demo of shame! That’s how pathetic the police talk their way out of it

By Matthias Lukashevich

Despite the ban on hate speech against Israel and calls for violence against Israel, 300 demonstrators were able to chant “Death to the Jews” – the police did not intervene, although translators were on site.

Even three days after the Palestinian demonstration in Neukölln, waves of outrage are still rising nationwide at the anti-Semitic agitation from the ranks of the demonstrators. Now it comes out: The demonstration (motto: “Solidarity with Palestine”) was approved by the police – but with conditions!

They read: “No burning of objects (flags, dolls or similar) in public spaces.”

And above all: “No calls for acts of violence/No glorification of violence”.

And also that: “No soliciting for the PFLP/Hamas”.

This was announced by police spokeswoman Patricia Brämer on Tuesday evening when asked by the BZ. 72 hours after the demo of shame!

But isn’t that exactly what a number of Palestinian militants did when they chanted, “Death to Israel, death to the Jews!”?

April 8, 2023: On the streets of the capital, demonstrators shouted

April 8, 2023: On the streets of the capital, demonstrators shouted “Death to the Jews”. Now the next hate march could take place in Berlin on Sunday (April 16). Photo: picture alliance / ZUMAPRESS.com

For Berlin’s police, apparently – if at all – an isolated case: “In the meantime,” says Brämer, “the police state security has initiated separate investigations against a previously unknown young man on the basis of a public video that was transmitted on site during the move.”

Strange: On the previously known videos from Saturday, significantly more voices can be heard from men who made the forbidden calls.

When asked whether the 250 officers deployed (plus a translator and an officer with language skills from Directorate 5) had not heard of the scandalous tirades, the spokeswoman for police chief Barbara Slowik (57) answered the following:

“A transmission and translation of the chants to the operational command of the 1st Riot Police Department (BPA) and their evaluation by the police state security services, here LKA 52 evaluation unit, did not result in any punishable content, which is why no further police measures had to be taken on site in this regard. “

That means: Contrary to what the video recordings of the demo organization “Democ” suggest, according to the local police, there was no one from the ranks of the Berlin law enforcement officers who claims to have heard anything about hatred of Israel or slogans glorifying violence against Israelis.

► After all, the police now want to have the video material broadcast by “Democ” on networks and worldwide checked again for possible “criminal content”. The question remains (unanswered): Why didn’t a policeman intervene on site when anti-Semitic chants were chanted for other observers – including those who spoke the language?

“Democ” board member Grischa Stanjek told the “RBB” that he accompanied the two and a half hour rally together with a colleague. Based on the recordings, an interpreter translated anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slogans that were sung or shouted from a loudspeaker truck.

The background to the demonstration was, among other things, the ongoing conflicts between Palestinians and Israelis around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.

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