Berlin police are investigating a pro-Palestinian rally where demonstrators allegedly chanted “Death to the Jews” and “Death to Israel,” phrases that if verified could be criminal offenses under Germany’s strict post-World War II hate speech laws.
Hundreds of people showed up in the Kreuzberg and Neukölln neighborhoods on Saturday at a rally organized in response to the police clashes with Muslim worshipers at the Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem last week.
In video captured by a watchdog called Democ, many were also shown praising Hamas, the terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip.
Some additionally chanted “Tel Aviv, the answer will come.”
In the aftermath, authorities have launched investigations into incitement of hate and have been scouring videos of the event. Iris Spranger, the Berlin city government’s interior senator, condemned the antisemitic statements in a tweet on Monday, writing “Hate has no place in our society.”
“The rule of law must be applied consistently,” said Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, in remarks to the Jewish community newspaper Jüdische Allgemeine.
The non-partisan Jewish Values Initiative group called on the Berlin police and interior ministry to explain why they allowed the march to continue despite the antisemitic slogans, and why there were no arrests on site. Elio Adler, head of the group, said the police’s failure to make arrests has done “immense damage.”
Source: Times of Israel
This year, we want to do more to bless Israel and the Jewish people.
We know that as we bless Israel this year, God will bless us, just as He promised in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Now is the time to bless Israel and the Jewish people.
