German police crackdown on pro-Palestinian congress in Berlin
3 Min Read
One of the event's organizers says the German government was actively and unlawfully attempting to prevent or postpone the Palestine Congress.
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Police officers guard the entrance to the venue as participants wave Palestinian flags while waiting to attend the Palestine Conference on April 12, 2024, in Berlin. (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP)
Police stormed and canceled the Palestine Congress in Berlin less than an hour after it started on Friday, citing concerns about "anti-Semitic" statements.
Several social media accounts reported that German police shut down the organizers' live stream of the event and subsequently gained access to the control room, cutting off the power supply. Officers then approached each delegate, ordering them to stop live streaming from their mobile phones.
Officers initially halted the congress because one of the speakers was subject to a ban on political activity in Germany, police wrote on X.
The German police have stormed the building of the Palestine Congress and turned off the electricity supply.https://t.co/7C1kfYTvmz pic.twitter.com/G8xQgLmm7Q
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 12, 2024
Police did not give the name of the speaker, but participants in the congress wrote on X that it was Palestinian researcher Salman Abu Sitta.
Police then later wrote on X that they had banned the remainder of the conference, which was due to last until Sunday.
"There is a risk that a speaker who has already made anti-Semitic or violence-glorifying public statements in the past will be invited to speak again," they claimed.
But social media accounts reported that German police have issued threats of using force and have already detained three Jewish activists, including one of the Congress' organizers, Udi Raz.
URGENT: German police have announced they are shutting down the Palestine Congress and demanded delegates leave immediately. They have threatened to use force and already arrested one of the organizers, Jewish activist Udi Raz. He is the third person to be arrested today, two of… pic.twitter.com/rmTjowozzP
— red. (@redstreamnet) April 12, 2024
Germany actively attempting to cancel Palestine Congress: organizer
Nadija Samour, one of the Congress' organizers, told Anadolu Agency on Friday that the German government was actively and unlawfully attempting to prevent or postpone the Palestine Congress in Berlin.
She stressed that "the Congress could not be banned. Freedom of assembly protects the Congress, which is precisely why the police came up with all sorts of harassment. Be it fire protection or the landlord’s business license."
Earlier, British Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu Sitta, who volunteered in Gaza's hospitals during the first weeks of the Israeli war on the Strip, announced on X that he had been denied entry into Germany to attend the event.
"Silencing a witness to genocide before the ICJ adds to Germany's complicity in the ongoing massacre," he indicated.
Invited to address a conference in Berlin about my work in Gaza hospitals during the present conflict.
— Ghassan Abu Sitta (@GhassanAbuSitt1) April 12, 2024
The German government has forcibly prevented me from entering the country
Silencing a witness to genocide before the ICJ adds to Germany's complicity in the ongoing massacre.
Samour considered that "there is absolutely no legal basis for this, no justification at all," pointing out that Abu Sitta is the Dean of the University of Glasgow.
"I can’t imagine that he’s a dangerous person or a person who incites violence. Quite the opposite."
Berlin police on Friday said they had dispatched 930 officers, including reinforcements from other regions of Germany, to secure the event.
On the Congress' website, the organizers denounced "Israeli apartheid and genocide" and accused Germany of "being complicit". They have also urged for an "immediate cessation of all military, diplomatic and economic support for Israel by the German state, as well as a comprehensive military embargo" on the Israeli occupation entity.
It is noteworthy that Germany faces charges from Nicaragua at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it is "facilitating the commission of genocide" against Palestinians with its military and political support for "Israel".
Lawyers for Nicaragua argued that Germany is in breach of the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, set up in the wake of the Holocaust, by providing "Israel" with weapons.
Read more: University of Cologne cancels US professor over pro-Palestine views
