For three days, the organizers of a “Palestine Congress” wanted to accuse Israel and Germany. In the end, the event only lasted around two hours.
Berlin - The police in Berlin broke up a controversial “Palestine Congress” planned for three days around two hours after it began. An official announced this to up to 250 congress participants early in the evening and asked them to leave the hall.
The police had previously temporarily interrupted the pro-Palestinian event. According to a spokeswoman, the reason was a speech broadcast via video by a man who is banned from political activity in Germany because of hate speech against Israel and Jews.
When the man spoke to up to 250 congress participants, the police intervened with several officers, cut off the transmission and temporarily switched off the power. The matter was then examined legally for some time and the event was finally declared over. On Friday evening, the organizers initially reserved the right to take legal action against the demolition.
Decision also applies to Saturday and Sunday
According to the spokeswoman, the police saw the danger “that such anti-Semitic, violence-glorifying and Holocaust-denying speeches could be repeated at the event.” The decision therefore applies not only to Friday, but also to Saturday and Sunday.
Various pro-Palestinian groups and initiatives invited people to the international meeting under the motto “We accuse”. These include, above all, those which, according to security authorities and Berlin's internal administration, belong to the anti-Israel "boycott spectrum".
Before the meeting began, politicians and the police had announced that they would take consistent action if anti-Semitic statements or crimes occurred. There had already been protests against the event in advance, including from the Central Council of Jews. On Friday itself there were some protests in the city against the Congress.
Massive police presence
The participants in the meeting reacted to the official termination by the police with loud expressions of displeasure. Among other things, they chanted “shame on you” in English. Finally, they gradually left the hall, some accompanied by police officers. The police were on site with a massive contingent and sometimes followed the event, which was considered a public meeting, directly in the hall. The organizers said they were considering legal action against the police's decision.
They had announced the congress a long time ago, but kept the exact location secret for a long time and only announced it on Friday. With a view to the meeting, a non-partisan “alliance against anti-Semitic terror” was formed and warned that glorification of terror and calls for the destruction of Israel were to be expected.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) had made it clear that she expected the authorities to keep a watchful eye: “Anyone who spreads Islamist propaganda and hatred against Jews must know that this will be pursued quickly and consistently,” she told the German Press Agency .
Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) called it “unbearable” that such a congress was taking place in the capital. “We do not tolerate anti-Semitism, hatred and agitation against Jews in Berlin. “That’s why the Berlin police will take strict action if anti-Semitic statements or crimes occur at this meeting,” he announced.
The Berlin police had prepared for a major operation lasting several days. According to a spokeswoman, around 900 emergency services were planned for Friday alone. Support came from North Rhine-Westphalia. The location of the event, a hall on Germaniastrasse in the Tempelhof district, was also unknown to the police for a long time.
Police requirements
The officials viewed the congress as a public meeting and, similar to demonstrations, issued so-called conditions, i.e. bans. The burning of flags, calls for violence against Israel and symbols of terrorist organizations were prohibited. Police officers and interpreters were in the rooms to follow the events and speeches there.
The police also ensured that media was given free access to the meeting. The organizers initially only wanted to allow selected media representatives in. The number of participants at the congress was limited by the police to 250 per day for fire safety reasons. From security circles it was said that an entry ban was issued against a scheduled speaker, as “Stern” had previously reported on this.
The organizers only announced the conference location in the morning at a press conference in the Wedding district and on the congress website. In the announcement for the congress and in the press conference, they accused Israel of, among other things, “apartheid,” “colonialism,” and “genocide” in the Gaza Strip. Germany bears “complicity” because it supplies weapons to Israel.
The unprecedented massacre with more than 1,200 deaths that terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other groups carried out in Israel on October 7th last year was not mentioned at all in the call and was only mentioned in the press conference after repeated requests from journalists. Israel responded to the attack with a large-scale attack on the Gaza Strip. The war has been going on for six months now and thousands of civilians have died. dpa