Germany: Court upholds ban on pro-Palestine protests in Berlin
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Police barred all pro-Palestine protests, alleging that some protesters have chanted anti-semitic slogans.
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People attend a pro-Palestinian march marking al-Quds Day in Berlin on June 1, 2019. (AFP)
A Berlin court upheld a ban on a planned pro-Palestine rally in the German capital.
The Berlin administrative court endorsed the ban imposed by police earlier this week due to alleged anti-Semitic incidents on the sidelines of a pro-Palestine protest last week, a court official told the German Press Agency on Saturday.
It was unclear whether the organizers would appeal the ruling to a higher court.
Protests were planned in Berlin's Kreuzberg district against ongoing Israeli assaults against Palestinians, most notably in the occupied West Bank and Al-Quds.
See more: The world stands with Palestine
It is worth mentioning that police barred the protest in an announcement on Thursday, citing the possibility of alleged anti-Semitic incidents at similar demonstrations last Friday and Saturday.
At the time, police officials were quoted as saying that “based on experiences from the recent past” there is “the immediate danger” of anti-Semitic slogans.
This comes after the arrest of several people following a pro-Palestine demonstration in the German capital to protest Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa.
The police claimed that several demonstrators chanted "anti-Semitic" slogans during the demonstration in Berlin's Kreuzberg and Neukölln districts on Saturday evening.
In recent weeks, organizers said the demonstrations were marketed by German media as anti-Semitic to smear them.
Read more: “Israel’s” weapon of choice: Anti-Semitism
On his account, Berlin’s Interior Senator Iris Spranger said earlier this week that “We saw crimes, anti-Semitic exclamations, and slogans of the worst kind during the demonstrations last weekend. That is completely unacceptable.”
Palestinian civic leaders in Berlin have repeatedly stated that they do not condone anti-Semitic slurs at demonstrations, asserting that their only goal is to draw attention to “Israel's” occupation of Palestine.
