Police raid homes of pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Berlin

Admin I Monday, September 30, 2024

 

BERLIN – Police in the German capital Berlin raided the homes of five pro-Palestinian activists on Monday morning, including a man believed to have thrown a microphone stand toward a local politician.

Police and public prosecutors in Berlin said the five men are suspected of having committed criminal offences “through allegedly pro-Palestinian motivated activities.”

The men, aged between 18 and 40, are suspected of breach of the peace, incitement of the people and using symbols of unconstitutional organizations.

No arrests have been made. Around 125 police officers were involved in the raids on flats in the districts of Friedrichshain, Britz, Gropiusstadt, Tegel and Schöneberg in Berlin.

The 18-year-old man allegedly threw a microphone stand at Berlin’s culture minister, Joe Chialo, during an opening of a local arts centre in mid-September.

Chialo has pushed for public funding to be stripped from arts groups that condemn Israel, including by participating in calls to boycott the country over the war in Gaza and policies toward Palestinians in the occupied territories.

At the event, a group of around 40 people chanted various slogans and allegedly insulted Chialo. The young man is reportedly suspected of breach of the peace with attempted grievous bodily harm.

A 31-year-old is also being investigated on suspicion of incitement of the people over two comments made on Instagram. The man allegedly wrote under a post on the Instagram platform “with the wish for the return of Adolf Hitler, and another post with the wish for a new Holocaust,” according to prosecutors.

Pro-Palestinian protests in Germany, and in particular in Berlin, have been a major flashpoint since the October 7 terror attacks on Israel and the start of Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.

German authorities have sought to crack down on protests that they contend have been marred by anti-Semitic comments and slogans as well as incidents of violence. Critics, however, have accused the German police of suppressing free speech.