By Katja Colmenares
In the middle of Berlin, around 1,200 Palestinian supporters suddenly gather on Sunday afternoon, waving flags, agitating, shouting against Israel!
Unbearable! An aggressive mob of people on Potsdamer Platz. Inciting, anti-Semitic cries are made – even though such parades were banned by the assembly authorities, they are taking place again.
The police – too late! Brutal scuffles between the officers in riot gear and the agitators. The police used pepper spray to separate the crowd. The fire brigade is trying to get to Potsdamer Platz – injured officers have to be cared for.
People are repeatedly asked to put down the flags. Nobody notices that.
Despite the ban on gatherings confirmed in some cases by the Berlin Administrative Court, this demonstration was able to take place. A vigil was actually announced.
From 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. the “civilian victims of the people of the Middle East” should be remembered here. It was certainly foreseeable that an event with this context would be hijacked by haters of Israel and Jews.
“There is no place for anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel in Berlin,” said Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU). Crimes are punished consistently and the police and judiciary are well positioned, explained Wegner.
Why the vigil, like many other pro-Palestine demos, was not canceled is incomprehensible.