Despite a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, crowds and clashes broke out again in Berlin-Neukölln on Wednesday evening. The police spoke of a heated atmosphere on Sonnenallee. Pyrotechnics were set off and stones and bottles were thrown at police officers, the police said on the platform X, formerly Twitter.
The demonstrators did not comply with the police’s requests and instead set up garbage cans as obstacles on the street, it said. There is resistance to arresting suspects, so the police have to “use direct force”. A dpa reporter spoke of an aggressive mood. According to the police, the head of operations gave permission for a water cannon to extinguish a fire on a container. People threw objects randomly onto the street.
The demonstrators were clearly participants in a replacement event for a pro-Palestinian rally, which was also banned. The situation is very dynamic, said a spokesman. According to observations by a dpa reporter, there were dozens of arrests.
Police Chief: The situation is tense
Berlin Police Chief Barbara Slowik described the security situation in Berlin-Neukölln as tense. “We definitely have several hundred people on the streets in Sonnenallee,” said Slowik in the RBB Abendschau. “The situation in North Neukölln is tense.” The emergency services would try to separate people and intervene consistently.
Slowik expected a longer deployment again. “Tonight we can expect that smaller and larger groups will be out on the streets, chanting and perhaps committing crimes,” said Slowik.
Demo in front of the Foreign Office
According to police, several hundred people also gathered at the Foreign Office. According to the police, the gathering against violence in the Middle East was ended directly by the organizer because she had no influence on the participants. 50 participants were registered. Several hundred came.
It was only on Wednesday night that riots broke out at pro-Palestinian rallies, especially in Neukölln. It was said that 20 police officers were injured. Two would have had to quit the service. According to the police, 39 people were arrested and 65 criminal cases were initiated. In addition, 12 administrative offenses were registered.
