Tense pro-Palestinian demonstrations in several European capitals: "Israel, murderer of children!"

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have marched this Saturday in several European capitals in protest against the Israeli attacks on Gaza. Thousands of people have gathered, despite the prohibition of some cities such as Paris to avoid anti-Semitic incidents, which has led to altercations with security forces.

In the French capital, the police have fired tear gas to break up the congregations that defy the prohibitions and have pointed at the protesters with water cannons. The police also ordered the shops to be closed along the route of the march, from the Barbés neighborhood, where a large migrant community lives, to the Bastille square.. Walid Atallah, president of the Association of Palestinians in the Paris region, accused the government of stoking tensions with the ban. “If there was a risk of public disturbances, of serious problems, they would have correctly banned it,” he told a news conference.. But “they banned it at the last minute,” he added.. “It is unacceptable”.

Authorities said they feared a repeat of clashes that occurred at a similar demonstration in Paris during the last escalation in 2014, when protesters attacked synagogues and other Jewish facilities.. “We all remember an extremely difficult demonstration where horrible comments like 'death to the Jews' were hurled,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said Friday..

Antisemitic acts in Germany

Germany once again registered this Saturday sporadic anti-Semitic acts in the dozens of demonstrations called throughout the country in solidarity with Palestine. The main concentrations -in Berlin, Hamburg and large cities in North Rhine-Westphalia- took place peacefully, in compliance with the health regulations due to the pandemic and among strong security measures..

In all the rallies in Germany, the anniversary of the Nakba was also remembered, the flight of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians on the occasion of the formation of the State of Israel on May 15, 1948.. But within the framework of some of these demonstrations, anti-Semitic acts were repeated again, such as those that have sparked alarms and condemnations in Germany in recent days.. The issue is extremely sensitive in the country due to its history, with World War II and the Holocaust..

In Cologne they shouted “Israel, murderer of children!” and on a banner it was assured that Hitler would be “proud” of the Israeli performance. At a demonstration in Berlin, chants such as “strike and destroy Tel Aviv” and others warning Jews that “Mohammed's army” were returning. Organizers repeatedly urged to avoid such slogans. Police identified an unknown number of participants.

Another concentration in the capital was dissolved by the police for non-compliance with sanitary measures and some protesters responded by throwing bottles at the agents, who made several arrests. The police also indicated that there were tensions in Leipzig between pro-Israel protesters and participants in a counter-demonstration.. In Frankfurt, the city council asked the Justice to prohibit a pro-Palestinian rally, but the request was denied. The demonstrations followed a week of protests in Germany that saw several anti-Semitic incidents, including the burning of Israeli flags and a stone attack on a synagogue in Bonn..

The political class has reacted quickly to these events, in the face of forceful requests from Jewish associations and Israeli diplomacy.. The German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, when participating in the Ecumenical Day of the Church, called for “building bridges with our neighbors of other faiths, seeking dialogue and resolutely combating prejudices”..

Marches in London

The center of the British capital has also been the scene of a march in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The demonstration has been organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, the Palestinian Forum in the UK, the Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the British Muslim Association.. Carrying Palestinian banners and flags, the protesters gathered in Hyde Park, from where they marched towards the Israeli embassy, in the London borough of Kensington, to call for an end to violence between Israelis and Palestinian militias..

Organizers called for “immediate” action by the British government to help end the violence, and the march was supported by former British Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn and Labor MP Diane Abbott. Law enforcement reinforced security in the city center and to verify that attendees comply with social distancing measures.

Protests in Baghdad have summoned Shiite leader Muqtada al Sadr. In the capital, protesters have gathered in the iconic Tahrir Square with a large crowd of Palestinian and Iraqi flags and chanted slogans against Israel.

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