A Palestinian rally in Berlin has sparked outrage because, according to observers, anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slogans have been shouted there. According to a spokesman, the Berlin police have several criminal charges. The police spokesman said that the first steps had been taken on suspicion of incitement to hatred.
Berlin’s Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) said on Twitter: “The state security has started the investigation. The first evidence has already been evaluated.” According to the organization democ, video material from the rally was posted online. Several media had previously reported.
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) announced via Twitter: “If groups chant “Death to the Jews” on German streets, then there is an initial suspicion of hate speech under Section 130 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code.” He assumes that the security authorities acted accordingly.
Beck: “Shouldn’t have happened like that”
At the demonstrations in Neukölln and Kreuzberg on Saturday, “anti-Semitic, inflammatory slogans such as “Death to the Jews! Death Israel!” said the President of the German-Israeli Society (DIG), Volker Beck. According to his own statements, he is one of the complainants. “This Israel hate demonstration should not have taken place like this,” said Beck.
Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, had previously commented on Twitter about the demonstration: “These imbeciles are abusing Germany’s freedoms and unreservedly calling for the annihilation of Israel and the Jews.”
The background to the demonstration was, among other things, the ongoing conflicts surrounding the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. According to the spokesman, the police were on site with around 250 emergency services. Language mediators and interpreters were also involved. The police then evaluated video footage. The spokesman said he could not comment on the findings. To his knowledge, police officers did not intervene.
This was also reported by the organization democ. Board member and founding member Grischa Stanjek described that he accompanied the two and a half hour rally together with a colleague. He spoke of about 300 participants. Based on the recordings, an interpreter translated anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slogans that were sung or shouted from a loudspeaker truck. Democ put a recording of it online.
The deputy chief of the federal police union, Manuel Ostermann, demanded on Twitter: “Anti-Semitism must be fought in Germany with all legal means. The demo in Berlin is again a picture of shame.” DIG President Beck demanded an explanation from Berlin’s Interior Senator Spranger that the demonstration could take place at all.
