Pro-Palestinian protest in Berlin halted after scuffles with police
07.10.2026, DPA
Police halted a pro-Palestinian demonstration attended by several hundred people in Berlin on Wednesday evening following clashes and repeated breaches of restrictions imposed on the protest.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was among those taking part in the demonstration, held on the third anniversary of the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel.
The crowd, consisting mainly of young people, gathered at Oranienplatz in Berlin's Kreuzberg district, waving Palestinian flags and carrying banners. Police spokesman Florian Nath initially put the number of participants at around 700.
The demonstrators then marched through Kreuzberg before police brought the protest to an end, citing "repeated numerous violations of the restrictions and a significant threat to public safety."
Nath said offences against police officers had been committed from within the demonstration, including shoving and kicking. There were also isolated scuffles between protesters and police.
Officers arrested more than 10 people, including for displaying banned symbols associated with Hamas, which Germany classifies as a terrorist organization.
Protesters chanted "Viva, viva Palestine" as well as "There is only one solution. Intifada Revolution."
The term intifada refers to Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation in the late 1980s and early 2000s, which included numerous attacks and suicide bombings and left many people dead on both sides.
One large placard read: "One genocide does not justify another."
Police accompanied the march on all sides. The demonstration had been due to proceed towards Hermannplatz in the neighbouring Neukölln district.
At the start of the demonstration, around a dozen people stood on the opposite side of the road waving Israeli flags. One demonstrator carried a banner reading: "Shame on you."
Around 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted to the Gaza Strip in the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel responded with a military offensive in the Gaza Strip, triggering a protracted war in which tens of thousands of people have been killed.
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