Pro-Palestinian protesters march in Germany

Berlin [Germany], October 22: Several thousand people took part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the western German city of Dusseldorf on Saturday, while police in Berlin banned a march planned for Sunday.
According to the authorities, around 5,500 people took to the streets of Dusseldorf to protest Israel's counter-attacks on Gaza after militants from the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement crossed the border from the Gaza Strip into Israel to carry out terrorist attacks on October 7.
"Against war, violence and aggression in Gaza" and "For peace, justice, human dignity in Palestine" were among the declarations on banners carried by participants. Many waved Palestinian flags.
A police spokeswoman said that many more people had come than had been registered. Nevertheless, no incidents of violence were reported at the march, which was heavily policed.
Several pro-Palestinian rallies and some counter-events took place in western Germany, where demonstrations were planned in Cologne, Bielefeld and other cities.
In Münster, police said about 1,000 people took part in a pro-Palestinian march. At the same time, about 700 participants held a pro-Israeli rally under the slogan "Action alliance against all anti-Semitism."
There were no clashes. However, the leader of the pro-Palestinian demonstration and his deputy had shouted illegal slogans, according to police.
Since they had shown themselves to be unreasonable, they were temporarily taken into custody to prevent further violations and were released after the end of the demonstration, a spokesman said.
The march in Münster was allowed to continue.
On Friday, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said everyone in Germany is allowed to freely express their opinion and demonstrate peacefully - "but there is a clear red line: no tolerance for anti-Semitic or anti-Israel agitation, and no tolerance for violence."
Faeser called for police to take tough action using all available means if the Hamas attacks are glorified.
In the capital Berlin, police again banned a Palestinian demonstration that was planned to take place in the city centre on Sunday afternoon under the title "Peace in the Middle East." It was one of two pro-Palestinian events that were first planned for Saturday in Berlin's Mitte district and subsequently banned.
The decision was made after evaluating all the circumstances and findings, as well as weighing all the interests, especially the fundamental right to freedom of assembly, police said on Saturday.
Any substitute event is also banned until October 30, the police said, citing an "imminent danger" of incitement, anti-Semitic cries, glorification of violence and violence at the gathering.
However, despite the bans, pro-Palestinian gatherings and outbreaks of violence have repeatedly occurred in Berlin in recent days.
German police have registered more than 1,100 crimes related to the war in Gaza and Hamas attacks on Israel, according to Faeser.
Source: Qatar Tribune