At an anti-Israel protest on Friday evening, participants threw bottles and pyrotechnics at police officers. Shortly after the rally began, police arrested one person for shouting the banned slogan “From the River to the Sea.”
The demonstrators then began chanting (“Fuck the Police”). The stage program was paused after the police intervention.
After another arrest during the event, the mood changed: Participants threw bottles and pyrotechnics at police officers. Shortly before, the police had announced over the loudspeaker that wearing keffiyeh (“Palestinian scarves”) was prohibited.
As the situation escalated, the police arrested several people. During the police action, water ran over the music system, meaning the organizers were unable to make any further announcements.
Tagesspiegel reporter is harassed
The audience included members of the Arabic-speaking community, left-wing groups, but also individuals from the Islamist spectrum.
Several people harassed a Tagesspiegel reporter and demanded that he should “stand against the genocide” and shout “Free Palestine”. When he replied that as a reporter you don’t shout political slogans, he was accused of supporting the “genocide” and a woman vehemently demanded that the reporters stop reporting. One of the organizers of the event briefly came off the stage to mediate.
The Neukölln district association of the Left Party had called for the rally at Berlin’s Südstern. They wanted to protest together against the “genocide in the Gaza Strip”, the “slaughter of tens of thousands of civilians” and the “suppression of the Palestinian liberation movement by the German state and the racist violence of the Berlin police”, it said in a statement.
Intifada choirs instead of rap concerts
Even while the stage was being set up, those present were drumming and chanting “Free Palestine,” “Stop the Genocide,” and “Viva Intifada.”
At 7 p.m., Ramsis Kilani from the group “Socialism from Below” read out the assembly regulations, which, among other things, prohibit symbols of certain organizations. Kilani called out the names of the organizations, including Samidoun and the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,” particularly loudly. This was met with applause from parts of the audience.
Berlin Left Party MP Ferat Koçak announced
When the banned slogan “From the River to the Sea” was sung from the stage, the police intervened and arrested one person.
The program included a speech by Berlin Left Party MP Ferat Koçak and an appearance by rapper Ali Bumaye, who called for the event at the beginning of August. As a rapper, Ali Bumaye is not necessarily known for political content. Other artists who were announced, however, are: The rapper Camaro was active in the “Youth Resistance.”
The left-wing extremist splinter group was active mainly in Neukölln between 2015 and 2019, was oriented towards Stalinism and also denied Israel the right to exist. Later in the evening, an anti-Israel TikToker was also scheduled to appear.
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Koçak, who was there as a parliamentary observer, told the Tagesspiegel: “I expected young people to come who wanted to hear hip hop.” But there was also a problematic crowd present, he admitted. “I would have hoped for something different.” The heated atmosphere between demonstrators and police has built up over the last few months due to the police’s aggressive actions and bans on demonstrations, said Koçak.
The protest rally with an open-air concert was originally planned at Hermannplatz, but according to the Neukölln district association of the Left Party, the police banned the venue and specified Südstern in Kreuzberg as an alternative.
According to the Left Party, the police initially justified this due to a lack of space, then due to the proximity to Sonnenallee, which is dominated by migrants. A spokesman for the police situation service was able to confirm the new venue on Friday evening, but was unable to provide any information on the underlying decisions.
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The event called “Beats Against Genocide” was also organized by the groups “Palestine Campaign” and “Palestine Speaks”.
The latter describes itself as a “political, democratic and anti-racist movement” that advocates for the “Palestinians and their rights to freedom, equality and justice”. At the same time, slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” are repeatedly heard at demonstrations organized by the organization, which is also being prosecuted in Berlin because it denies Israel the right to exist. (Tsp)
