamin Ward, a deputy director at Human Rights Watch.
"The question is whether it's proportionate - and that's where I think there is a concern."
'Stigmatising and discriminatory stereotypes'
With an estimated 30,000 Palestinians, Berlin has one of the largest diaspora communities outside the Middle East, and anxiety over what is happening in Gaza is running high.
At an unauthorised protest in Berlin last week, Palestinians said they felt nervous about speaking out, fearful of being labelled pro-Hamas in a country where supporting Israel is sacrosanct.
"I feel that in Germany we're not allowed to speak our mind," said Saleh Said, standing on the fringes of an unauthorised gathering.
Berlin's education authorities last week told schools they could ban students from wearing the Palestinian Keffiyeh scarf and "free Palestine" stickers.
Even before the Hamas attack on Israel, Germany was restricting pro-Palestinian demonstrations, with Berlin authorities banning several on public safety grounds.
Amnesty International said in September that German police's justifications for bans on pro-Palestinian groups appeared to be based on "stigmatising and discriminatory stereotypes", citing references in police orders to people "from the Arab diaspora, in particular with Palestinian background".
Hungary and Austria have also blocked pro-Palestine protests since Oct.7, while in the rest of Europe large rallies supporting Palestinians have been held with few restrictions.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD AND AGENCIES
With an estimated 30,000 Palestinians, Berlin has one of the largest diaspora communities outside the Middle East, and anxiety over what is happening in Gaza is running high.
Even before the Hamas attack on Israel, Germany was restricting pro-Palestinian demonstrations, with Berlin authorities banning several on public safety grounds.
As tens of thousands of people took to the streets around the world on Oct. 13 in support of the Palestinians, all such protests in Germany and France have been banned.
The two countries - home to the European Union's largest Jewish and Muslim communities - have cracked down on pro-Palestinian groups since Hamas burst over the border from Palestine's Gaza on Oct. 7.
Supporters of the Palestinians say they feel blocked from publicly expressing support or concern for people in Gaza without risking arrest, their jobs or immigration status.
"We are scared, we are worried about being accused of justifying terrorism, when we just want to support a humanitarian cause," said Messika Medjoub a 20-year-old French-Algerian history student.
She was speaking at a banned protest in Paris last Thursday which police broke up with teargas and water cannon.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin clamped a nationwide ban on pro-Palestinian protests last week, citing the risk of public disorder. Nine have been banned in Paris since Oct.7.
Over the weekend, Paris police issued a ban on the "presence and circulation of people that present themselves as pro-Palestinian". Since Oct. 12 they have issued 752 fines and arrested 43 people.
Legitimate protest is being repressed
In Germany, Berlin police have approved two requests for pro-Palestine protests since the initial attacks, a police spokesperson said. Both were proposed as silent vigils.
But at least seven, including one called Jewish Berliners Against Middle Eastern Violence and another entitled Youth Against Racism, were refused permission. At least 190 people have been detained at protests.
Post-World War Two German goverments have pursued close ties with Israel because of the killing of six million European Jews in the Holocaust by the Nazis.
Human rights groups say Jewish communities must be protected but they are concerned legitimate protest is being repressed.
"Human rights law doesn't allow the government to just broadly say there is a concern about violence and use that as a justification to ban protests," said Benjamin Ward, a deputy director at Human Rights Watch.
"The question is whether it's proportionate - and that's where I think there is a concern."
'Stigmatising and discriminatory stereotypes'
With an estimated 30,000 Palestinians, Berlin has one of the largest diaspora communities outside the Middle East, and anxiety over what is happening in Gaza is running high.
At an unauthorised protest in Berlin last week, Palestinians said they felt nervous about speaking out, fearful of being labelled pro-Hamas in a country where supporting Israel is sacrosanct.
"I feel that in Germany we're not allowed to speak our mind," said Saleh Said, standing on the fringes of an unauthorised gathering.
Berlin's education authorities last week told schools they could ban students from wearing the Palestinian Keffiyeh scarf and "free Palestine" stickers.
Even before the Hamas attack on Israel, Germany was restricting pro-Palestinian demonstrations, with Berlin authorities banning several on public safety grounds.
Amnesty International said in September that German police's justifications for bans on pro-Palestinian groups appeared to be based on "stigmatising and discriminatory stereotypes", citing references in police orders to people "from the Arab diaspora, in particular with Palestinian background".
Hungary and Austria have also blocked pro-Palestine protests since Oct.7, while in the rest of Europe large rallies supporting Palestinians have been held with few restrictions.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD AND AGENCIES
DW
Germany saw demonstrations in support of civilians trapped in Gaza Saturday amid heavy police presence. Authorities say the events drew more participants than expected but were largely peaceful.
As elsewhere around the world, Saturday saw thousands in Germany take to the streets in support of Palestinians trapped in Gaza.
Demonstrators called for an end to violence in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip have killed more than 4,000 Palestinians in recent weeks, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Hamas launched terror attacks on Israel on October 7 — killing more than 1,400 Israeli civilians, with some 200 people also taken hostage by the militant group. Hamas is deemed a terrorist organization by the US, Germany, Israel and other countries.
As Israel has sought to dismantle Hamas, the Israel government has imposed a total blockade on Gaza. The siege has led to a humanitarian crisis among Gaza's 2.2 million residents.
What happened during the demos in Germany?
Police say pro-Palestinian demonstrations took place in Cologne, Frankfurt, Hanover, Karlsruhe, Münster and Stuttgart. The largest, however, appears to have taken place in the western German city of Düsseldorf, where an estimated 7,000 people marched under the motto, "For peace, justice, and human dignity in Palestine."
Police in several cities said many more people showed up for the events than organizers had estimated but noted that they remained largely peaceful. The events were all accompanied by a heavy police presence.
In Münster, roughly 1,000 people took part in a pro-Palestinian march. Another 700 gathered for what was billed as an "action alliance against all antisemitism."
Police say there were no clashes between the two, though two leaders of the pro-Palestinian march were temporarily detained for refusing to stop illegal chants. Both were released after the event.
Berlin bans demonstrations for fear of anti-Israeli violence
A march scheduled to take place in central Berlin on Sunday, however, has been canceled by police, who cited the "imminent danger" of incitement, antisemitic slogans and violence or the glorification thereof at the event.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Friday said that although everyone in Germany has the right to demonstrate and freely express their option, "there is a clear red line: no tolerance for antisemitic or anti-Israel agitation and no tolerance for violence."
Sunday's event was the latest of several to be canceled in the capital, with Berlin authorities announcing that all substitute events will be banned until at least October 30.
Despite such bans, some pro-Palestinian demonstrators have taken to Berlin's streets anyway, resulting in clashes with police and arrests.
In the UK, about 100,000 people joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in central London on Saturday. Waving Palestinian flags and shouting "Free Palestine," protesters headed to 10 Downing Street — the home of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak — to call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.
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