German police arrested several protesters at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Berlin on Saturday, forcing them to stop playing music and chanting slogans against the Israeli occupation.

Law enforcement officers, dressed in anti-riot gear, disrupted a rally of hundreds near Wittenbergplatz metro station, where demonstrators had gathered to express solidarity with Palestinians under the slogan “Stop the aggression in the West Bank—Do not supply weapons to Israel.”

Protesters played music and chanted slogans in Arabic critical of the Israeli regime, with some delivering speeches in Arabic while voicing opposition to the Israeli occupation and the US. Police ordered the music to be stopped and demanded that demonstrators vacate the square.

The German police banned a pro-Palestine demonstration in the Arabic language in Berlin, not allowing chants or music and using violence against the protestors. pic.twitter.com/bb5kmyez7Y

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) February 9, 2025

Many attendees carried Palestinian flags and signs reading “Hands off the West Bank,” “Stop arming Israel,” “Gaza is not for sale,” “Freedom for Palestine,” and “Palestinian children deserve to grow up.”

With nearly 250 officers deployed, police moved against the demonstrators after dozens defied orders to leave and staged a sit-in. Several protesters were arrested in what witnesses described as a heavy-handed crackdown.

🇩🇪 Berlin is a sea of beautiful Palestine flags pic.twitter.com/DLaLGXU0D4

— Khalissee (@Kahlissee) February 9, 2025

Meanwhile, a group of prominent German scholars have criticized lawmakers for what they see as a shift toward authoritarianism. Professor Michael Zürn from the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) warned that a controversial antisemitism resolution passed by the Bundestag could suppress academic freedom and stifle criticism of Israeli policies. Professor Ralf Michaels of the Max Planck Institute also condemned political pressure against free expression in Germany.

Legal experts and civil rights advocates have repeatedly urged lawmakers to pass legislation safeguarding free discourse and curbing police crackdowns on peaceful protesters.

Pro-Palestinians suppressed

A December report by TIME magazine discussed a trend in civic liberties throughout the world: crackdowns on Palestinian solidarity marches in every kind of society, from the most open to the most closed.

Tara Petrović, author of a study by CIVICUS Monitor, a worldwide coalition of civil society groups headquartered in Johannesburg, highlights the war on Gaza's effect on civic space as a key lesson for the year. "We've seen expressions of solidarity and we've seen repression of these expressions of solidarity at pretty much every corner of the globe."

The annual CIVICUS study, People Power Under Attack, assesses civic space in 198 nations, ranging from "open" to "repressed," and discovered that approximately one-tenth of the protests blocked by authorities referenced "Israel's" war on Gaza, or solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Global protests have erupted following the onslaught on the strip. However, the organization notes that excessive force was used against Pro-Palestine demonstrators, including those where civic freedoms are listed as "narrowed," like the Netherlands (whose standing was downgraded from "open" this year), Australia, and Italy. Some countries, such as France, have outright outlawed protests because they believe they constitute a security danger.

Germany has been particularly noted according to Petrovic, as it has criticized pro-Palestinian activism, including canceling events, raiding activists' homes, and enforcing travel bans on pro-Palestinian figures.

Recently, it introduced a rule requiring naturalization applicants to affirm "Israel's" right to exist. In 2023, Germany's ranking on the CIVICUS Monitor dropped from "open" to "narrowed" due to its crackdown on both climate activists and Palestinian solidarity campaigners.