Germany cracks down on pro-Palestine protesters (VIDEO) — RT World News
Berlin police arrested 75 people after clashes with demonstrators who staged a sit-in in front of the Chancellery
Dozens of people were arrested in Berlin on Friday when German police moved to break up a pro-Palestinian protest camp set up outside the Chancellery building two weeks ago.
Activists residing in the camp, which consists of 20 tents, demand a halt to German arms shipments to Israel as the Jewish state continues its siege of Gaza. The demonstrators also denounced the criminalization of the Palestinian Solidarity Movement.
The German authorities accused the demonstrators of inciting hatred and using unconstitutional symbols and banned slogans. Protesters are also alleged to have violated restrictions, such as those protecting green zones.
“The protection of gatherings cannot be guaranteed at this stage because public safety and order are seriously at risk.” DW news agency quoted police spokeswoman Anya Derschke as saying.
On Friday, police moved to evacuate the camp and were seen clashing with dozens of activists. Video footage showed officers detaining people, some of whom resisted and chanted “long live Palestine”.
According to police, about 150 officers were deployed to the chancellery to demolish the tents. 75 protesters and other supporters were arrested for allegedly violating freedom of assembly laws.
Meanwhile, the demonstrators insisted that the German authorities had no right to evacuate the camp.
“We were peaceful but we were harassed every day by the police who imposed more and more stupid restrictions on us.” An activist named Nassar said.
“They banned us from using languages other than German or English, they criminalized our prayers, our songs and our workshops, and now their official logic is that we have a sofa that damages the grass… In Germany damaging the grass is worse than committing genocide. Nassar told DW.
“Welcome to Germany, where killing 35,000 people is worse than harming a small piece of grass.” Another demonstrator commented, referring to the total death toll reported by health authorities in Gaza amid the ongoing Israeli retaliatory attack on the Palestinian Strip.
The Israeli blockade comes in response to the Hamas attack on the Jewish state on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,200 people and the taking of 250 hostages.
Source link
