Hamburg: Pro-Palestinian demonstration escalates | STERN.de

Riots broke out on Saturday after a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Hamburg was broken up. According to the police, emergency services were pelted with bottles and stones from the ranks of an unregistered meeting with up to 500 participants. In addition, officials were “harassed” and “pro-Palestinian slogans” were chanted. In Berlin on Saturday, 11,000 people took part in an approved pro-Palestinian demonstration.

The violent spontaneous gathering in the St. Georg district of Hamburg near the main train station was broken up by a large police force, the emergency services in the Hanseatic city said. Accordingly, the confrontation occurred shortly after the dispersal of an unauthorized, smaller pro-Palestinian demonstration with up to 70 participants.

“Suddenly” up to 500 people gathered nearby and approached the emergency services, it was said. The protesters also carried wooden slats with them, “some of which had pro-Palestinian posters attached to them.” According to the police, three police officers were initially injured in attacks by demonstrators and one had to be treated in hospital. They initially did not provide any information on the number of possible arrests or any investigations that may have been initiated.

Pro-Palestinian demos in Hamburg and Berlin

In Berlin, according to police reports, a peak of almost 11,000 people took part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration entitled “Global South United” in the Kreuzberg district on Saturday. There were therefore no major incidents with the approved elevator. The officials said that “in isolated cases” pyrotechnics were set off in the demonstration and in its surroundings. Since five people climbed onto a subway bridge, train traffic in the area was temporarily stopped.

Because of the war between the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas and Israel, there have been repeated riots and anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents at pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Germany for around three weeks now. Berlin has been particularly affected. The authorities are responding with strict requirements and bans to prevent expressions of sympathy for Hamas and incitement to hatred.

Buschmann calls for consequences for immigrants

Against this background, Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) announced consequences for immigrants who show anti-Semitic behavior at the weekend. “We are taking precautions to prevent anti-Semites from becoming naturalized,” Buschmann told “Bild am Sonntag.” In the future, the authorities responsible for naturalization should “investigate, even in the case of trivial crimes such as an insult, whether the acts were committed for anti-Semitic reasons,” he explained.

If a judge determines that anti-Semitic motives exist, “the perpetrator can no longer become a German citizen,” the Justice Minister continued. “For people without a German passport, we also have to consider the consequences of residence law.”

The FDP politician added: “Anyone who agitates against Jews has a particularly serious interest in being deported – and they are certainly not allowed to get a German passport.” He pointed out that the federal government is currently reforming the residence law and nationality law.

Anti-Semitic crimes in Germany

The militant Islamist Hamas launched a major attack on Israel on October 7th, in which, according to Israeli information, around 1,400 people were killed and 229 were kidnapped as hostages in the Gaza Strip. In response, Israel sealed off the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip and launched massive airstrikes on suspected Hamas targets. According to Hamas figures that cannot be independently verified, more than 8,000 people have been killed as a result.

Since then, in Germany, in addition to pro-Palestinian demonstrations, there have also been numerous anti-Semitic and anti-Israel crimes such as the burning of Israeli flags or anti-Semitic graffiti. In Berlin alone, the police say they have already registered more than 850 crimes in the context of the Middle East conflict.

Given the possibility of a further escalation of the war and an Israeli ground offensive, Berlin Police Chief Barbara Slowik recently warned of further tensions. “This will definitely have an impact on Berlin,” said Slowik on Friday on Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb). The police are preparing for such a situation.