Berlin-Kreuzberg: Pro-Palestine demo escalated-police use water cannons!
Berlin-Kreuzberg: Pro-Palestine demo escalated-police use water cannons!
Berlin-Kreuzberg, Deutschland - On May 15, 2025, around 1100 people gathered in Berlin-Kreuzberg to commemorate the Nakba Day, which is reminiscent of the flight and displacement of Palestinians in the first Middle East War in 1948. However, the demonstration, which took place as part of the pro-Palestinian movement, was overshadowed by violent clashes between the participants and the police. Aggressive demonstrators attacked police officers, threw bottles, cans and stones, which led to injuries on both sides. A police officer was seriously injured and a total of around 20 to 30 participants were arrested. Despite these tensions, the meetings were initially involuntarily dissolved.
The police had provided water cannons in the run -up to the campaigns and also used helmets, but the water cannon was not used for the time being. According to police spokesman Florian Nath, it was an attempt to keep control because the demonstration had to be regulated heavily because of the ban on anti -Semitic slogans. Aggressive speeches, the slogans such as "Children's Murderer Israel" and "From the River to the Sea", provided additional tensions. The latter is often interpreted as a Palestinian claim to the entire area between Jordan and the Mediterranean, which further heated the minds.
background and legal controversy
The arguments on the Nakba Day are not an isolated case; Similar events in the past often led to tumulties. In the months since Hamas's attack on Israel in October 2023, there were a variety of demonstrations in Berlin. Between October 2023 and September 2024, a total of 693 meetings were registered on the subject, of which 339 pro-Palestinian nature were. Many of these demonstrations took place in a tense political climate, which was characterized by a remarkable increase in conflicts between demonstrators and the police.
In the current situation, a court had decided in a legal dispute that the originally planned route of the demonstration in Neukölln could not be approved, which ultimately led to a concentrated meeting on the Südstern. These legal decisions testify to the tensions about the topic of Palestine, which has been increasingly discussed in Germany in recent years.variety of movement and radicalization
The Pro-Palestinian movement in Berlin is described as diverse, with several currents, from the Palestinian national movement to the left and Islamist groups. Islamic scholar Patrick Möller observes that there is both national Palestinian and non-National Palestinian Islamist groups within this movement. In the context of the protests, the Berlin public prosecutor's office has initiated more than 3,200 procedures in connection with the Middle East conflict since 2023, including 103 due to anti -Semitic hate crime.
reports on violence and crimes, such as the attack on the Jewish student Lahav Shapira and attacks on Israeli tourists, show the increasing sharpness of the conflict in German society. A radicalization of the movement is also being discussed, although the police do not perceive general radicalization. Many of the activists see themselves as supporters of democratic values and criticize the loss of trust in the German state.
Overall, the Nakba Day 2025 in Berlin shows a complex picture of political tensions, legal arguments and the variety of opinions within the pro-Palestinian movement. While the police control and monitors the framework for the demonstrations, the question remains how these social conflicts will develop in the future. The memory of the Nakba is a constant focus in the debate about peace and justice in the Middle East.
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| Ort | Berlin-Kreuzberg, Deutschland |
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