The terrorist attack on Israel has further intensified the Middle East conflict. Images of the Gaza war cause outrage and protests. The police and judiciary in the capital are feeling this.
Six months after the terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas on Israel, the Berlin public prosecutor’s office has around 680 cases in connection with the Gaza war. Of these, around 130 cases involve crimes committed during demonstrations on the Middle East conflict, as a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office said upon request.
The names of the accused are known in 209 cases. The public prosecutor’s office says it has filed charges eight times so far. In 16 cases, the conviction will be based on a penalty order, i.e. without an oral hearing in court.
Increase in anti-Semitic incidents
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the conviction of a 25-year-old who took part in riots during a demonstration in October 2023 is now final. Last November, the Tiergarten district court imposed a suspended sentence of eight months on him for a serious breach of the peace. It was the first trial in Berlin after demonstrators clashed with police during protests related to the Gaza war.
Since the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, there have been numerous rallies and demonstrations in the capital, especially from the pro-Palestinian community. There were repeated clashes with the police and even acts of violence, especially in the first few weeks after the massacre.
In addition, the police and reporting centers of the Rias network have registered a sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents since the terrorist attack. The majority of cases in Berlin are still with the police, where they are processed by the state security agency responsible for politically motivated crimes.
The attack on Jewish student Lahav Shapira at the Free University of Berlin (FU) made headlines in February. The 30-year-old was taken to hospital with broken bones in his face. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating a pro-Palestinian fellow student with German citizenship for grievous bodily harm and classifies the case as a hate crime. According to the authority, it is still unclear when the investigation will be completed.
Source: Stern
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