Middle East conflict – Pro-Palestine demonstration in Düsseldorf
Demonstrators march through the city chanting “Freedom for Palestine” to protest against the war in the Gaza Strip – one participant carries a sign reading “There is blood on your hands“.
Admin I Sunday, Nov.19, 2023
DUSSELDORF – Demonstration calling for an end to violence in the Gaza Strip and organized by both Jews and Palestinians drew more than 2,000 people in the German city of Cologne on Sunday.
The demonstration, organized by the group Jews and Palestinians for Peace, was held under the slogan “Solidarity with all the people affected by the Israel-Palestine war.”
The organizers had registered an event for 1,000 participants with the authorities, but twice as many had turned up, a police spokesman said. The organizers put the total at 3,000.
The two women behind the demonstration, Kristina Bublevskaya and Zeynep Karaosman, are of Jewish and Palestinian origin respectively. They said they were supporting the civilian population affected by the war.
A spokeswoman for the organization described the atmosphere at the event as extremely good. Flags had been explicitly discouraged, she said. “There are no camps. We want peace,” she said.
In Dusseldorf, more than 1,000 people took part in a peaceful pro-Palestinian demonstration. A march by up to 1,500 through the inner city to the state parliament passed off without incident, police reported. The organizers had registered an event for around 1,000 participants under the rubric “Stop the aggression.”
Following violent clashes with pro-Palestinian protesters in Berlin in particular following the October 7 attacks in southern Israel, the German authorities have cracked down on incitement and the expression of threats in public.
